Feb 7 2017
Nevada Exploration Inc. ("NGE" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:NGE)(OTCQX:NVDEF) is pleased to announce that it has received assay results for the first eleven drill holes of its current drilling program at NGE's Kelly Creek Basin Project using its newly-commissioned Scorpion Drill Rig (see news release dated October 31, 2016). NGE is very pleased to report that the drilling has encountered mineralized bedrock much shallower than previously indicated at an average depth of 67 metres (220 feet) at six separate locations over a 10km2 (4mi2) area, and that the alluvium on the bedrock contact contains elevated gold of up to 0.15g/t coincident with elevated gold in groundwater along the bedrock contact of up to 890ppt. NGE is also pleased to report that it has reduced its all-in drilling costs (including geology and analytical) with its Scorpion Drill Rig down to approximately $125US/metre ($38US/foot), which represents a 60% reduction in NGE's drilling costs for shallow, early-stage drill holes, and that NGE expects these costs to continue to fall towards its goal of $82US/metre ($25US/foot).
With the Scorpion Drilling results, along with NGE's earlier work, NGE has defined four mineralized targets at Kelly Creek. NGE is now drilling a cross section of approximately 10 drill holes across the first target, which is associated with a high-angle fault zone, similar in size and orientation to Newmont's nearby Lone Tree Mine (+5Moz), delineated by hydrogeochemistry and by gravity and seismic geophysics, and confirmed by earlier orientation drilling. NGE plans to continue its Scorpion Drilling program at Kelly Creek to complete similar cross sections at the three additional targets.
Wade Hodges, NGE's CEO explains: "These early results at Kelly Creek demonstrate the validity of our systematic and integrated exploration program. We are pairing good geology and conventional tools with new exploration targeting and drilling technology to lead the industry in under-cover exploration in Nevada. Major covered gold deposits are often associated with larger footprints of transported mineralization at the alluvium/bedrock contact in the immediately overlying alluvium, bedrock, and groundwater. We are using our Scorpion Drill Rig at Kelly Creek to collect drill samples of the alluvium and bedrock, as well as 3D groundwater samples, to reduce the search area and vector towards mineralization. We are presently focused on constraining the first of perhaps four mineralized footprints similar in size and orientation to Newmont's nearby Lone Tree Mine by following a trail of increasing gold and supporting trace-element geochemistry along the bedrock contact. By dramatically lowering the costs of early-stage drilling, we are significantly increasing our data density, allowing us to open up this new, otherwise blind and covered search space in a basin surrounded by more than 70Moz of gold. This is a game changer for Nevada."