U.S. Gold Corp., a gold exploration and development company, has announced plans for the commencement of core drill testing of a previously untested, covered Carlin-type target on its Maggie Creek project, located directly east of Nevada Gold Mines' Gold Quarry mine and processing facilities.
Ken Coleman, U.S. Gold Corp.'s Chief Geologist, said: "We are very pleased to move forward with the initial assessment of this target concept in an area not previously tested due to thick post-mineral cover. Previous operators have looked at the property from the standpoint of shallow, opencast mineable and heap leachable deposit exploration. We have seen over the recent years an increase in exploration under cover for potentially high-grade, underground mineable gold deposits along the Carlin and Battle Mountain-Eureka Gold Belts. I think high-grade, underground mining is the future in Nevada and that the best opportunities for major discoveries will be under cover. Pursuing these opportunities will require proper mapping and sound geologic reasoning, supported by geochemical and geophysical tools. While we will continue to assess near-surface opportunities on our various projects, we will also be placing a stronger emphasis on concealed targets in areas of our projects that have been lightly tested or not previously explored."
Previous interpretations of the local structure and mineral potential of the Maggie Creek project have been based upon straight-line projections of the northeast striking Chukar-Alunite (CA) fault zone and related steeply dipping features in its footwall across several northwest striking faults, including the Good Hope fault. However, the CA fault zone dips 35 – 45° to the southeast, and as such, cannot be properly projected in a straight line across current topography and several northwest striking faults to the east of Gold Quarry. In addition, most of the major mineralization at Gold Quarry is located in the hanging wall of the CA fault zone, especially where it intersects with steeper dipping antithetics (i.e., Deep Sulfide Feeder faults). If the CA fault zone is truly through-going, then it should be projected along the Tertiary paleosurface and take into account offsets along the several Good Hope parallel faults that exist between Gold Quarry and Maggie Creek. Based upon those projections, we believe that the best potential for high-grade gold deposits of significant size exists in the southeast end of the Maggie Creek project, under post-mineral Carlin Formation cover.
George Bee, President and CEO, added: "This drill target is a well-thought out and promising effort to discover the next high-grade gold deposit on the Carlin Trend. Previous operators have encountered lower-grade, near surface mineralisation at Maggie Creek, but a new, high-grade discovery could be a game-changer and provide real value to shareholders."