i-80 said testing on a hole drilled by Barrick in the early 2000s reported high-grade mineralisation over an appreciable width. 

"The core hole has confirmed a broad zone of high-grade mineralisation and could represent an area of converging faults at depth with substantially increased widths," i-80 senior geologist Tyler Hill said. 

"This could have significant implications on the upside opportunity at Granite Creek," he added. 

Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets analyst Michael Fairbairn said: "Results at the underground deposit reconfirm the extension of the Ogee Zone at depth, below the existing resource and at good grades, which could help support a mine life extension at Granite Creek underground." 

i-80 said the initial highlight from the Ogee zone was 7.4 grams per tonne Au over 73.2m, including 13.3g/t Au over 13.1m, 20.3g/t over 7.5m and 10.1g/t Au over 17.5m. 

The company said the Mag Zone highlights were 3.4g/t Au over 12.6m, 2.0g/t Au over 6.4m, and 3.4g/t over 16.8m and 1.8g/t over 5.8m. 

Fairbairn said that with i-80 currently permitting Granite Creek for open-pit mining, CG assumes production will begin in 2026. 

i-80 was targeting life-of-mine gold production at Granite Creek of 1.25 million ounces. 

The company traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange on February 8 at C$2.89/share, which was up 6% from the day before. 

i-80 began trading on the TSX on April 13 last year after being spun out from Premier Gold Mines. The company's peak share price was C$3.45/share, which was recorded on October 15. 

The company had a market capitalisation of C$692.17 million.