Jun 1 2016
Gold Standard Ventures Corp. (“Gold Standard” or the “Company”) today reported that drilling has begun with one reverse circulation (RC) rig and one core rig at the North Dark Star target on its 100%-owned/controlled Railroad-Pinion Project in Nevada’s Carlin Trend. Another two rigs are currently drilling the North Bullion lower breccia target as announced on May 18, 2016. One additional core rig will be added and dedicated to the North Dark Star program in the near-term.
This year’s US$13.4 million exploration program includes up to 43,000 m of RC and core drilling in a total of 100 holes (see February 23, 2016 news release). The program is designed to aggressively follow-up on 2015 drill results at the North Dark Star oxide gold discovery, expand known resources at Dark Star and Pinion and test new high-value targets at North Bullion and Bald Mountain.
Jonathan Awde, CEO and Director of Gold Standard commented: “North Dark Star and its surrounding targets are top priorities in this year’s drill program. Last year’s discovery found exceptional grade and thickness at shallow depths within a structural setting that is a hallmark of many of the best Carlin gold deposits. The Dark Star system has quickly emerged as a very large and exciting exploration opportunity.”
Key Dark Star Highlights
- At the North Dark Star discovery, located 515m north of the Dark Star maiden resource, about 10,300 m of RC and core drilling in 22 holes will be completed to expand areas of known shallow oxide gold mineralization north and south of DS15-13, a 2015 core hole that returned 4 meters of 1.85 grams gold per tonne (g Au/t) and 97.0 meters of 1.61 g Au/t (see January 21, 2016 news release) (click the following link for photo of Dark Star and North Dark Star: http://goldstandardv.com/lp/dark-star-north-dark-star-photo/). North Dark Star remains open in multiple directions. Within the Dark Star Corridor (DSC), the gold mineralization at both the new North Dark Star discovery and the Dark Star maiden resource occurs within a horst (uplifted block) of permissive Pennsylvanian-Permian carbonate host rocks in the footwall of a large-displacement normal fault on the east side of the horst. This Pennsylvanian-Permian section represents a new host rock on the Carlin Trend.
- Within the 7 km-long DSC, 22 holes for a total of about 10,100 m of RC drilling will be completed to test new targets south of the Dark Star maiden resource. The DSC is a north-trending horst of prospective Pennsylvanian-Permian host rocks that are largely untested by drilling.
- To the north and west of North Dark Star, test previously undrilled targets with structural similarities to last year’s North Dark Star discovery as identified by a recent CSAMT survey over the DSC (see May 24, 2016 news release). These highly prospective targets include a newly-found northern extension of the DSC and a previously unknown parallel horst 450m west of the DSC.
Mac Jackson, Gold Standard’s Vice president of Exploration stated, “We have been chomping at the bit, waiting for access to dry out so that we can get back to drilling our North Dark Star discovery and other targets in the Dark Star Corridor. These targets have all the ingredients we look for, including dike-filled faults, crossing faults at typical Carlin Trend orientations, widespread alteration and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate rock host section. The Dark Star Corridor has evolved into a very large and robust mineral system with unknown limits. The recently completed CSAMT was the last refinement of our work, and we are excited to begin testing targets.”
Sampling Methodology, Chain of Custody, Quality Control and Quality Assurance:
All sampling was conducted under the supervision of the Company’s project geologists and the chain of custody from the project to the sample preparation facility was continuously monitored. A blank or certified reference material was inserted approximately every tenth sample. Dark Star samples were delivered to Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories preparation facility in Elko, NV. The samples are crushed, pulverized and sample pulps are shipped to Bureau Veritas certified laboratory in Sparks, NV or Vancouver, BC. Pulps are digested and analyzed for gold using fire assay fusion and an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish on a 30 gram split. All other elements are determined by ICP analysis. Data verification of the analytical results includes a statistical analysis of the standards and blanks that must pass certain parameters for acceptance to insure accurate and verifiable results.
The scientific and technical content and interpretations contained in this news release have been reviewed, verified and approved by Steven R. Koehler, Gold Standard’s Manager of Projects, BSc. Geology and CPG-10216, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.