Mar 26 2016
Pilot Gold Inc. is pleased to announce that it has commenced infill and step outdrilling on the 7 km-long "Historic Mine Trend" on its Goldstrike Project in southwestern Utah.
The primary target is Carlin-style shallow, oxide gold mineralization. Pilot Gold acquired 100% of the Goldstrike Project through the acquisition of Cadillac Mining Corporation in August, 2014.
Previous mining at Goldstrike occurred from 1988 to 1994, with 209,000 ounces of gold produced from 12 shallow pits, at an average grade of 1.2 grams Au/tonne. Historical gold recovery is documented to be 75% from run of mine and crushed ore(1).
Over a 12-month period, the Company compiled and digitized approximately 20 years of historical exploration and mining data, including 1519 shallow drill holes, ~100,000 blast holes and surface geological and geochemical data. A robust 3D model was generated, followed by a successful "proof of concept" 18 hole RC drill program in late 2015.
Highlights -- Goldstrike "Historic Mine Trend" Compilation
- Oxide gold mineralization remains in areas under and adjacent to 12 historical pits that are linked together by historical drill results along a 7 km long, "Historical Mine Trend". For a map of historic drill holes please click here: http://pilotgold.com/sites/default/files/2016.03-PLG-Goldstrike-Historic-Mine-Trend-Maps.pdf
- The Historic Mine Trend has exposed oxide gold mineralization throughout a 14 square km area.
- Previous operators focused drilling and mining primarily in areas of exposed gold mineralization, with very little drilling outside of these areas. Pilot Gold has confirmed by drilling that the mineralized zone is open for extension under shallow cover to the NW of the pits.
- Oxide gold mineralization occurs primarily at the base of Eocene Claron Formation conglomerate and sandstone, and is associated with anomalous As, Sb, Hg, Tl, Fe-oxide and jasperoid, hallmarks of Carlin-style mineralization. The Claron Formation lies unconformably on Paleozoic carbonate rocks, and is overlain, in turn, by Miocene mafic to intermediate volcanic rocks.
- 6 additional, oxide gold-bearing windows of basal Claron Formation occur within a 28 square km area NW of the Historic Mine Trend. All are considered priority exploration targets. Claron Formation that is not exposed but overlain by Miocene tuffs will also be targeted by RC drilling.
RC infill and step-out drilling commenced on the Historic Mine Trend on March 2, 2016 within kilometre 6 south block (Km 6 S), and has progressed to the Km 6 N and Km 5 N blocks. For a map showing the template of blocks Km 1 to Km 7, showing the historic pit outlines and 2016 proposed drilling please click here:
http://pilotgold.com/sites/default/files/2016.03-PLG-Goldstrike-Historic-Mine-Trend-Maps.pdf
2016 Drill Program
The objective of the 2016 drill program is to target unmined and/or undrilled areas between and around the historic pits, and to drill test down-dip to the north of, and laterally beyond, the Historic Mine Trend into areas where gold has been confirmed but not systematically drilled off. The holes will average approximately 150 metres in length, with up to 20 holes drilled per month. The scope of the program is open-ended and dependent on results. At least 100 drill holes are covered in the Phase 1 2016 drill budget.
The objective is to advance the Goldstrike Project to a resource estimate by year end, incorporating new and historical RC drill hole data over a broad area.
Historic Drill Database
Pilot Gold inherited a very large amount of data pertaining to previous exploration and mining, including original assay certificates, drill chip trays, core and other data vital to reconstructing the remaining gold endowment and controls on mineralization at Goldstrike.
Data includes 1519 historic drill holes, of which 1242 are located in the Historic Mine Trend and 277 are located elsewhere on the property.
Average hole depth was 63 metres with only 9 holes deeper than 300 metres.
1270 of the 1519 historic drill holes (84%) contained detectable gold.
On the Historic Mine Trend, 66% of the drill holes graded 2.5 gram-metres (g/t Au multiplied by number of metres in the interval) or more. 634 (41%) of the historical drill holes graded 10 gram-metres or more.
Thickness of oxide gold intercepts along the Historic Mine Trend averaged 15 metres with thicknesses up to 90 metres noted.
(1) Previous mining data sourced from: Willden, R., 2006, Goldstrike Mining District, Washington County, Utah: in bon, R.L., Gloyn, R.W., and Park, G.M., eds., Mining Districts of Utah: Utah Geological Association Publication 32, p. 458-476
2015 Pilot Gold Confirmation Drill Results
The Q4 2015 RC drill program confirmed the geological model for extension of the Goldstrike mineralized system under shallow cover. Eleven of the 18 drill holes returned intercepts of at least 10 gram-metres (see press releases dated, January 14, 2016 and December 1, 2015).
- 6.1 metres grading 3.27 g/t Au
- and 3.0 metres grading 0.86 g/t Au
- and 7.6 metres grading 0.92 g/t in PGS002
- 39.6 metres grading 1.01 g/t Au in PGS003
- 41.1 metres grading 0.84 g/t Au in PGS004
- 35.1 metres grading 0.85 g/t Au in PGS007
- 22.9 metres grading 1.68 g/t Au in PGS008
- 36.6 metres grading 1.06 g/t Au in PGS010
- 15.2 metres grading 0.84 g/t Au in PGS011
- 18.3 metres grading 2.72 g/t Au in PGS012
- 71.6 metres grading 0.48 g/t Au in PGS013
- 39.6 metres grading 0.47 g/t Au in PGS014
- 27.4 metres grading 0.66 g/t Au in PGS016
Two of the 18 drill holes were lost due to adverse ground conditions and two missed the target interval due to fault offsets.
Goldstrike Property and Historical Activity
Goldstrike is located in the eastern Great Basin, immediately adjacent to the Utah/Nevada Border, and is a Carlin-style gold system, similar in many ways to the prolific deposits located along Nevada's Carlin trend. Like Kinsley Mountain and Newmont's Long Canyon deposit, Goldstrike represents part of a growing number of Carlin-type systems located off the main Carlin and Cortez trends in largely underexplored parts of the Great Basin. The Goldstrike Property comprises 96 km2 of US federal lode claims, patented (private) claims and Utah State leases. The historic mine is now fully reclaimed.
Goldstrike Geology
Oxide gold mineralization is dominantly hosted in sandstone and conglomerate in the basal portion of the Eocene Claron Formation, along a regional unconformity that is virtually untested where it dips under shallow sedimentary and volcanic cover. The Claron Formation extends down dip of mineralized surface exposures, which are present throughout the northern half of the Goldstrike Property, an area covering approximately 42 km2. The entire area is considered prospective for gold mineralization. In addition to the exposures in the Historic Mine Trend, six other large windows to the northwest of the Historic Mine Trend expose the basal Claron Formation, and all contain drill-tested oxide gold mineralization. In particular, the Mineral Mountain area, located approximately 4 km north of the Historic Mine Trend and as described in the Report (as defined below), contains a current Inferred Resource of 41,144 ounces of gold, contained in 3.4 million tons of material grading 0.0122 ounces per ton of gold. Additional drilling may expand the mineralized footprint of this zone, which is open in several directions, and is planned for 2016.
Gold is also present in Mississippian through Permian carbonate shelf strata immediately underlying the Claron Formation, where they constitute the principal host rocks in the westernmost two pits on the Historic Mine Trend. While these rocks are more typical of Carlin-style host rocks, and are exposed over the entire southern half of the property, they have not been extensively tested. The overall potential in these rocks is relatively unknown, but presumed to be significant.