Nevada Exploration Inc. (“NGE” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: NGE;
OTCQB: NVDEF) is pleased to provide guidance on the scope and
objectives of its recently begun core drilling program at its South
Grass Valley Project, and to announce that new geophysical datasets
combined with early information from its drilling program have
provided additional confirmation for the Company’s geologic model
at the Project, including the presence of shallow,
intensely-altered, “lower-plate”, carbonate bedrock.
Scope and Objectives of South Grass Valley Drilling
Program
NGE’s South Grass Valley Project is located approximately 50
kilometres south-southwest of Barrick Gold Corp.’s Cortez complex,
within the specific region of north-central Nevada known for
Carlin-type gold deposits (CTGDs). NGE originally generated
the Project based on elevated concentrations of gold and CTGD-style
pathfinder elements in groundwater identified during a basin-scale
hydrogeochemistry-supported exploration program. The
objective of NGE’s first round of core drilling at South Grass
Valley is to confirm whether the enriched gold and CTGD-style
pathfinder-element geochemistry in groundwater at the Project is
associated with a hydrothermal system of a scale consistent with
those responsible for Nevada’s large CTGDs, such as Cortez Hills at
the north end of the valley.
One of the most significant challenges in exploring for gold in
districts where bedrock is covered is vectoring towards
mineralization before encountering a first significant gold
intercept. To confront this challenge, industry researchers
have been focused on enlarging deposits’ footprints to make them
easier to find, largely based on the understanding of the size and
concentration of the pathfinder element and (most recently)
isotopic halos seen in the bedrock surrounding deposits.
Based on recently-published, extensive research on the footprints
of CTGDs, as described in NGE’s news release dated July 11, 2018,
the pathfinder element and isotopic footprint that surrounds Cortez
Hills extends more than 1,000 metres into the surrounding bedrock,
compared to actual widths of economic mineralization that are in
many places less than 300 metres wide. More specifically, the
deposit footprints at Cortez Hills and other large CTGDs in Nevada
are defined by specific concentrations of pathfinders that each
travel different distances beyond the deposit, which are generally
found in the following order as they extend outwards from the
economic ore zones: (nearest) Au < 13C & Tl < Sb < Hg
< As < 18O (farthest).
This new research on the size and composition of the deposit
footprints at Cortez Hills and other CTGDs in Nevada provides
valuable information for establishing the appropriate drill hole
spacing to systematically de-risk and advance a CTGD exploration
project. While the limits of economic mineralization at a
deposit such as Cortez Hills may in places only measure 300 metres
across (presenting an exceedingly small, and thus risky, target to
hit with an early-stage, wide-spaced, drilling program), explorers
can now respond to footprints that are greater than 1,000 metres
across. The effective result is that explorers can now
meaningfully advance early-stage CTGD projects with fewer and more
widely spaced drill holes to confirm the presence of a CTGD
footprint, prior to committing to large and more detailed drilling
programs. Furthermore, the results of these studies also
provide the necessary thresholds (benchmarks) needed to vector
towards gold mineralization once inside the footprint.
Based on the results of this research, NGE has permitted three
E-W fences of drill holes, spaced approximately 1,200 metres apart,
across the exploration target at South Grass Valley, with permitted
drill hole locations spaced approximately 400 metres apart along
each fence. For the first phase of drilling, NGE expects to
drill up to two wide-spaced holes along each fence, for a total of
up to 6 drill holes, with the specific objective of providing the
appropriate coverage to test for the footprint of a large
CTGD. At this stage, NGE will be testing for thick intervals
of hydrothermally-altered carbonate host rocks that contain
significant concentrations of CTGD pathfinder elements in line with
the thresholds that define the deposit footprints surrounding other
large CTGDs.
If these first wide-spaced core holes do successfully discover a
large CTGD footprint, NGE would expect the subsequent phase of
drilling to then include the balance of the permitted drill holes,
with the objective of using CTGD pathfinder elements to vector
towards the centre of the potentially gold-bearing system.
Recent Additional Geophysics
To maximize the likelihood that the wide-spaced, early drill
holes are positioned in locations that can test for (intersect)
known controls for mineralization in CTGDs, namely suitable host
rocks and structures (faults), NGE has added to and refined its
geophysical datasets, which are important inputs to its exploration
model. To establish the locations of potentially important
high-angle fault zones, NGE acquired additional gravity data during
September and October, which included collecting 472 new in-fill
gravity stations. To delineate areas of the Project underlain
by favourable carbonate host rocks (“lower-plate”), NGE contracted
a Reno-based geophysicist to review the airborne magnetic dataset
that NGE flew in early 2018.
