Viva Gold completes successful drill program at Tonopah Gold Project, Nevada
Viva Gold Corp. [TSXV: VAU; OTCQB: VAUCF] reported final drill results on its 14-hole, 2,105-metre fall 2024 reverse circulation drill program at its 100%-owned Tonopah Gold Project located on the prolific Walker Lane Mineral Trend in western Nevada, about 30 minutes’ drive south from Kinross Gold’s Round Mountain Project. Round Mountain has produced over 15 million ounces of gold.
“This program was highly successful in meeting its planned goals. We encountered shallow, high-grade mineralization in step-out drilling in four holes to expand the eastern resource area to the southeast, while another hole successfully extended mineralization to the north. One hole intercepted a thick package of mineralization in a large gap in drilling in the north central resource area. In addition to the successful infill and step-out drilling component of this program, an exploration discovery was made in a hole drilled six hundred meters south of the discovery zone, which intercepted above cutoff grade gold mineralization associated with a major fault structure in a previously undrilled portion of the property. This discovery requires additional follow-up drilling and may reflect additional resource potential along the entire 600- meter strike length between the discovery zone and this new discovery,” stated James Hesketh, President & CEO.
“Work is underway to develop a new NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate to include these new results, as well as the results from the previous two years of drilling. Sixty-four drill holes will be incorporated into our new resource and economic models. Our goals for 2025 include completing an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment and using that study to provide the scope for a Pre-Feasibility Study in the second half of 2025. Based on positive economic results, Viva would utilize this Pre-Feasibility study in combination with its advanced environmental baseline study work to initiate the development permitting process for the project.”
Highlights: Holes TG2420 to TG2423 were all drilled as 30 to 40-metre step-outs from known gold resource areas around the southern extent of the east main resource area.
TG2422 intercepted three horizons totaling 51.8 meters starting at a shallow depth of 23 metres depth averaging 2.0 g/t gold, including 13.4 metres at 4.5 g/t gold and 1.5 metres at 16 g/t Au.
TG2423 intercepted three zones totaling 19.8 metres starting at 34 metres depth at an average grade of 0.65 g/t Au.
TG2421 intercepted 7.6 metres starting at 41 metres depth averaging 3.7 g/t Au and TG2420 hit 10.7 metres at 0.70 g/t Au.
TG2424 was drilled at the northern extent of the east main resource area and intercepted 30.5 metres at 0.9 g/t Au starting at 128 metres depth including two zones each of 4.6 metres at 2.2 g/t Au and 2.6 g/t Au respectively.
TG2415 was drilled in the west main resource area to test the deepest area of known mineralization at Tonopah and was able to confirm 44.2 metres averaging 0.63 g/t gold in four zones, including 1.5 metres at 12.7 g/t Au, 4.6 metres at 2.6 g/t Au, and 3.0 metres at 4.2 g/t Au. This hole successfully confirmed mineralization in a large pocket of inferred material to the lowest elevation in the 2022 PEA resource pit shell.
TG2414, drilled to infill a large gap in the central northeast section of the main resource area intercepted a thick package of mineralization totaling over 41 metres at an average grade of 0.6 g/t Au.
TG2417 was drilled over 600 meters to the south of the original discovery zone at Tonopah. This hole was targeted based on a strong geophysical anomaly defined by Controlled Source Audio Frequency Magnetotellurics (CSAMT) survey.
Additional exploration along this trend is justified. TG2417 in combination with the known Midway Hills resource potential, located approximately 1.4 kilometers west of the main pit zone, demonstrates the potential for a significantly larger gold resource at Tonopah.