VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 22,
2023 /CNW/ - Zacapa Resources (TSXV: ZACA)
(OTCQB: ZACAF) (DE: BH0) has completed all permitting requirements
related to the inaugural South Bullfrog drill program in
Beatty, Nevada. Drilling is
anticipated to commence next month, with 3,000 metres planned to
test top ranked epithermal gold exploration targets at the
Shingleback and Longtail prospects.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Notice of Intent filed and accepted by U.S. Bureau of Land
Management for the Shingleback and Longtail drill
prospects
- 3,000 metre drill program to commence as soon as feasible;
drill contractor selected and commercial negotiation
complete
- New website for Zacapa Resources launched
(www.zacaparesources.com)
Zacapa has received approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management for its Notice of Intent for proposed drilling
activities at the Longtail prospect, which together with previously
reported Shingleback permit (January 17,
2023) completes the permitting activities for the inaugural
3,000 metre drill program at South Bullfrog. The approved drill
program at South Bullfrog includes four drill pad locations at
Shingleback and three drill pad locations at Longtail. The total
number of drill holes and metres drilled from each pad will be
based on results and can be increased pending success.
"Zacapa's technical team has advanced South Bullfrog from early
greenfields exploration to high quality permitted drill targets in
14 months," comments Adam Melnik,
CEO & Director. "We are very pleased to see our technical
teams' hard work evolve into such robust targets. In our view,
investors will re-rate the exploration and development potential of
the Beatty District in the near
term as AngloGold Ashanti updates its gold reserve/resource
estimate and releases a PFS for Silicon, announces an inaugural
resource for the Merlin deposit, and receives permits to begin
construction at North Bullfrog." The Beatty District currently hosts over 8.6
million ounces of gold and is expected to have four new mines in
production within the next three years, all from near surface, open
pit, oxide gold deposits, with production costs in the first
quartile of the cost curve – Tier 1 mines that will reassert
Beatty as a major mining center in
the Walker Lane trend for profitable gold
production. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
12
Epithermal Gold Deposits and
the Beatty District
The Shingleback and Longtail prospects are located in the
northern third of the South Bullfrog project, north of Beatty Nevada (Figure 1). These two prospects
were discovered through diligent mapping and sampling programs,
combined with remote sensing, geophysics, and geochemical surveys.
Zacapa's claims in this area are bordered to the west, north, and
east by AngloGold Ashanti, which is activity advancing its North
Bullfrog and Silicon development projects, while also exploring its
Merlin discovery (AngloGold Ashanti).
The upcoming South Bullfrog drill program will test below what
is interpreted as the shallow expression of alteration in a
low-sulfidation epithermal system (Figure 2). In these types of
systems, hot metal-bearing water migrates up faults and fractures
in a hot spring type setting, similar to modern day Yellowstone. As
the metalliferous water ascends, the pressure decreases and it
begins to boil, which causes metals such as gold and silver to drop
out of solution forming gold-bearing quartz-carbonate veins. In
some areas, rocks with high permeability will also allow the
metalliferous water to migrate laterally away from the fault,
forming larger disseminated deposits, often containing disseminated
pyrite. The Beatty District
displays both styles of mineralization, sometimes within the same
deposit (e.g. Silicon). Often, when the hot spring system is fully
preserved, as it is at Silicon, the upper "steam-heated" alteration
zones contain little if any gold or precious
metals13,16. Instead, they are dominated by extensive
silicification with alunite and kaolinite alteration, containing
elevated concentrations of mercury and lesser antimony and
arsenic.
Longtail Drill
Program
At Longtail a 40-metre-wide window through alluvial cover
reveals strongly silicified, alunite-kaolinite altered, volcanic
rocks with strongly elevated mercury along with traces of arsenic,
antimony, and gold (Figure 3). This target sits adjacent to the
inferred margin of the Oasis Valley Caldera, and the coincidence of
the mercury anomaly with a large magnetic low suggest that there
could potentially be a large zone of alteration, up to 1 km strike
length, where the steam-heated alteration has destroyed magnetite
in the rocks to create the observed magnetic low. Drilling at
Longtail will test several interpreted structures as well as the
extent of the alteration, with the goal of drilling into the
controlling structure at depth where gold mineralization would be
expected to occur.
