Aug 25 2016
Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. ("Pacific Ridge" or the "Company") reports that it has acquired an option to earn a 100% interest in the Poker Brown gold-silver project, Nevada. Poker Brown is road accessible and located 190 km from Reno, in Pershing County, Nevada. The target is a large, bulk tonnage, heap leachable gold deposit. Numerous gold mines and advanced projects are located within an 80 km radius of the property, including Hycroft, Rosebud, Florida Canyon (12 km east of Poker Brown, recently acquired by Rye Patch Gold Corp.), Standard, Rochester, Relief Canyon, Majuba Hill, Wilco and Trinidad.
About Poker Brown
Poker Brown is a Tertiary-aged intrusive-related gold-silver prospect. Gold was first discovered in 1875 and a small amount of production from high grade quartz veins is recorded up to 1926. Little modern exploration has been carried out on the property. The current owners have completed rock sampling and mapping programs and have defined a 1,200 by 600 m zone of alteration and gold enrichment, open to the east, south and west. Outcrop exposure is minimal.
Two styles of alteration-mineralization with bulk tonnage potential have been noted. Shear hosted mineralization consists of clay-sericite-limonite±silica alteration with up to 10% sheeted quartz-limonite veinlets. Fifty-six samples collected by the property vendors from four east-northeast striking shears average 0.68 g/t Au and 60 g/t Ag, with the 10 high-grade assays cut to 2.0 g/t Au and 200 g/t Ag. Twelve samples taken from two north-northwest striking shears average 0.50 g/t Au and 52.5 g/t Ag.
The second mineralization style is a quartz-clay-sericite-calcite altered hydrothermal breccia exposed in scattered prospect pits and small outcrops. The breccia clasts include silicified slate, quartz-limonite veins and quartz veins, in a crushed rock flour matrix with clay-limonite-calcite and late calcite veinlets. Twenty-one breccia samples from the pit dumps and float average 0.34 g/t Au and 78 g/t Ag.
Proposed Program
Gold at Poker Brown is associated with limonite within the stockwork and breccia, which is most likely derived from the oxidation of pyrite. The nearby Florida Canyon mine, with similar alteration and mineralization, is oxidized to depths of 200 m.
The Company plans an Induced Polarization geophysical survey designed to test for sulphide mineralization at depth. The information from this program, when combined with current geological and sampling information, will guide a planned drill program.
Acquisition Terms
The Company has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Poker Brown property by making payments totaling US$1 million and making advanced royalty payments of US$940,000 to the underlying property owner over 8 years. No payments are due in year one. In addition, two bonus cash payments of US$500,000 are payable on cumulative exploration expenditures of US$5 million and US$8 million. Underlying royalties include a 2.5% NSR that can be bought down to 2% for US$500,000 and a 0.5% NSR capped at US$500,000.