Endurance Gold samples up to 9.66 g/t gold at Reliance, British Columbia
Endurance Gold Corp. [EDG-TSXV; ENDGF-OTC; 3EG-FSE] reported results from soil and biogeochemical orientation surveys conducted on the Olympic claims of its Reliance gold project in Southern British Columbia. The road-accessible property is located 4 km east of the village of Gold Bridge and 10 km north of the Bralorne-Pioneer gold mining camp, which has historically produced over four million ounces of gold.
The orientation survey, consisting of 432 talus fine soil samples and 317 Douglas Fir tree clippings, was designed to test two shear zones approximately three km east of the Royal shear that hosts the high-grade Imperial and Eagle deposits.
The combination of talus fine samples and biogeochemical samples has identified a geochemical anomaly along the Olympic trend with a strike length of 1.6 km which is open to expansion. The anomaly is defined by elevated arsenic (plus/minus antimony), giving a similar geochemical signature to the initial sampling that discovered the Eagle zone in 2020.
Prospecting and sampling have also identified high-grade gold-stibnite veins at the Enigma showing approximately 900 metres east of the Olympic anomaly. The Enigma veins are hosted in a 75-metre wide shear zone where grab samples returned assays up to 9.66 g/t gold and 11.9% antimony. The Enigma shear is exposed in outcrop on the south shoreline of BC Hydro’s Carpenter reservoir. Preliminary mapping of the Olympic anomaly and Enigma shear indicates strong iron-carbonate alteration similar to the Royal shear. Further prospecting and rock sampling are required in the area identified by the Olympic anomaly and Enigma shear.
The best assays for the seven grab samples collected across the Enigma shear included 4.10 ppm gold, 1.18 ppm silver and 6.78% antimony; 2.040 ppm gold, 0.56 ppm silver and 6.80% antimony; as well as 9.660 ppm gold, 2.09 ppm silver and 11.9% antimony.
“We are very encouraged with these preliminary results on the recently acquired Olympic claims,” commented Robert Boyd, CEO. “The recognition of the Olympic and Enigma trends within geologic settings similar to the Eagle zone continue to support our belief that the Reliance gold project is prospective for multiple additional gold deposits related to at least five regional-scale structures. All of these indicate potential for a multimillion-ounce epizonal orogenic gold camp on the Reliance property.”
The company can earn a 100% interest in the Olympic claims from Avino Silver and Gold Corp. [ASM-TSX, NYSE American; GV6-FSE]. The Olympic claims are immediately east of the Reliance claims that have been the focus of the company’s recent drilling programs. The Olympic claims were previously explored in the 1980s by various operators with historic results such as a 1988 drill hole that reportedly intersected 8.2 g/t gold over 3.48 metres. The claims have not seen any recent systematic exploration. Endurance Gold plans to follow up on these positive preliminary results in the 2023 field season.
The Reliance gold project is interpreted to host a shallow-level (epizonal) orogenic gold system. Gold mineralization is directly related to varying amounts of arsenopyrite, stibnite and pyrite as sulphide replacement and multigenerational breccias often with associated pervasive silicification, quartz stockwork and/or quartz breccia infill. To date, 75% of drill holes reported have returned significant gold mineralization with highlight intersections such as 15.7 g/t gold over 24.7 metres. In 2022, the company conducted 2,455 metres in 33 reverse circulation drill holes and 8,274 metres in 38 diamond drill holes with the goal of expanding the Eagle zone discovery. Assay results are pending for 14 drill holes and results are expected to be reported in January.
The Reliance gold project is subject to three option agreements: the initial option agreement on the Reliance gold property was entered into in September 2019; the second option agreement on the Olympic claims was finalized on Oct. 13, 2022; and the third letter option agreement on Sanchez claims was entered into on October 20, 2022.