Ridgeline Minerals samples 3.9% copper, 16.3 g/t gold at Big Blue Project, Nevada
Ridgeline Minerals Corp. [TSXV-RDG; OTCQB-RDGMF] reported additional high-grade surface rock chip results of up to 3.9% copper and 16.3 g/t gold, with visible gold (VG) noted in the same quartz veins hosting high-grade gold mineralization at the Big Blue porphyry Cu-Au project in Elko County, Nevada.
Sampling was completed by Ridgeline’s technical team with the highlight rock chips taken from a recently identified historical prospect pit located approximately 300 metres west of the high-grade Cu-Au rock chips announced June 27, 2024.
The company has since staked an additional 111 lode claims totalling 2,293 acres to fully encompass the proposed porphyry target on the west side of the property, which will be referred to as the Ohio target moving forward. The combined Big Blue property now totals 602 lode claims totalling 12,463 acres (approximately 50 km2).
Michael Harp, vice-president, exploration, commented: “Today’s rock chip results represent the highest-grade gold samples at the Big Blue project to date, with visible gold noted in our highlight rock chip sample. Between the Delker mine and Ohio targets we have defined a kilometre-scale porphyry Cu-Au footprint that exhibits increasing gold and molybdenum grades towards the Ohio target, which suggests a potential vector to the porphyry system to the west. Our IP geophysics survey is now complete and preliminary results indicate the potential for coincident chargeability anomalies at both porphyry targets, we eagerly anticipate the final IP results over the coming weeks.”
Surface sampling highlights – Ohio target: 3.9% Cu, 16.3 g/t Au, 0.03 g/t silver (Ag) and 0.1% Cu, 0.01 g/t Au, 0.1 g/t Ag, from two rock chip samples taken from separate quartz veins located in an outcropping historical prospect pit.
June 27, 2024, press release: 0.44% Cu, 9.56 g/t Au, 0.30 g/t Ag and 0.25% Cu, 0.10 g/t Au, 0.20 g/t Ag from two rock chip samples taken from two separate prospect pits with outcropping quartz veins.
The presence of highly elevated molybdenum (Mo) values in the four rock chips taken at the Ohio target (average of 219.6 parts per million (ppm) Mo) compared with 112 rock chips in the Delker mine area (average of 9.9 ppm Mo) continues to support the company’s interpretation that the porphyry system may be vectoring toward the west.
Previously reported rock chips at the Delker mine and Skarn Hill porphyry and skarn targets include: Delker mine: 10.80% Cu, 0.10 g/t Au, 4.51 g/t Ag and 4.88% Cu, 0.10 g/t Au, BDL Ag. Skarn Hill: 6.44% Cu, 0.16 g/t Au, 53.75 g/t Ag.
A total of 116 surface rock chips have been collected between Ridgeline and historical operators. Sample values range from below detection limit (BDL) to 15.49% Cu, BDL to 16.3 g/t Au and BDL to 53.75 g/t Ag (average 0.96% Cu, 0.28 g/t Au, 1.47 g/t Ag).
Big Blue is located approximately 75 kilometres (km) southeast of the city of Elko, Nev. The project includes the past producing Delker mine, which historically produced 94,434 pounds of copper averaging 6.2% between 1916 to 1917 from structurally controlled skarn deposits outcropping between the Delker mine and Skarn Hill adit.
The property shares its southern boundary with Reyna Silver’s Medicine Springs Ag-Pb-Zn (silver-lead-zinc) carbonate replacement (CRD) project and had seen limited modern exploration in over a century until Ridgeline staked the property in 2023.
The primary target at Big Blue is porphyry-skarn Cu-Au plus or minus Ag-Mo mineralization, with potential to discover polymetallic, carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) style mineralization as the system zones outward over 6+ km of strike toward the Medicine Springs project. This target model is analogous to the Butte Valley porphyry Cu-Au system, which is inferred to be the source of CRD mineralization at the company’s nearby Selena project.
Big Blue is 100% owned by the company and is comprised of a total of 50 km2 of highly prospective exploration ground that will benefit from Ridgeline’s systematic approach to discovery.
Ridgeline Minerals is a discovery focused precious and base metal explorer with a proven management team and a 201 km2 exploration portfolio across five projects in Nevada. The company is a hybrid explorer with a mix of 100%-owned exploration assets as well as two earn-in exploration agreements with Nevada Gold Mines at its Swift and Black Ridge projects and a third earn-in with South32 at its Selena project.