Reviewed by Lexie CornerJun 7 2024
Nevada Canyon Gold Corp. announced that drilling commenced on the Lapon Canyon Project, a Nevada Canyon-owned royalty in Mineral County, Nevada.
Nevada Canyon recently acquired a 3 % Net Smelter Royalty on the Project, and Walker River Resources Corp. holds a 100 % undivided interest in it. The Project consists of 96 unpatented lode mining claims known as the Sleeper and Lapon Rose claim groups located in Mineral County, Nevada, in the northern portion of the Walker Lane gold trend.
Walker River Resources Corp stated on June 6th, 2024, that reverse circulation ("RC") drilling has commenced at the Lapon Canyon Project, located in Mineral County, Nevada, 60 km southeast of Yerington.
The initial drill program at Lapon Canyon in 2024 will include exploratory drilling around the historical Lapon Canyon Mine, the “Central Zone,” and the recently found “Hot Spot Zone.” Drill holes will be used to expand known gold-bearing mineralized zones along trend and at depth and to find new mineralization regions that have never been explored before.
Lapon Canyon’s “Hotspot Zone” is the main focus of the 2024 drill program. Following the blind, high-grade, near-surface discovery made in 2021, the company will conduct grid-style drilling across the target, probing for expansion of the mineralized zone in all directions as well as continuity with the mineralization of the “Central Zone.”
Grid drilling will consist of pads spaced around 30 m apart on a segment, with up to five holes planned per pad. The mineralization is not visible at the surface because it is overlain by roughly 3 m of loose colluvium, blinding the target while also allowing for faster drill road access and pad building at a lower cost.
Surficial mapping and rock sampling will be conducted on bedrock exposures near the Lapon Canyon gold targets. Walker’s primary goal is to obtain structural data on high-grade mineralization and the vast disseminated deposits surrounding it.
The company also announced that it has hired Serac Exploration of Vancouver, BC, a full-service mineral exploration consulting firm. Serac will manage and supervise the drilling database, perform geological mapping, create drill logs from RC chips, and create a three-dimensional model of the Lapon Gold project.
Serac’s preliminary interpretations of Lapon's historical data were utilized to create a geological model of the Central and Hot Spot zones, which has already significantly improved the planning and design of Walker’s impending 2024 drill program.
To date, Walker River has conducted extensive exploration work, with many drill hole intercepts indicating substantial gold potential. The drill programs at Lapon Canyon will include definition and systematic drilling on sections for geological modeling, exploration drilling to locate new gold mineralization, and extension of existing gold mineralization in various directions, including depth.
The findings of the 2024 drill programs and subsequent data compilation will allow for the development of an initial NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource on the Project.
About the Lapon Canyon Project
Lapon Canyon has a history of high-grade gold mining, with around 2,000 feet of underground workings in three adits. Historically, subterranean operations yielded multiple test values in the one-ounce-per-ton range. (NI 43-101; Montgomery & Barr, 2004).
The Project is located about 40 miles southeast of Yerington, Nevada, and is easily accessible by subsidiary state roads off the major highway (15 miles). A state power transmission line runs within two miles of the Project.