Lahontan Gold drills 0.89 g/t AuEq over 38.1 metres at Santa Fe mine, Nevada
Lahontan Gold Corp. [LG-TSXV; LGCXF-OTCQB] reported results from the first four reverse circulation rotary drill holes from the company’s 2023 7,000-metre phase 3 drilling campaign exploring the Calvada pit area of the company’s 19 km2 Santa Fe mine project in Nevada’s Walker Lane.
Past mining, historic drilling, and the company’s previously completed Phase One and Phase Two drilling programs had outlined significant oxide domain gold and silver resources (NI 43-101 compliant) west of the Calvada open pit that remain open along strike and down-dip. The four drill holes reported herein, totaling 883 metres, targeted these potential extensions to gold and silver resources.
Highlights include 38.1 metres grading 0.87 g/t gold and 2.5 g/t silver (0.89 g/t AuEq – gold equivalent) of oxide metallurgical domain mineralization in drill hole CAL23-004R including 10.6 metres grading 2.02 g/t gold and 2.4 g/t silver (2.04 g/t AuEq). This drill hole, coupled with earlier Lahontan drill results, shows that oxide gold and silver mineralization extends in a westerly direction from the Calvada pit along the Calvada Fault, a key target area for resource expansion.
Hole CAL23-001R returned 82.3 metres grading 0.68 g/t gold and 2.0 g/t (0.70 g/t AuEq) of oxide metallurgical domain mineralization, including 21.3 metres grading 0.93 g/t gold and 1.9 g/t silver (0.95 g/t Ag). This thick intercept should help expand the scale of the conceptual pit shell used to constrain mineral resources in future resource estimates. This intercept also contains a higher-grade interval which may be indicative of the margin of a “feeder” structure. Oxide gold and silver mineralization remain open below CAL23-001R generating yet another target for resource expansion at the Santa Fe Mine. Kimberly Ann, founder, CEO, president and director, commented: “These initial drill results confirm the presence of extensive oxide domain gold and silver mineralization west of the Calvada open pit. Modeling of this area during preparation of our Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) outlined multiple areas where new resources could be defined with in-fill and step-out drilling.
“These drill results confirm this interpretation of the resource model and open new areas for additional drilling. In addition, the high gold and silver grades seen in drill hole CAL23-004R (4.6 metres grading 3.25 g/t AuEq) suggests that we may have identified an important “feeder” zone for gold mineralization in the Slab-Calvada complex.”
Lahontan Gold is a Canadian mineral exploration company that holds, through its US subsidiaries, four top-tier gold and silver exploration properties in the Walker Lane of Nevada. Lahontan’s flagship property, the Santa Fe Mine, had past production of 345,000 ounces of gold and 711,000 ounces of silver between 1988 and 1995 from open pit mines utilizing heap-leach processing.
The Santa Fe Mine has NI 43-101 compliant Indicated Mineral Resources of 1,112,000 oz AuEq (grading 1.14 g/t AuEq) and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 544,000 oz AuEq (grading 1.00 g/t AuEq), all pit constrained (AuEq is inclusive of recovery. The company will continue to explore Santa Fe during 2023 and begin the process of evaluating development scenarios to bring the Santa Fe Mine back into production.