Multiple holes at Nevada King Gold Corp’s (TSX-V: NKG; OTCQX: NKGFF) drilling campaign at the Atlanta Mine Fault Zone in Nevada returned mineralization grades of 5.64 g/t Au over 42.8 meters, including 28.5 g/t over 7.6 meters.
On Thursday, the company released the assay results from nine vertical reverse circulation holes drilled at the Atlanta Gold Mine Project in the Battle Mountain Trend, approximately 264 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.
These holes were drilled to test the grade and thickness of mineralized fault blocks in the Atlanta Mine Fault Zone (AMFZ) and the West Atlanta Graben, moving towards the North Extension Target zone. The holes were drilled along Section 22-15N, north of the Atlanta pit.
This intercept is close to the true width of the mineralization. The only other historic drill hole in this area is DHRI-11-NRC04, located 15m to the northeast, which intercepted 1.49 g/t over 42.7 meters, including 4.01 g/t over 13.7 meters, but with no single sample interval exceeding 8.62 g/t Au. No other holes have been drilled in the immediate vicinity of this high-grade discovery, leaving room for further step-out drilling in the area.
Drilling in hole AT23WS-5C intercepted a thick gold mineralization zone west of the West Atlanta Fault, with a grade of 1.08 g/t Au over 112.7 meters. This thickness is five times greater than that reported in a nearby historic hole, KR98-21, which reported a grade of 1.19 g/t Au over 19.8 meters, but was unable to fully penetrate the mineralized zone due to strong fracturing in the rock.
Similarly, holes AT23WS-20 and AT22WS-4 have shown stronger grades over significantly thicker intervals compared to nearby historic hole DHRI-11-NRC04, which reported a grade of 1.71 g/t Au over 36.6 meters.
Location map for holes reported in this news release along drill section22-15N relative to the perimeter of the historical Atlanta Pit and footprint of the Gustavson 2020 NI 43-101 resource. Image via Nevada King.
Read more: NevGold issues $1.5M in shares to GoldMining Inc. for Nutmeg Mountain project
Read more: Visible Gold Mines discovers lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites on MegaLi lithium project
Nevada King reveals three mineralized zones along West Atlanta Fault
Cal Herron, the exploration manager of Nevada King, made three significant observations from the company’s drill fence along Section 22-15N. The first is that the high-grade intercept in AT23WS-22 has revealed three well-mineralized zones along the West Atlanta and the second West Atlanta Fault. The company plans to expand outward into the thick gold blanket in the West Atlanta Graben Target.
The second is that the repetition of high-angle faults and associated fault blocks observed in the southern and northern lines suggests good continuity of mineralization over an area of approximately 360 meters in a north-south direction and at least 150 meters wide within the portion of the West Atlanta Graben drilled so far. Historical holes indicate that the mineralization may extend further west and north beyond the currently drilled area.
The third is that Nevada King’s vertical drilling pattern and better sample recovery have more accurately defined the spatial distribution of gold mineralization compared to historic drilling. Some historic holes appear to have been terminated before fully testing the mineralized zones, as illustrated by the significant difference between Kinross’ angle hole KR98-21 and Nevada King’s vertical hole AT23WS-5C.
To explore the potential of the Atlanta mine further, the company’s exploration strategy includes re-drilling earlier holes and stepping out from recent discovery intervals to test mineralization to greater depths.
Cross section 22-15N looking north across the northern portion of the Atlanta Mine Fault Zone and West Atlanta Graben. Image via Nevada King Gold.
The comparison between historic drill intercepts and Nevada King’s recent findings in the West Atlanta Graben reveals that the historic drill intercepts did not accurately reflect the true thickness and grade of the mineralization.
This indicates the need for closely spaced holes that can thoroughly penetrate the mineralized zones, and emphasizes the differences in grade and thickness encountered by Nevada King compared to prior operators.
Nevada King Gold is a gold explorer operating in the Battle Mountain Gold trend in Nevada.
Shares rose 3.5 per cent on Thursday to trade at $0.44 on the TSX Venture Exchange.
.
Follow Joseph Morton on Twitter
joseph@mugglehead.com
