Almadex Minerals Ltd. presented an overview of the latest exploration findings from the wholly owned section of its Paradise project in Nevada. Over 1,730 hectares of totally owned Paradise land encircles an exposed, major hydrothermal alteration zone produced in volcanic rocks measuring 4.5 by 1.8 km.
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The quartz-alunite, pyrophyllite, and diaspore found in this alteration zone are typical of high-sulfur conditions above porphyry copper-gold systems. Almadex has used a Terraspec infrared spectrometer to map the modification. This work has defined a well-preserved porphyry lithocap with alunite core zones (with increasing Na-composition) haloed by dickite, hypogene kaolinite, and pyrophyllite.
The spectral data points from the rock chips were used in this work. The acid sulfate zones are surrounded by haloes of intermittent paragonitic illite. Halos of occasional paragonitic illite (grading to dominant muscovitic alteration) and chlorite in peripheral alteration halos (propylitic) encircle the acid sulfate zones.
There is at least one high-temperature core inside this large area of lithocap alteration; this is the Arena Hill Zone, a 1.2 km x 700 m area of high-temperature porphyry lithocap alteration containing Na-alunite, pyrophyllite, and diaspore.
Spectral imaging at Arena Hill resolved clear alteration vectors and temperature gradients that could be fluid routes leading to porphyry mineralization at depth.
This goal has been further enhanced by a recently finished soil sample effort over the Arena Hill zone, which defined a roughly 1 x 1 km high core zone for gold, molybdenum, arsenic, tellurium, and vanadium with low levels of manganese, lead, and zinc, but generally elevated levels surrounding it.
In many porphyry regions, this traditional geochemical pattern can be observed. The region is designated the high-temperature mineral vector to a potential underlying porphyry system, and the core anomaly overlaps spatially. Combining the soil geochemical anomaly and the alteration mineral vector designates a high-priority drill target for a concealed porphyry.
The company is debating whether additional exploratory activities, such as geophysical surveys, should be conducted before drilling to define the target further.
It is very special to define such a strong coincident alteration mineral and geochemical anomaly. We look forward to advancing this target towards a first pass deep exploratory drill program.
J. Duane Poliquin, Chairman, Almadex Minerals Ltd.
Almadex says that it has canceled the San Pedro and Victoria projects in Mexico to concentrate on its expanding project portfolio in the western and southwestern regions of the United States.
About the Paradise Project
Staking was used to acquire the Paradise project, which encompasses the critical porphyry target region. The property is roughly 8 miles southeast of Gabbs, Nevada, and 5 miles northeast of the abandoned Paradise Peak gold mine. It is accessible year-round by road. FMC Mining ran the Paradise Peak mine, operational from 1984 until 1994.
A reported 24.1 MOz of silver and 1.6 MOz of gold were produced. The Paradise Peak deposit is a system with a high sulfur content. The oxide gold mineralization that was previously mined was associated with acid sulfate alteration and vuggy silica.
At Paradise Peak, gold-rich porphyry copper alteration and mineralization were found beneath the high sulfur ore, defining this deposit as a classic porphyry lithocap. According to Almadex, the Paradise Project's altered geology and geology resemble Paradise Peak, with a sizable preserved porphyry lithocap and the possibility of high sulfuration and porphyry copper-gold mineralization.