Mineral Mountain Research Confirms A Regional Connection Between the Rochford and Homestake Districts
- For most of their histories, the Rochford and Homestake Districts were adjacent
- Restoration of 14 km of offset along the regional Homestake Shear Zone directly juxtaposes the two camps and connects their major anticlinoria into a single early structure
- In both camps, gold mineralization is hosted in iron formation wrapping around these regional antiforms
- Although the iron formations are different in age in the two camps, the architecture and geology are nearly identical.
- Figure 1 https://3vf9cl49jo8n2mlauk175y9t-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Xerox-Scan_04182022064005_Page_1.jpg
- Figure 2 https://3vf9cl49jo8n2mlauk175y9t-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Xerox-Scan_04182022064005_Page_2.jpg
Iron formation-hosted (BIF) gold mineralization in the northern Black Hills is found in two regions: the Homestake camp around Lead and Mineral Mountain's 7800-acre Rochford Project. The recognition of a major shear zone between the two camps has profound implications for gold exploration within Company Claims. Restoration of at least 14 kilometers of late-stage offset along this shear system places the Rochford and Homestake camps in direct proximity, and links their hosting anticlinoria into a single major regional scale structure, with older stratigraphy containing the Homestake iron formation dominating around Lead and younger iron formations around Rochford.
"Unfolding" the complexly deformed Precambrian rocks in the northern Black Hills reveals a single major antiform that controls gold mineralization that is profoundly well-mineralized and contains the supergiant Homestake camp, the highly prospective and underexplored Rochford camp, and, also controls the Tertiary-aged Wharf Mine that contains >8 million ounces of gold remobilized from older Precambrian iron formation at depth. Most of the shearing that displaced the Homestake and Rochford districts occurred during a regional gold mineralization event at ~1735 Ma, which has been recently confirmed through precise Re-Os sulfide age dating by Mineral Mountain. This event introduced >70 million ounces of gold into the Homestake deposit and formed widespread virtually unexplored gold mineralization in the Rochford District. Given the similarities between the two camps, Rochford is interpreted to contain very high potential for multiple Homestake-type iron formation gold targets. Unpublished age dating of the Precambrian schists within the Rochford District, combined with the new structural insights from the SRK study, opens up the possibility for exposures of older Homestake Mine stratigraphic units, including the Homestake iron formation itself, within deeply uplifted structural blocks particularly in the northeastern part of the district.
Mineral Mountain has assembled a district-scale land position at Rochford totaling 7,858 acres through ongoing acquisitions since 2016. Around a dozen historic mines produced up to 50,000 ounces of gold each from iron formation-hosted deposits in the Rochford District at Homestake-like average grades ranging from 4 to 10 g/t Au. Only two of these mines have been drill-tested in any significant way; Mineral Mountain's Standby Mine and the Cochrane Mine (of which Mineral Mountain controls >1,500 meters of down-plunge extent below a depth of 300 meters). Of 184 exploration holes known to have been drilled in the Rochford District prior to the entry of Mineral Mountain in 2013 totaling just 29,085 meters, all but a handful have been limited to depths of less than 250 meters. Many areas of iron formation with strong gold mineralization at surface have never been drill tested at all. The new technical insights at Rochford have enabled Mineral Mountain's technical team to evaluate and rank the prospective drill targets.
Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary Mineral Mountain Resources (SD) Inc. is focused on the exploration and, if warranted, development of its 100%-owned Rochford Gold Project physically situated 26 kilometers south of the world's richest and largest orogenic gold deposits, the Homestake Mine, within the highly prospective Homestake Gold Belt in the Black Hills of South Dakota, U.S.A.
With the staking of the Black Eagle-King of the West-Yellow Bird Trend, the Rochford Project now covers 7,858 acres, covering four major trends of structurally thickened auriferous iron formation comparable to the ledge-type gold mineralization developed at the Homestake Mine. The Standby Mine Target, the Company's flagship project is the most advanced gold exploration target within the Rochford Gold Project is believed to possess the requisite volume of altered and gold-mineralized iron formation needed to contain a large, economic gold resource.
Since 2013, the Company has continued to expand its land position in the Rochford gold district by professional claim staking and by purchasing strategically located private properties that fall along two of the major sub-parallel structural trends that host Ledge-type gold mineralization. The Company now owns the largest land position in the Rochford greenstone belt and now possesses by far the largest and most comprehensive database for the district in modern day exploration history! The Rochford Project is vastly under-explored and has the potential to host several district scale gold discoveries.
In the coming weeks, Mineral Mountain will be providing exciting new information pertaining sampling results from our five strongest gold targets defined to data and details of our fully permitted 9,000 m drill program to test the Standby Mine target down-plunge.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd.
"Nelson W. Baker", President and CEO
Forward looking information
This release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("Forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including such things as future business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, expansion, growth of the Company's businesses, operations, plans and with respect to exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, permitting time lines, government regulation of exploration and mining operations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, limitations on insurance coverage, timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation and timing and results of future resource estimates or future economic studies.
Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "planning", "planned", "expects" or "looking forward", "does not expect", "continues", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "potential", "anticipates", "does not anticipate" or "belief" or describes a "goal" or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking information is based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including, the result of drilling and exploration activities, that contracted parties provide goods and/or services on the agreed timeframes, that equipment necessary for exploration is available as scheduled and does not incur unforeseen break downs, that no labour shortages or delays are incurred, that plant and equipment function as specified, that no unusual geological or technical problems occur, and that laboratory and other related services are available and perform as contracted. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, future events, conditions, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, prediction, projection, forecast, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of gold; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors disclosed in the company's publicly filed documents. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
SOURCE Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd.
Contact
Brad Baker, Vice-President Corporate Development & Director, (778) 383-3975 bbaker@mineralmtn.com, www.mineralmtn.com