Canadian explorer Scorpio Gold (TSX-V:SGN) has expanded its landholding in the Manhattan Gold District in Nevada, US.
The explorer has staked a further 2,716 hectares, more than doubling its total ground position to about 4,779 hectares and further consolidating its position in the district.
Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange rose 15.6% to C$0.185 ($0.21) following the news.
The Manhattan District has historically produced over 600,000 ounces of gold from underground lode mining, open pit mining, and placer operations.
Scorpio Gold says the staking of the new claims was driven by an extensive database review of historic exploration data spanning back 30 years, that was compiled by Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) and Scorpio Gold.
The historic database includes a full multi-element soil sampling program completed in 2014 by Kinross and over 100,000m of historic drilling and multiple geophysical surveys.
Scorpio Gold, which has a market capitalisation of C$20.2 million ($22 million), has also identified historic drill results within the new claims that the company says supports the staking of the new ground.
Additionally, the company is in the process of compiling the data and conducting quality assurance and quality control.
Vice President of Exploration Harrison Pokrandt says the anomalous metals in soils from the expanded claim package are highlighted by elevated gold, arsenic, and antimony proximal to a low angle thrust contact between the Cambrian Gold Hill formation and overlying Zanzibar carbonate sequence.
“We believe the low angle faulting in the Manhattan District is correlated to the Late Devonian Roberts Mountains Thrust,” Pokrandt says.
“Regionally, the Roberts Mountains Thrust is associated with multiple bulk mineable gold deposits in northern and central Nevada.”
Scorpio Gold holds a 100% interest in two past producing mines, the Manhattan Mine and the Mineral Ridge Mine, both located in the Walker Lane Trend of Nevada.
Scorpio’s Manhattan District ground hosts the advanced exploration-stage Goldwedge Project, with a 400-ton-per-day gravity mill.
Adjacent to Goldwedge is the company’s Manhattan Project, which is centered on two past-producing pits and was acquired from Kinross in 2021.
Scorpio Gold also owns a 100% interest in the Mineral Ridge Gold Project located in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
The company produced over 222,440 ounces of gold from the project between 2010 and 2020.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Scorpio Gold