Three pad locations have been permitted at Longtail to target
interpreted sources of shallow alunite-kaolinite-opaline silica
"steam-heated" alteration observed in outcrop at depth where gold
deposition is likely to have occurred. Zacapa anticipates three to
five drill holes 200-400 metres deep, with the option to increase
pending success.
Shingleback Drill
Program
At Shingleback, more extensive erosion has removed the upper
steam-heated alteration zone and silicified blanket, revealing clay
alteration and local silicification on several prospective fault
zones (Figure 4). Two of these fault zones, the Basalt fault and
Twin Shafts fault, trend into an IP-resistivity high discovered
during Zacapa's geophysical survey (April
27, 2022), which is interpreted as the strongly silicified
boiling zone at depth. At surface the north-south trending Twin
Shafts fault displays a clay altered and iron-oxide stained fault
zone with weakly anomalous trace metals. The northeast-southwest
trending Basalt fault parallels a larger regional structural trend
and displays locally intense silicification with elevated trace
metals. Individually, each of these faults are prospective as
former pathways for mineralizing fluids. However, at Shingleback,
the projection of the two faults meet under younger alluvial cover
very near the IP-resistivity high identified by Zacapa. East of the
resistivity high is a zone of elevated chargeability, which could
indicate a disseminated pyrite halo beyond the silicified zone. At
the Silicon deposit, pyrite is associated with the illite
alteration halo adjacent to the deeper portions of the mineralized
zone (Bartos et al., 2022). Initial drilling will test this fault
intersection in the vicinity of the IP-resistivity high with the
expectation that this fault intersection was an area of
concentrated fluid flow that is highly prospective for gold
mineralization.
Four pad locations have been permitted at Shingleback to test
the Twin Shafts fault, Basalt fault, and the
IP-resistivity+chargeability highs near their intersection. Zacapa
expects to drill 5-7 holes, 200-400 metres deep with the option to
increase pending success.
About the South Bullfrog Gold
Project
The South Bullfrog gold project is centrally located in the
Beatty District in the heart of
the Walker Lane Trend. The Beatty
District has seen rapid increases in gold resources, currently over
8.6 million ounces of gold. Zacapa's project area is five
kilometres south of AngloGold Ashanti's North Bullfrog development
project, and 11 kilometres west of AngloGold Ashanti's Silicon,
Merlin, and Mother Lode projects. AngloGold Ashanti completed its
acquisition of Corvus Gold for US$370M1 and recently continued to
consolidate the Beatty District by
acquiring the Crown & Sterling projects from Coeur Mining for
up to US$200M8. AngloGold
has stated that the combined assets will help the Beatty District become a large, long life,
low-cost operation with the potential to develop Tier-1 "company
making" mines (Figure 5)2. South Bullfrog is comprised
of 488 unpatented mining claims covering approximately 9,900 acres
with a clear path to value creation by executing rigorous
exploration in the centre of an increasingly active district where
major gold mining companies are actively acquiring property, making
new gold deposit discoveries, and developing new mines.
About Zacapa
Resources
Zacapa is a mineral exploration company engaged in responsible
exploration for the new energy economy. Its projects are
concentrated in world class jurisdictions in the southwest U.S.,
including Arizona, Nevada, and Idaho. The portfolio includes epithermal gold
projects at South Bullfrog and Miller
Mountain and porphyry copper projects at Red Top and Pearl.
These assets are being advanced by a highly disciplined and
seasoned professional team with successful track records of
discovery, resource development and mine permitting.
