Nevada King Gold drills 1.79 g/t gold over 51.8 metres at Atlanta mine, Nevada
Nevada King Gold Corp. [NKG-TSXV; NKGFF-OTCQX] reported assay results from eight vertical reverse circulation (RC) holes recently completed at its 5,166-hectare (51.6-km2), 100%-owned Atlanta gold mine project, located in the prolific Battle Mountain trend, 264 km northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.
All eight holes were drilled along Section 22-11N, with highlight intervals including 1.79 g/t gold over 51.8 metres located 150 metres west of the Atlanta pit and 1.45 g/t gold over 64 metres on the Atlanta mine fault zone (AMFZ).
Drill hole AT22NS-40 returned 64.1 metres of 1.45 g/t gold and 32.7 g/t silver. AT22NS-42 returned 19.8 metres of 1.82 g/t gold and 31.0 g/t silver. AT22NS-45 returned 36.6 metres of 1.35 g/t gold and 34.7 g/t silver. AT22NS-92 returned 50.3 metres of 1.07 g/t gold and 64.0 g/t silver. AT22NS-95 returned 25.9 metres of 1.63 g/t gold and 67.3 g/t silver. AT22NS-106 returned 41.2 metres of 0.84 g/t gold and 14.1 g/t silver. AT22NS-24 returned 51.8 metres of 1.79 g/t gold and 21.1 g/t silver. AT23WS-26 returned 30.5 metres of 0.33 g/t gold and 3.2 g/t silver.
Five of today’s holes were drilled across the AMFZ between the East Atlanta and West Atlanta faults. In this area, intercept grades range from 1.07 g/t to 1.82 g/t and average around 40 metres in length, with good continuity between holes, while adjacent historical core and RC holes saw gold grades ranging from 0.69 g/t to 1.80 g/t with intercept lengths averaging 27 metres. The company’s grades and intercept lengths show an appreciable increase against historical intercepts, due in large part to the historical drilling having missed the thick, higher-grade wedge of mineralization that comes to surface along the western side of the East Atlanta fault, highlighted in AT22NS-40, which hit 64.1 metres of 1.45 g/t gold starting at a depth of just 15 metres.
The three remaining holes released today are located west of the Atlanta pit and continue to extend mineralization northward along the West Atlanta graben (WAG), highlighted by AT23WS-24, which intercepted 51.8 metres of 1.79 g/t gold. At the far western end of Section 22-11N, historical hole DHRI-11-NRC05 reported 61 metres at 1.61 g/t gold, thus demonstrating the presence of strong gold mineralization farther westward across the WAG, where it remains open for further expansion.
Lower-grade mineralization found in AT23WS-26 (30.5 m at 0.33 g/t Au) is attributed to the hole having drilled down through a dacite porphyry intrusion that generally hosts anomalous to low grades (less than 0.40 g/t Au). This is in stark contrast to AT23WS-24 located only 30 metres east of AT23WS-26, which cut 51.8 metres grading 1.79 g/t gold within the strongly silicified contact breccia zone, and historical hole DHRI-11-NRC05, located 36 metres west of AT23WS-026, which hit 61 metres grading 1.61 g/t Au, almost all of which was hosted in a dacite intrusion. Such variation in gold grade and thickness over shorter distances highlights the need for understanding the structural controls that relatively tightly spaced drilling provides.
Calvin Herron, exploration manager, stated: “Section 22-11N spans the entire AMFZ and part way across the WAG, with drilling to date falling short of reaching the West Atlanta No. 2 fault that appears to bound the WAG’s western margin. High gold values seen within the dacite intrusion in DHRI-11-NRC05 indicate gold mineralization is increasing westward as the West Atlanta No. 2 fault is approached where additional holes are being drilled.
“The basement plumbing system beneath the WAG looks to be complex, so close-spaced drilling will help to decipher the structural patterns and accurately define the geometry of gold/silver mineralization. The dacite porphyry intrusion is noteworthy in that it appears to be a sill that was injected along the dolomite-volcanic unconformity. The dacite body is certainly an important plumbing feature, but its enigmatic origin requires deeper drilling in order to track it down.”
Nevada King is the third-largest mineral claim holder in the state of Nevada, behind Nevada Gold Mines (Barrick/Newmont) and Kinross Gold. Starting in 2016, the company staked large project areas hosting significant historical exploration work along the Battle Mountain trend located close to currently producing or past-producing gold mines. These project areas were initially targeted based on their potential for hosting multimillion-ounce gold deposits and were subsequently staked following a detailed geological evaluation.
District-scale projects in Nevada King’s portfolio include the 100%-owned Atlanta mine 100 km southeast of Ely, the Lewis and Horse Mountain-Mill Creek projects, both located between Nevada Gold Mines’ large Phoenix and Pipeline mines, and the Iron Point project, located 35 km east of Winnemucca, Nevada.
The company is well financed with cash of approximately $20-million as of June, 2023.