Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX:SNX) is reporting it is starting a 5,000m drill program to test ‘highly prospective’ targets across its Colorback, New Pass and Warrior Gold projects in southern Nevada, US.
In this initial program Sierra Nevada Gold will test high impact targets across its portfolio, comprising the first drill testing in more than 40 years of the ‘high-grade’ New Pass vein system, where two parallel north trending veins were mined for more than 100 years.
The company has also planned the first ever drill testing of the Gold Coin and Discovery Shaft mine areas at its Warrior project, where historical underground sampling of these mines returned ‘outstanding’ results from remnant vein material that has never been drill tested.
Drilling commenced following delivery delays of the RC rig, but this has now completed commissioning activities at Colourback to begin the drilling project.
Sierra Nevada Gold expects phase one of its reverse circular (RC) drilling program to be completed by early November, with first assay results to be received by early December.
Together with this drilling program, the company will have intensive exploration programs in progress across both the New Pass and Warrior Projects.
Together with this drilling program, the company will have intensive exploration programs in progress across both the New Pass and Warrior Projects
At New Pass, this includes detailed 3D infrastructure and void modelling of historic workings, together with geomechanical investigations.
Once these studies are complete and the mine workings declared safe, SNX will commence a program of detailed underground mapping and sampling of available ore positions with a view to confirming the historical estimates of past production and prospective remnant mineralisation.
Sierra Nevada Gold reports it is confident that a pathway to a ‘high-grade’ gold resource can be outlined within 18 months.
Sierra Nevada Gold will also undertake a program of geochemical sampling, mapping and drill targeting at its Warrior Project to aid in developing drill targets across this camp.
The Colorback project is situated in the heart of the Battle Mountain Trend that hosts several ‘world-class’ gold deposits with total production and reserves of more than 100Moz Au.
The giant Pipeline deposit (20Moz Au), Cortez Complex (15Moz Au) and Barrick’s recent Goldrush and Fourmile discoveries (over 15Moz Au) are all within 25km of the Colorback project.
Sierra Nevada’s Colorback project displays several key similarities to the nearby world-class Carlin gold mines such as the Pipeline deposit, and the Cortez Complex deposits.
Importantly, controlling structures from these deposits transect and intersect within the Colorback project.
Throughout its data acquisition and exploration program, Sierra Nevada has identified large-scale fertile structures with the potential to host a significant Carline style mineral system.
The New Pass mineral system displays all the characteristics of a large-scale epithermal system.
It has witnessed both historic and recent mining with vein hosted mineralisation exposed at surface.
North-south oriented gold-bearing veins are present at the historically and recently worked New Pass, Superior, Thomas West and Valley View mines and the unexploited Julie, Lander, True-Blue, and Wildcat zones.
Complementary datasets across the project indicate a large-scale and highly prospective structural, hydrothermal, and geochemical setting for the formation of epithermal deposits.
With targeted drilling both down dip and along strike of already defined veins, SNX believes that a pathway to ‘high-grade’ gold resources can be mapped within 18 months.
Sierra Nevada Gold reports considerable potential exists north of the mine area within the ‘Saddle Target’, an area of extensive argillic and pyrite alteration displaying highly enriched zinc anomalism.
A priority NW vein target is 4.5km in length and is covered by shallow post mineral Tertiary and Quaternary rocks.
The Warrior project is located within the Walker Lane Trend of southern Nevada, which is a mineral province that host numerous ‘world-class’ mineral deposits including the Round Mountain gold deposit (20Moz Au), Comstock (8.5Moz Au), Yerington Porphyry (4Mt Cu) and Candelaria (230Moz Ag), among others.
Warrior is centred on a large historic mining centre hosted within a substantial alteration system that is prospective for ‘high-grade’ vein and disseminated Au-Ag epithermal, skarn breccia and carlin style deposits.
The Warrior project exhibits many similarities to the Paradise Peak high sulphidation epithermal mine (2Moz Au and 40Moz Ag), located 15km northwest of the Warrior Project.
The Warrior Project also hosts a large mining camp with four main centres, each of which exploited ‘high-grade’ epithermal mineralisation, with the Warrior, Hillside, Cute Maid, and Lou Mines mutually aligned on a prominent northeast linerament.
The largest of these is located at the northeast of the camp where records from the 1920s reveal ‘bonanza’ grade veins were sampled, over significant vein lengths including 90m @ 52.38g/t Au (Discovery Shaft Level 1), 15m @ 59.93g/t Au (Discovery Shaft Winze), and 33m @ 27.35g/t Au (Gold Coin Shaft).
To date, no follow up drilling has been recorded.
Sierra Nevada Gold is a recently listed ASX company actively engaged in the exploration and acquisition of precious and base metal projects in the highly prospective mineral trends in Nevada, US since 2011.
The company is exploring five 100% controlled projects in Nevada, comprising 4 gold and silver projects, and a large copper-gold porphyry project, all representing significant discovery opportunities for the company.
Images: Sierra Nevada Gold Ltd
