LITERATURE REVIEW SPECIAL — Getchell ups gold resource for Turquoise Ridge deposit

With the headframe up and the hoist installed at the Turquoise Ridge gold project in northern Nevada, operators are turning their attention to sinking a ventilation shaft.

Getchell Gold (GGO-X) chose to accelerate development of the project in 1995, when it proved up a reserve. But the quick decision meant the company did not have time to delineate the deposit fully. Now that construction is proceeding, the company has time to evaluate the project’s geologic potential more comprehensively.

Results from drilling in the spring and summer show that the activity has been worth the effort — the company announced the discovery of another high-grade deposit, about 1,000 ft. south of the main reserve area.

Information from six other core holes was used to determine a resource of 750,000 oz. gold. Further drilling in the second quarter has increased this resource by 750,000 oz. to 1.5 million oz. at an average grade of 0.454 oz.

per ton. As a result, this boosts the total inferred geologic resource, including minable reserves, to 6.5 million oz. gold.

Geologists at Getchell now believe mineralization extends over a distance of about 3,000 ft., from the main Turquoise Ridge deposit southeast through the shaft area to beyond the Powder Hill area. Mineralization is still open in all directions.

Recent exploration has consisted of infill drilling; 20 holes have been drilled to date, and seven more are in progress. Also, five core and six reverse-circulation rigs are working on the property. Selected results are highlighted in the table below, including hole DW3, which is the discovery hole for a promising resource in the shaft area.

Meanwhile, development work on the main deposit continues as planned. The ventilation shaft has been sunk to the 400-ft. level, where the company is installing a pump station for dewatering.

The production shaft, which has been sunk to 85 ft. with a diameter of 24 ft., will be lined with concrete, and the headframe will be 150 ft. high.

In the second quarter, Getchell recorded a loss of US$2 million (or 8 cents per share) on revenue of US$17.1 million, compared with a loss of US$16.5 million (91 cents per share) on US$17.7 million for the same period in 1995.

The company produced 41,731 oz. gold in the recent quarter, and 77,910 oz.

over the first six months of the year.

Hole	Interval(ft.)	Thickness(ft.)	Gold(oz./ton)
94-224	923-969	46	0.32
96-13	1688-1704	16	0.417
	1808-1838	30	0.451
96-34	1350-1384	34	1.203
	1686-1710	25	0.261
96-35	1962-1973	11	0.256
	2408-2456	48	0.366
96-58	1163-1219	56	0.486
	1354-1374	20	0.729
	1501-1520	19	0.516
96-61	890-902	12	0.698
96-64	1317-1347	30	0.369
	1710-1723	13	0.273
96-DW3	1360-1395	35	0.539
	1420-1430	10	0.376
	2150-2210	60	0.365
	2320-2355	35	0.535