South Grass Valley Project - January 2020 Drilling Update
VANCOUVER, Jan. 30, 2020 - Nevada Exploration Inc. (“NGE” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: NGE; OTCQB: NVDEF) is pleased to provide an update regarding its ongoing reverse-circulation (“RC”) drilling program at its South Grass Valley Carlin-type gold project (the “Project”). Shortly after beginning the program on January 6, 2020, the Company mobilized a second drill rig to the Project, and has now drilled a total of 2,146 metres. Based on preliminary geologic logging, the Company is pleased to report that the additional drill holes are improving both the resolution of and its confidence in its exploration model at the Project.
Specifically, NGE is pleased to report that: (1) the silicic blanket seen in the northern cluster of 2018-2019 core holes has now been intersected further to the west, beneath the Freddie target area; (2) drilling at the northern end of the Golden Gorge target area has encountered the hornfels contact aureole predicted based upon the Company’s exploration model; and (3) drilling at the Waterfall target area intersected a thick section (125 metre) of favourable black, limey mudstone and siliceous mudstone and chert, that together sit immediately above the granite associated with the Grass Valley Stock. The significance of these results is highlighted under each of the specific target areas below.
The Project is located approximately 50 kilometres south-southwest of the Cortez complex operated by Nevada Gold Mines (Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. joint venture) and Barrick Gold Corp.’s latest Fourmile discovery. As described in detail in the Company’s November 15, 2019, news release (www.nevadaexploration.com/news/2019/nevada-exploration-advancing-four-carlin-type-gold-targets-at-south-grass-valley) and accompanying video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYMIH-mqIKo&feature=youtu.be), NGE has designed a 9,500-metre reverse-circulation (“RC”) drilling program to achieve specific objectives at four target areas at the Project (Water Canyon, Golden Gorge, Waterfall, and Freddie). Below is a summary of activities to date at each target area.
Water Canyon
No drilling activity yet. NGE expects to commence drilling at the Water Canyon target area during February 2020.
Golden Gorge
NGE’s first drill hole of the program at the Golden Gorge target, SGVR005, encountered granitic bedrock at only 29 metres, which then continued to the bottom of the hole at 110 metres.
NGE’s second drill hole of the program at the Golden Gorge target, SGVR006 (located approximately 550 metres northeast of SGVR005) encountered bedrock at 46 metres, consisting of a package of limestone and chert to 140 metres, and then marble, calc-silicates, and increasing silicification with sulfides until 198 metres, where the drill hole was stopped due to drilling issues.
The presence of the shallow granite in SGVR005 confirms both the magnetic interpretation of granitic bedrock and the gravity interpretation that this bedrock is shallow. The significant changes in geology between the two holes, over a relatively short distance, are typical of the contact aureole interface surrounding large intrusives, which represent highly favourable depositional settings and known ore controls at Nevada’s major Carlin-type gold districts. These features of significance are what NGE is targeting at Golden Gorge, and this will be the interface that the Company expects to continue to test with additional holes at this target.
Waterfall
NGE’s first drill hole of the program at the Waterfall target area, SGVR004, encountered bedrock at 46 metres, which consisted of a volcanic tuff that transitioned into an andesite mudflow unit. At 155 metres, the drill hole entered black, limey mudstone; and below that a hard, siliceous mudstone and chert unit; before finally entering granite at 280 metres, which continued until the bottom of the hole at 305 metres.
Importantly, based on the geologic units encountered in SGVR004, NGE is pleased to report that the granite-limestone interface immediately beneath Waterfall is resolving into a more complex geologic domain than simply a large mass of granite, within the larger magnetic-high feature seen in the airborne magnetic data. This first drill hole in this area of the Project supports the Waterfall exploration model of favourable host units located within close proximity to the Grass Valley Stock, immediately beneath the highest concentrations of gold in groundwater at the Project. NGE expects to complete a number of additional holes to continue to refine its understanding of the granite-limestone interface across the target.
Freddie
NGE’s first drill hole of the program at the Freddie target area, SGVR001, was located immediately next to Goodwin Butte, and very quickly entered a limestone and gray chert bedrock unit at 15 metres. The Paleozoic stratigraphy that it encountered closely followed that of core hole SGVC006, 263 metres to the east, and similarly, also encountered silicification features, in this case at 329 metres. Unfortunately, silicified chips clogged and damaged the tri-cone bit, and subsequent re-entry was unsuccessful due to collapsing limestone and chert bedrock, which resulted in stopping the hole at 371 metres.
NGE’s second drill hole of the program at the Freddie target area, SGVR002, was located 850 metres NNW of SGVR001, and was completed to a total depth of 628 metres. The drill hole hit bedrock at 70 metres, and intersected tuff then likely mudflow, before entering a sequence of siltstone +/- black chert, black siliceous mudstone and chert, and bottoming in black shale.
NGE’s third drill hole of the program at the Freddie target area, SGVR003, is located 550 metres east of SGVR002, and remains in progress, currently at 536 metres. SGVR003 hit bedrock at 168 metres, entering a likely mudflow unit sitting on top of a sequence of siltstone, black chert, limestone, and mudstone, from 186 metres to the current bottom of the hole, which included silica-sulfide breccia units as well as other alteration features that will be further examined with the addition of geochemistry data, once assays are available.
The alteration, and specifically the silicification, seen in holes SGVR001 and SGVR003 have confirmed that the silicification at the target horizon, based on NGE’s earlier core holes, extends towards the west, as well as have also confirmed that both the lithology and hydrothermal alteration plunge towards the east, as predicted based on the NGE’s exploration model. NGE plans to use the geochemistry results from these first three holes at Freddie to guide its next series of drill holes at the target.
Recent Events
On January 17, 2020, NGE Senior Technical Consultant, Simon Griffiths, presented a talk entitled “An integrated, mineral systems approach to generating & advancing blind Carlin-type gold projects” at the IMDEX Xploration Symposium in Vancouver. All talks from the symposium were video taped, and will be released by the organizers over the coming months. In the interim, the slides from the presentation are now available on NGE’s website at: https://www.nevadaexploration.com/investors/presentations/
On January 21, 2020, NGE President, James Buskard, presented a talk entitled “Generating and Advancing Blind Targets Using Hydrogeochemistry: An Integrated and Multi-Scale Approach” as part of the 2020 Theme Session: “Seeing the Unseeable” at AME Roundup in Vancouver. The talks from the session were not video taped, though the slides from the presentation are now available on NGE’s website at: https://www.nevadaexploration.com/investors/presentations/
Upcoming Event
NGE is pleased to welcome its stakeholders to visit with its team at the following upcoming industry event:
PDAC (Toronto)
Sunday to Wednesday, March 1 to 4, 2020
Booth: IE2527
https://www.pdac.ca/convention
About Nevada Exploration Inc.
NGE is an exploration company advancing a portfolio of new district-scale Carlin-type gold projects in north-central Nevada. NGE is led by an experienced management team that has been involved in several major 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.
By integrating hydrogeochemistry with conventional exploration methods, NGE is leading the industry to open this important new search space to explore for large new Carlin-type gold deposits.
For more information, the Company’s latest videos are available at:
https://www.nevadaexploration.com/investors/media/
For further information, please contact:
Nevada Exploration Inc.
Email: info@nevadaexploration.com
Telephone: +1 (604) 601 2006
Website: 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.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/60b86314-acd3-484d-896c-d88e4401c8d0
