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NW Extension Gold Project

Lease Status: Available   

Exploration Target: A deeper Carlin-type gold target along the possible northwest extension of the Carlin Trend and near surface volcanic hosted gold.

Property Highlights:

• Exhibits abundant geologic and geochemical evidence of a Carlin-type hydrothermal system.

Location:

The NW Extension property is located about 15 kilometers north-northeast of the Midas Mine and is in the Scraper Springs District, northwest Elko County, Nevada (Figure 2).

Target Analog:

The target at NW Extension will be high-grade deeper gold mineralization like that on the north end of the Carlin Trend, such as the Meikle Mine (7 million ounces at 24.7 g/t Au).  In addition, there is potential for a bonanza gold discovery like that at the nearby Midas Mine (+2 million ounces, high grade).

Geology and Geochemistry:

The NW Extension property is centered on the only significant gravity anomaly that exists along the northwest extension of the Carlin Trend.  This alone makes NW Extension a compelling target as it suggests that receptive Lower Plate carbonate units underlie the property at relatively shallow depths. 

The local property geology consists of a structural high of siliceous Paleozoic Upper Plate rocks protruding through felsic Tertiary volcanic rocks.  The Paleozoic section consists of two major rock packages.  One is the Upper Plate Vinini Formation which includes Ordovician age chert, shale and quartzite.  The other unit consists of calcareous siltstone, thin-bedded limestone, and shale.  Stratigraphic correlation of this second unit is uncertain. Drilling by Teck on the eastern flank of the gravity high intersected Vinini Formation to a depth of 559m and then went into Rodeo Creek Formation of black mudstone, chert, and siltstone to the bottom at 914m. Several zones of alteration were drilled with modest geochemical anomalies.  The best geochemistry was from 630 to 639m with highs of 44 ppb Au, 35 ppm As, 16 ppm Sb, and 3.9 ppm Hg. Lower plate units should be present at shallower depths to the west over the center of the gravity anomaly.

The Paleozoic rocks at NW Extension are cut by several faults which acted as fluid conduits exposing the rocks to the hydrothermal alteration. The alteration is characteristic of Carlin-type deposits with local silicification, widespread decalcification, and anomalous gold and other associated elements. Altered rocks at the surface carry up to 563 ppb gold, 457 ppm arsenic, 13 ppm antimony, and 905 ppb mercury. The Meikle Mine was discovered under altered Upper Plate lithologies that carried a much weaker geochemical signature.

 The alteration and geochemistry indicate that a Carlin-type gold system is present at NW Extension.  The geophysics indicates that depths to the Lower Plate target stratigraphy may be as shallow as 500 meters.  All of these factors indicate that NW Extension may represent the northwest continuation of the Carlin Trend and that high-grade gold deposits could exist in favorable host rocks at mineable depths.  

Soils and trenching in by Altan Resources found very anomalous gold at surface in volcanic rocks, with up to almost 800 ppb Au in trench samples.  This style of gold mineralization had not been noted before, and may represent the surface expression of a hot springs system like that at Midas.

History and Results:

Indicative of its prospectivity, the NWE property has been explored by Newmont Mining, Cordex Exploration, BHP Minerals, Quartz Mountain Gold, Altan Nevada, and Teck Resources.  Activities conducted by these groups include surface mapping, rock chip sampling, soil sampling, trenching, two gravity surveys, several lines of CSAMT, and the drilling of 31 shallow holes (maximum known depth 233 meters/765 feet) and one deep hole (914 meters, Figure 3).   GenGold2 and Industrial Imaging recently completed deep penetrating 3D MT survey (Figure 6 and Figure 7). 

The regional and local gravity (Figure 8) suggests that more dense Lower Plate carbonates are at a relatively shallow depth at NWE.  CSAMT, MT, and drilling indicate that Lower Plate may be present at depths of 500 meters.   Teck logged the deep hole as penetrating into transitional Lower Plate (semi-autochthonous?) Rodeo Creek Formation at 559 meters.  This deep hole was drilled in an area where there are no deeper geophysical anomalies well off the side of the gravity high. 

Potential and Exploration Scenario: 

The alteration and geochemistry indicate that a Carlin-type gold system is present at NW Extension.  The geophysics indicates that depths to the favorable Lower Plate stratigraphy may be as shallow as 500 meters and may have been intersected in the Teck drill hole.  All of these factors indicate that NW Extension may represent the northwest continuation of the Carlin Trend and that high-grade gold deposits could exist in favorable host rocks at mineable depths.

Until the recent MT survey was conducted, the geophysical surveys were favorable but did not point to a specific target.  The MT survey identified a strong conductive body beginning at about 600 meters and measuring about 1200m by 900m (Figures 6 and 7).  This anomaly represents a specific great drill target that could be reasonably tested with a two or three drill holes.