The results of the new detailed gravity data have resolved what
had previously been interpreted as a broader structural corridor
into a more focused N-S fault zone, the location of which is also
corroborated in offsets seen in the air magnetic data.
Additionally, the latest air magnetic interpretation continues to
suggest a large area of carbonate host rocks across the Project
punctuated by what are now interpreted as likely granitic intrusive
units, which are often tracers of major structural corridors, and
which provide additional evidence for the projected N-S fault zone
seen in the gravity.
Drilling Update
NGE began drilling on September 29, 2018, at drill site SGV001,
located towards the west end of the southern fence of permitted
drill sites, above what was interpreted to be the up-dip edge of
the lower-plate units beneath relatively shallower cover. The
rationale for selecting an initial drill site with shallow cover
was to minimize the potential complications of drilling through the
cover material in order to complete as deep a hole as possible to
provide important stratigraphic information early in the drill
program; however, choosing an up-dip location also presented the
risk of being closer to the granitic intrusive units interpreted in
the air magnetics. While granitic intrusives are commonly
found along structural corridors associated with CTGDs, they
themselves are generally unreactive and poor host rocks for
alteration zoning and gold mineralization. Drill hole SGV001
encountered bedrock at 125 metres, which turned out to be a
granitic intrusive unit, and NGE stopped the drill hole at 196
metres. The bedrock at SGV001 does show evidence of
hydrothermal activity, and NGE expects to return to complete an
additional hole at the eastern end of the southern fence, further
from the projected extent of the granitic intrusive units based on
the air magnetics, with the goal again of encountering and sampling
a thick section of lower-plate carbonates.
After SGV001, NGE moved the drill rig to the northern fence, to
drill site SGV002, which is located approximately 1,000 metres to
the east of Goodwin Butte, along the focused N-S fault zone defined
in the most recent gravity geophysics. The rational for
choosing this location was to complete a deep drill hole into what
was interpreted to be: (a) shallow lower-plate carbonates; (b)
coincident with a projected structural corridor; and (c) near the
already known enriched CTGD pathfinder elements seen in outcrop at
Goodwin Butte. SGV002 encountered bedrock at 185
metres. Beginning from the top of bedrock downwards, SGV002
has penetrated what appears to be a high-angle fault zone within
lower-plate carbonates that early logging suggests has been
associated with several periods of intense hydrothermal
activity. Drilling at SGV002 continues.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/833453b2-3d66-4375-9bb1-f73c8d44feb7
Discussing the ongoing drilling at South Grass Valley, NGE’s
CEO, Wade Hodges: “We’re happy to report that drilling is going
smoothly at the Project. Obviously, we had hoped that SGV001
would have gone directly into the lower plate, but we’ll head back
to the southern fence and complete another hole further to the east
later in the program. In the meantime, at the north end,
SGV002 is going very well. Right from the top of bedrock at
SGV002, it looks like we’re into a major fault zone cutting through
lower-plate carbonates that have experienced considerable
hydrothermal activity, clearly marked within at least a 200-metre
interval exhibiting decalcification, clay, multiple sequences of
calcite veining and brecciation, and silicification, as well as
intense oxidation. These geologic markers and their intensity
over such a thick interval are consistent with those that
characterize the hydrothermal systems associated with large CTGDs,
and these samples now provide a thick sequence of bedrock to test
for the pathfinders that define CTGD footprints. It’s also
great to see that the projected intersection at SGV002 of shallow
favourable carbonates and the N-S structural corridor has been
confirmed as it builds additional confidence in our geophysical
interpretations across the rest of the Project.