References
1 AngloGold Ashanti Signs
Definitive Agreement to Acquire Corvus and Consolidate the Beatty
District of Nevada, September 13, 2021
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2 Corvus Gold and AngloGold
Ashanti Announce Completion of Acquisition of Corvus by AngloGold
Ashanti, January 18, 2022
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3 Augusta Gold Announces
Significant Resource Update at Bullfrog of 1.2 M Oz Measured and
Indicated and 0.26 M Oz Inferred Resource, March 10,
2022
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4
North Bullfrog Project's, Preliminary Economic Assessment –
Corvus Gold's Detailed Phase-1, Standalone, Near-Term Mine
Development Plan in the Bullfrog Mining District, Nevada, October
7, 2020
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5 Corvus Gold Announces
Mother Lode Preliminary Economic Assessment Results for a
Standalone Future Mining Expansion Project, in the Bullfrog Mining
District, Nevada, October 7 2020
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6 AngloGold Year End 2021
Results Report, February 22, 2022
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7 Augusta Gold Acquires
Fully Permitted Low-cost Heap Leach Gold Project Seven Miles From
Its Bullfrog Project in Nevada, April 21,
2022
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8
AngloGold Ashanti agrees to acquire Nevada properties from Coeur
Mining to further consolidate and enhance development potential of
the Beatty District of Nevada, September 19, 2022
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9 Downer, R., and House,
A., 2021. NI 43-101 Technical Report Mineral Resource Estimate,
Bullfrog Gold Project Nye County, Nevada by Forte Dynamics,
Inc.
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10
Cornwall, H.R. and Kleinhampl, F.J., 1964, Geology of Bullfrog
Quadrangle and ore deposits related to Bullfrog Hills Caldera, Nye
County, Nevada and Inyo County, California: US Geological Survey
Professional Paper 454-J, 25 p.
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11
Jorgensen, D.K., Rankin, J.W., and Wilkins, J. Jr., 1989, The
geology, alteration and mineralogy of the Bullfrog gold deposit,
Nye County, Nevada: AIME Preprint 89-135, 13 p.
|
12
Nicholson, D., 2021, Technical Report Summary Silicon Project,
an initial assessment report: AngloGold Ashanti, 62
p.
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13 Bartos, P., Doyle, M.,
Nicholson, D., and Thompson, T., 2022, Exploration, Geology,
Alteration, and Mineralization of the Silicon Gold Prospect,
Greater Bullfrog Hills – Bare Mountain District, Nye County,
Nevada: Geological Society of Nevada Symposium Proceedings, Reno,
Nevada, 25 p.
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14 Coolbaugh, M.F., Pace,
D., Craig, L.D., Bedell, R.L., and Miller, M.S., 2020, The Silicon
Gold Project, Nye County, Nevada: Prospect Generation Methods
Leading to Initial Recognition, Acquisition, and Characterization:
in Vision for Discovery: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Basin and
Range, Geological Society of Nevada Symposium Proceedings, F.R.
Koutz and W.M. Pennell, eds., Reno, Nevada, p. 1027 –
1041.
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15 Hedenquist J.W., Arribas
A.R., and Gonzalez-Urien G., 2000, Exploration for epithermal gold
deposits: in Gold in 2000, Hagemen, S.G. and Brown, P.E., eds.,
Society of Economic Geologists Reviews in Economic Geology, v. 13,
p. 245 – 277.
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16 John, D.A., Vikre, P.G.,
du Bray, E.A., Blakely, R.J., Fey, D.L., Rockwell, B.W., Mauk,
J.L., Anderson, E.D., and Graybeal, F.T., 2018, Descriptive models
for epithermal gold-silver deposits: U.S. Geological Survey
Scientific Investigations Report 2010–5070–Q, 247 p.,
https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20105070Q.
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For more information, please visit www.zacaparesources.com. All
documents are available on Zacapa's profile page on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com.
All scientific and technical information in this news release
has been prepared by, or approved by Daniel
MacNeil, PGeo, and Technical Advisor of the Company. Mr.
MacNeil is a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of National
Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Adam Melnik"
Adam Melnik
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Michelle
Borromeo
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Zacapa Resources
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Zacapa
Resources
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Chief Executive Officer
& Director
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Vice President Investor
Relations
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+1 604 227
5987
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+1 778 330
3835
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melnik@zacaparesources.com
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borromeo@zacaparesources.com
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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. Certain information set forth in this
news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve
substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All
statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to
be considered forward looking. Although Zacapa believes the
expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based
on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of
future performance and actual results or developments may differ
materially from those in forward-looking statements. Zacapa
cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently
uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number
of factors, many of which are beyond Zacapa's control. Accordingly,
actual and future events, conditions and results may differ
materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations
expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Readers
are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties.
Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Zacapa
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise
forward-looking information.
SOURCE Zacapa Resources