Nevada King Gold reviews phase II drilling at Atlanta mine project, Nevada
Nevada King Gold Corp. [NKG-TSXV; NKGFF-OTCQX] provided an update on its 2023 phase II, 30,000-metre resource expansion and definition drilling 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.
Highlights: Since the start of the phase II Atlanta drill program on June 13, 2022, Nevada King has completed 174 reverse circulation (RC) holes totalling 25,250 metres and 14 core holes totalling 1,215 metres, for a total of 26,465 metres drilled.
To date, Nevada King has reported assays from 97 holes covering 11,964 metres with results from 91 drill holes totalling 14,501 metres currently pending.
The company is utilizing two rigs, which are focused on drilling the newly discovered West Atlanta Graben, a large-scale and potentially company-changing target, striking approximately 500 metres north-south on the west side of the West Atlanta fault. Recent drill results and an updated interpretation of this target were announced on March 20, 2023, with highlight intervals including 1.03 g/t gold over 181.4 metres and 0.98 g/t gold over 163.1 metres.
The company plans to procure additional rigs to accelerate its phase II drilling program as operational conditions improve through spring.
Cal Herron, exploration manager of Nevada King, stated: “Phase II program results to date have been successful in outlining two strongly mineralized zones, the Atlanta Mine fault zone (AMFZ) and the newly identified West Atlanta Graben target (WAGT). Both zones remain open and will see additional drilling. The AMFZ is roughly a 150-metre wide braided network of veins traced over a 600 m north-south strike length. It is characterized by 30 to 50 metres thick beds starting at the bottom of the historic Atlanta Pit that are down dropped to the west.
“The area is highly fractured and faulted and is fed by multiple fluid pathways responsible depositing the gold mineralization. The AMFZ is primarily hosted in silica breccia and returns average grades of two to four g/t Au, with high-grade intervals that exceed one ounce per ton gold. The West Atlanta Graben target is located directly west of the AMFZ and principally is a 75 metres to 200 metres thick mineralized zone averaging between 0.5 g/t and 1.5 g/t gold.
“The WAGT target runs 500 metres north-south and 200 metres east-west. Mineralization is hosted in volcanics and is strongly oxidized and is being tested for its amenability to heap leach extraction. Aside from these two zones, several other high-priority drill targets remain. Additional drilling will further test the North Extension and the South Extension targets. The East Ridge target remains completely undrilled, while historic drilling west of the West Atlanta Graben also shows great promise for further gold mineralization.
“Starting with our initial drill program in 2021, it soon became apparent more mineralization exists within and adjacent to the Gustavson 2020 resource zone than was evident in the historical drilling. The company’s closer-spaced, vertical hole strategy revealed a complicated pattern of subparallel fault offsets within the mineralized zone, and the ensuing structural model allowed us to predict where to place step-out holes in order to maximize both grade and thickness.
“The historical drilling had already given us a good idea of what the low-grade mineralization looked like, but our new structural model has given us the means to discover higher grade and greater thickness to add to the overall resource along the numerous feeder structures responsible for mineralizing the deposit. There is a lot more to find here and Nevada King will keep aggressively pursuing more ounces.”
Phase II drilling highlights: On March 20, 2023 , Nevada King announced the discovery of the new “West Atlanta Graben Target” with thick oxide gold hits including 1.03 g/t gold over 181.4 metres and 0.98 g/t gold over 163.1 metres. Gold mineralization in this zone is found in 75 metres to 200 metres thick intervals ranging from 0.5 g/t gold to 1.5 g/t gold. It is strongly oxidized and this style of mineralization is more traditionally amenable to heap leach extraction. Refer to original press release for more drill results.
Nevada King is the third largest mineral claim holder in the State of Nevada, behind Nevada Gold Mines (Barrick/Newmont) and Kinross Gold. 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 funded with cash of approximately $8.4 million as of March 2023.
The Atlanta Mine is a historical gold-silver producer with a NI 43-101 compliant pit-constrained resource of 460,000 oz gold in the measured and indicated category (11.0M tonnes at 1.3 g/t) plus an inferred resource of 142,000 oz gold (5.3M tonnes at 0.83 g/t).