Much of Carlin financing being done by Vancouver juniors

Most gold deposits in Nevada’s Carlin trend are associated with north-south-trending normal faults in both upper and lower plate rocks adjacent to the Roberts Mountain thrust fault. In recent years, higher grade sulphide deposits have been found at depth, including the American Barrick/New mont Post deposit and Newmont’s Capstone discovery, near the Bootstrap mine.

The richness and size of these deposits has tended to focus considerable attention on the Carlin belt and its exploration potential. And much of the exploration activity there is being financed by Vancouver juniors. Here is a sampling.

It probably won’t come as any surprise to learn that Pezim Group companies are among the largest landholders in the Carlin belt. Indeed, the group’s property holdings probably exceed those of Newmont, a major producer and explorer in the region. Drilling has started on Galveston Resources’ Carlin property and work is set to begin on the Golden Nevada and Pezgold Resource Corp. properties.

An agreement in principle has been reached whereby Galveston can earn a 50% interest in Pezgold’s 5,960-acre Carlin property in Eureka and Elko Counties. To earn that interest, Galveston must spend $1 million(us) on exploration and development over a 3-year period. The agreement was basically designed to consolidate Galveston’s interests in the area; Prime Exploration, a subsidiary of Murray Pezim’s merchant bank, Prime Capital, will manage the program.

Galveston’s claims are covered by overburden and cap rock, but they are very well positioned in the Carlin belt. The company has already completed a geochemical program and some surface geophysics; so they will drill areas where alternation and geochemical anomalies can be superimposed on structure. (Gold is associated with structure in the Carlin belt.) The initial drill program will probably involve the north group of claims followed by drilling to the south.

A rotary drill will be utilized to get through barren surface rock to the Roberts Mountain formation, followed by diamond drilling which will provide a good core sample for geological interpretation. In some places the cap rock averages from 500 to 1,000 ft, but on occasion it is much thicker.

No ground work has been done on the Pezgold property, so geophysics will be required prior to drilling. Once suitable targets are located, the drill program will commence, probably sometime this summer. Four claims held by Pezgold and six owned by Santa Fe Mining are being put into a package for exploratory purposes. Pezgold will have to fund $250,000 in exploration over three years on the combined properties, after which time it will be a 50/50 joint venture. Galveston has the right to earn 50% of Pezgold’s interest in these claims.

Diamond drilling is expected to begin on Ravenroc Resources (with Noranda as operator) property in about a month or so, as well as on Golden Nevada’s claims this spring.

Ravenroc has spent $800,000 on its property and $200,000 more has been budgeted for the next few months. At this point, Ravenroc will be vested as to 50%.

Skylark Resources (60%) and Pic Prospectors International (40%) have received permits from the U.S Bureau of Land Management to drill their pan property, in Elko Cty. It is situated about 12 miles northwest and on trend from Newmont’s recently announced drill hole, which returned 1,040 ft grading 0.48 oz gold per ton.

Access roads have been completed into the pan property and an induced polarization program will be run prior to drilling. Skylark is operator of the project and drilling should start in late March.

The pan claims are underlain by Tertiary, acidic flow domes and slightly older tuffs and tuffaceous sediments which are known to rest on a basement of Paleozoic siliceous sediments elsewhere in the Ivanhoe district. A poorly exposed linear zone of chalcedonic silica on the pan property could indicate a significant underlying epithermal mineralized system, the joint venture believes.

St. George Minerals has leased the High Dollar claim group (46 claims) near Carlin, about three miles south of the Gold Quarry and Maggie Creek mines. Located on the flank of a large aeromagnetic anomaly, the geologic setting is believed analogous to many operating mines in the Carlin trend. Its over all land position in the belt is about 12 square miles.

Staff geologists are preparing a comprehensive plan for drilling six major targets included in its Carlin West project. St. George may finance the work by equity or take on a joint-venture partner. Previous work included geochemical mapping, geologic mapping and a shallow drilling program which did not yield any significant results, probably because it was too limited in scope. The deep potential of the property was not tested.

Lord River Gold Mines has entered into an agreement with Teck Resources, giving Lord River the right to earn a 55% interest in the Trout Creek project which is also in Elko Cty. This part of Nevada is actually a sub-district of the Carlin trend which lies 10 miles south of Newmont’s Rain deposit. Gold mineralization at Trout Creek occurs in two jasperoid breccias that occupy north-west-trending fault structures.

Previous drilling by Amoco Minerals, Freeport Exploration, and Teck have partially defined two mineralized zones with the potential for developing up to 1 1/2 million tons of near surface reserves grading 0.04-0.05 oz gold per ton.

The Southern fault zone is exposed for 800 ft along strike and across 150-300-ft widths. A single drill hole by Amoco intersected 40 ft of mineralization grading 0.083 oz gold, and four holes completed by Teck last year averaged between 0.026 and 0.09 oz gold over widths ranging from 15 to 95 ft. Previous drilling on the Central fault zone intersected mineralization in two holes including 0.037 oz gold over 80 ft and 0.047 oz over 40 ft. A 4,000 ft drill program to further define these reserves will begin as soon as weather permits. The program will probably be financed by a rights offering to Lord River shareholders.

Multinational Resources, which for years has had a close association with Teck, has optioned a portion of Teck Resources’ (a U.S. subsidiary) Emigrant Springs project, in the southern part of the Carlin gold trend. Multinational can earn a 50% working interest in part of the project for $500,000 in expenditures over three years, certain royalty payments, and allowing Teck an option on 500,000 shares.

Emigrant Springs, which is about two miles northeast of Newmont’s Rain mine, has geological inferred reserves of 10 million tons grading 0.019 oz gold per ton in a near- surface deposit. The mineralization consists of silicified siltstones with disseminated gold at the base of the Webb formation. Untested targets include high grade feeder structures to the known mineralization and a deeper zone of mineralization in a down-faulted block. Drilling is to begin this spring.

Vancouver-listed Lexington Resources has reached an agreement to acquire a 50% interest in three sections (88 claims) held by Shoshoni Gold in the Carlin belt. Shoshoni, which has 202 claims under option from Teck Resources, can earn a 50% interest in the group for expenditures of $750,000(us) over three years and royalty payments to the underlying owner. Lexington can earn its interest for an expenditure of $250,000 in the next three years.

A joint venture consisting of Cornucopia Resources and Galactic Resources completed 265 drill holes on its Ivanhoe property last year. The program tested various zones on the 105,000-acre property including the Hollister which was drilled on a 400-ft grid. In-fill drilling was done on the Rowena/Ashby zone and three deep stratigraphic holes were also complete d. Oxide reserves are 43 million tons grading 0.034 oz gold. The joint venture is aiming for production on a heap leach basis later this year.