The explorer yesterday announced an intercept of 67.1m at 1.2g/t gold from 217.9m, which included 3m at 8.51g/t, among the highlights.

Liberty had announced the D-3 discovery in June, describing it as its third high-grade oxide gold find at the project and in close proximity to the D-1 and D-2 discoveries made in 2019.

"Given the grade, thickness and dimensions that are beginning to take shape, we believe that D-3 will have a positive material impact on the resource endowment at Black Pine," president and CEO Cal Everett said.

Liberty said three RC rigs were operating at Black Pine and metallurgical column testing was ongoing.

It said it was also expanding the 7.3sq.km permit area to include an additional 4.6sq.km.

The company has appointed team member Peter Shabestari as its new vice president operations to oversee advancing Black Pine through the development and de-risking process.

Liberty said Black Pine had produced 435,000oz of gold at 0.63g/t from five composite shallow pits between 1992-1997, a period of historically low gold prices.

It slimmed its portfolio in March to focus on Black Pine and its past-producing Goldstrike gold project in Utah.

It had US$14.5 million in working capital at May 4, according to a recent presentation.

Its shares (TSX: LGD) were trading about C60c a year ago and rose to a high of $2.23 in June.

They closed up 5.8% yesterday to $2.01, capitalising it at $492 million (US$362 million).