11:10 AM EDT, 08/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- i-80 Gold ( IAUX ) on Monday said the underground drilling program at the McCoy-Cove property in Lander County, Nevada, continues to intersect high-grade zones of mineralization.

The new results from drilling at the Cove deposit include 48.3 g/t gold over 3 m and 15.8 g/t gold over 15.8 m at the Lower Helen zone.

The new results compliment previously released intercepts from the 2023 program, i-80 said.

"Definition drilling continues to return high-grade mineralization over impressive widths that make Cove an anchor project in the company's future growth plans," said i-80 chief executive Ewan Downie. "Our delineation program has consistently returned results that place Cove amongst the highest-grade, development-stage, gold deposits in North America."

National Bank of Canada maintained its outperform rating and $3.50 price target following the news.

The bank said the Cove intercepts continue to impress, improving production sight lines and ostensibly M&A appeal.

But National Bank said a proper valuation re-rate might require additional de-risking in terms of resource, and mine plan economics including capex.

The company's shares were last seen up $0.13, or 12%, to $1.21 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Price: 1.22, Change: +0.14, Percent Change: +12.50