“We know that CTGDs are the product of specific and
characteristic critical geologic components, namely favourable:
structures, host rocks, zones of permeability, alteration, and
geochemistry. If there is a large CTGD at South Grass Valley,
we would expect to see multiple, independent lines of evidence for
the presence of these critical components. If we’re as close
as we think we could be with our target at South Grass Valley, the
surrounding country rocks should also contain the right types of
rocks and alteration, which they do; likewise, if there is indeed
the required major structural zone to have sourced mineralized
hydrothermal fluids, we should see a suggestion of it in the
geophysics, which we do; and now that we’re drilling, if our
projections of favourable host rocks and structures are correct, we
should see thick intervals of altered lower-plate carbonates, which
we now have. The next box we need to check is whether this
system contains suitably enriched concentrations of pathfinder
elements consistent with a large CTGD. In summary, we’re very
pleased with the results we’re seeing; we’re drilling into the
types of rocks we had hoped to encounter; we’re getting important
information to continue to refine our exploration model; we’re
looking forward to being able to review the pathfinder element
concentrations when assays become available; and we’re certainly
excited to keep drilling.”
Upcoming Events
NGE is pleased to welcome its stakeholders to visit with its
team at the following upcoming events:
Silver and Gold Summit (San Francisco)Sunday to Monday, October
28th to 29th,
2018https://cambridgehouse.com/e/silver-and-gold-summit-2018-75JOIN
NEVADA EXPLORATION FOR BREAKFAST TO OPEN THE
CONFERENCE:https://investor.nevadaexploration.com/silver-gold-summit/
Mines and Money (London)Monday to Thursday, November 26th to
29th, 2018https://london.minesandmoney.com/
American Exploration & Mining Association (Spokane)Monday to
Friday, December 3rd to 7th,
2018https://www.miningamerica.org/2018-annual-meeting/
Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (Vancouver)Sunday and
Monday, January 20th and 21st,
2018https://cambridgehouse.com/e/vancouver-resource-investment-conference-2019-76
PDAC (Toronto)Sunday to Wednesday, March 3rd to 6th,
2019https://www.pdac.ca/convention
About Nevada Exploration Inc.
NGE is an exploration company advancing a portfolio of new
district-scale gold exploration projects along Nevada’s Battle
Mountain-Eureka (Cortez) Trend. NGE is led by an experienced
management team that has been involved in several significant
discoveries in Nevada, including the discovery of Lone Tree and
Rabbit Creek (part of the Twin Creeks Mine). NGE’s team has
spent the last decade integrating the use of hydrogeochemistry with
conventional exploration tools to develop a Nevada-specific
regional-scale geochemistry exploration program.
With new proprietary technology, NGE has completed the world’s
largest groundwater sampling program for gold exploration,
collecting approximately 6,000 samples to evaluate Nevada’s covered
basins for new gold exploration targets. To advance follow-up
targets, NGE has overcome the high drilling costs that have
previously prohibited the wide-spread use of drilling as a
prospecting tool by developing its Scorpion drill rig, a
small-footprint, truck-mounted, small-diameter RC drill rig
specifically tailored to the drilling conditions in Nevada’s basins
(analogous to RAB drilling in other parts of the world).
By integrating hydrogeochemistry and early-stage low-cost
drilling with conventional exploration methods, NGE is overcoming
the challenges and radically reducing the costs of exploring in
Nevada’s covered basins, and is taking significant steps to open
this important new search space up for district-scale
exploration.
For further information, please contact:
Nevada Exploration Inc.Email:
info@nevadaexploration.comTelephone: +1 (604) 601 2006Website:
www.nevadaexploration.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Wade A. Hodges, CEO & Director, Nevada Exploration Inc., is
the Qualified Person, as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and
has prepared the technical and scientific information contained in
this News Release.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information:
This news release contains “forward-looking information” and
“forward-looking statements” (collectively, “forward-looking
information”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws,
including, without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans, and
objectives regarding projects, potential transactions, and ventures
discussed in this release.
In connection with the forward-looking information contained in
this news release, the Company has made numerous assumptions,
regarding, among other things, the assumption the Company will
continue as a going concern and will continue to be able to access
the capital required to advance its projects and continue
operations. While the Company considers these assumptions to be
reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant
uncertainties and contingencies.
In addition, there are known and unknown risk factors which
could cause the Company’s actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking information contained herein. Among the
important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements
are the risks inherent in mineral exploration, the need to obtain
additional financing, environmental permits, the availability of
needed personnel and equipment for exploration and development,
fluctuations in the price of minerals, and general economic
conditions.
A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing
the Company is disclosed in the Company’s continuous disclosure
filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at
www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified
in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company
disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such
forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of
any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained
herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as
required by law.
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