Aurion Resources Ltd. has provided the following update on its three wholly owned Logan Pass, Quinn and Bull, gold projects in Nevada which occur south of and along strike of the gold-prolific Battle Mountain-Eureka trend.
Aurion acquired these projects in late 2010 and early 2011. Field work was initiated in the spring of 2011 and has included geological mapping, prospecting and rock and soil geochemical sampling as well as high resolution, airborne Z-TEM and magnetic surveys on all three properties. Geotech Ltd was contracted to fly the helicopter-borne surveys and Condor Consulting has been contracted to provide post-survey interpretation.
Preliminary results of the airborne surveys are positive, with several anomalies outlined, supporting the geological model of carbonate-hosted Carlin-style gold mineralization on these properties. Geological and geochemical work to date is being compiled and discussions have been initiated in the pursuit of joint venture agreements on all three properties. Other project opportunities are being considered.
Logan Pass
At the 517 claim, 4300 ha Logan Pass project, a detailed 3 km long (N-S) by 1.5 km wide (E-W) (50 m sample spacing on 100 m spaced lines) soil geochemical survey was recently completed in the northeast portion of the property. Assay results have outlined a 3000 m long by 350 m wide zone of anomalous Au-Ag-As-Sb-Hg-Tl. A total of 803 samples were collected from a poorly developed soil horizon with 45 individual samples returning greater than 20 ppb Au to a maximum of 123 ppb Au.
At the Southpaw prospect on the north end of the soil grid, gold mineralization occurs in jasperoid breccias along structures over an area of 250 m by 225 m and individual structures returned assay results up to 19.3 g/t Au (grab) and 2.6 g/t Au over 4.0 m (chip/channel; previously reported, see July 27, 2011 Aurion press release).
Mapping in the south of the property has located the surface exposure of the contact between the Pogonip Group limestones and the underlying Notch Peak dolomite, the stratigraphic location of Newmont Mining's Long Canyon gold deposit. Gossanous lenses were found just below the contact.
A 412 line-km Z-TEM and magnetic survey was recently flown at 200 m line spacing over the property. Preliminary results are encouraging and will be reported when final results and interpretation are received.
Quinn
The Quinn properties comprise 248 unpatented claims covering 2073 ha in two individual blocks located in Nye County, southeastern Nevada, approximately 150 km SSE of the town of Eureka. Both properties contain gold-bearing jasperoids that lie on the margin of an Oligocene caldera. The eastern Quinn property hosts jasperoids in a 3 km long zone along the contact between Devonian Guillmette Fm carbonate rocks and altered Oligocene volcanics. The western Quinn property hosts jasperoids and associated mineral occurrences in a 4 km zone in the Ordovician Pogonip Group limestones. Primary targets are Carlin-type sediment-replacement gold deposits in the permissive carbonate stratigraphy and cross-cutting structures.
At Quinn East, recent chip/channel sampling of oxidized jasperoids over an area of 170 m by 100 m has returned assays of nil to 2.3 g/t Au over 2.3 m including length-weighted averages of 1.6 g/t Au over 9.6 m and 0.56 g/t Au over 50.7 m including 0.86 g/t Au over 27.8 m and 1.0 g/t Au over 8.8 m. These samples were anomalous in As, Hg, Sb and F. This zone is open to the east, west and south. Anomalous gold assays from nil to 0.70 g/t Au over 0.6 m were returned from jasperoid 700 m south of the zone.
At Quinn West, gold mineralized jasperoids were sampled over an area of 250 m by 125 m. Forty-five chip/channel samples assayed from nil to 2.6 g/t Au over 1.5 m and 1.1 g/t Au over 2.5 m and the average of all samples was 0.33 g/t Au over 1.1 m. These samples were anomalous in Hg and F. This zone is open in all directions.
A 451 line-km ZTEM and magnetic survey was recently flown at 200 m line-spacing over the properties. Preliminary results are encouraging and will be reported when final results and interpretation are received.
Bull Property
The Bull property, located in White Pine County in east-central Nevada, approximately 30 km southeast of Eureka, lies on the southern extension of the gold-prolific Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend, and comprises 299 unpatented claims covering 2500 ha.
The property lies approximately 6 km east of Midway Gold's Pan gold deposit (682,000 oz Au; Midway Gold website) and 8 km northeast of Ely Gold and Mineral's Mt Hamilton Centennial Deposit (400,000 oz Au; Ely Gold website).
In 1992, BHP drilled several shallow reverse circulation holes. The best intercept for which data has been recovered was 3 m of 2.05 g/t Au within a 9.15 m intercept grading 1.15 g/t Au starting at approximately 15 m below the surface.The central part of the Bull property contains gold-bearing jasperoid at the contact between the Joanna Limestone and Chainman Shale cropping out in a shallow pediment. Recent chip sampling of this jasperoid over an area of 80 m by 60 m returned values of up to 0.56 g/t Au over 3.5 m. These samples were also anomalous in As, Ba, Hg and Sb, consistent with Carlin-style sediment–hosted gold deposit geochemistry.
In the southwest part of the Bull property, two silicified hydrothermal breccia bodies up to 320 m long and 30 meters wide occur and are aligned northwest. They contain abundant clasts of silicified Joana (?) limestone and appear to intrude Pilot shale. Reconnaissance grab samples showed highly anomalous Ba, Hg and Sb. Systematic chip-channel sampling results are pending.
A 320 line-km Z-TEM and magnetic survey was recently flown at 200 m line-spacing over the property. Preliminary results indicate the presence of a major NW trending structure linking the silicified hydrothermal breccias in the southeast with the gold-bearing jasperoid in the central part of the property. Moreover, this structure is on-strike with Ely Gold's Mt Hamilton gold deposit 8 km southeast of the property boundary. Results of reconnaissance soil-lines and rock sampling across this structure are also pending.
"We are very encouraged by these early stage results especially since limited gold exploration efforts have been documented on these properties", stated Mike Basha, Aurion President and CEO. "Furthermore, the extensive jasperoid development and the numerous gold occurrences hosted by favourable carbonate stratigraphy that is known to host many deposits throughout Nevada bodes well for the discovery of new sediment-hosted Carlin-style gold mineralization".