Ridgeline Minerals trenches 15.5% copper over 0.6 metres at Big Blue, Nevada
Ridgeline Minerals Corp. [RDG-TSXV; RDGMF-OTCQB; OGCO-FSE] reported bonanza-grade copper samples returning up to 15.5% from surface trenching at the Big Blue project, a porphyry/skarn copper-gold-silver exploration prospect located directly adjacent to Reyna Silver’s Medicine Springs CRD (carbonate replacement deposit) discovery in Elko County, Nevada. Ridgeline geologists collected 18 continuous trench samples at two trench locations and 14 surface rock chip samples in May 2023. Trench sampling confirmed historically reported mine grades at the past-producing Delker mine while wide-spaced reconnaissance rock chip sampling effectively doubled the mineralized footprint of the known system. Highlight results are detailed below.
Chad Peters, President and CEO, commented, “We knew Big Blue was a high-grade copper skarn when we staked it; however, today’s trenching results have exceeded expectations. What gets us especially excited is that the bonanza grades at the Delker Mine represent the oxidized skarn portion of a potentially much larger porphyry copper system feeding the entire district and we suspect that this porphyry lies to the southwest under shallow valley cover on Ridgeline’s ground.
“Our geologists are anxious to begin backpack drilling in June where they will target the projection of high-grade copper mineralization on trend of the Delker Mine, which currently exhibits a mineralized strike of over 1.5 kim towards the Skarn Hill adit to the southwest. We are still piecing together the story at Big Blue, and we anticipate additional porphyry and CRD targets to quickly develop as we continue to build out our geologic model and prepare the project for a maiden drill campaign.”
Trench Assay Highlights: Trench 1 (Delker Mine): 0.6 metres grading 15.5% Cu, 0.18 g/t Ag and 0.1% cobalt within 2.4 metres grading 4.6% Cu, 0.52 g/t Ag and 0.06% Co.
Trench sampling was conducted across the face and roof or “back” of the Delker Mine adit with the core of the mineralized horizon mined out during historical mining activities in 1916-1917.
Trench 1 is the first instance of strongly elevated cobalt mineralization sampled on the project. Backpack drilling on-strike of the Delker Mine is required to better understand the potential true thickness of the mineralized Cu horizon, which is currently estimated at 5-7 metres based on observed mining dimensions at the historical Delker Mine.
True thickness of sample intervals is estimated at 90%+ as all samples were taken perpendicular to bedding and lithologic contacts whenever possible.
Rock Chip Highlights: Select rock chip samples returned grades up to 10.8% Cu, 0.10 g/t Au, 4.51 g/t Ag (sample #32) and 5.8% Cu, 0.07 g/t Au, 0.63 g/t Ag (sample #21).
A total of 14 rock chip samples were collected in May 2023 ranging from 0.01-10.8% Cu, below detection limit (BDL) – 0.10 g/t Au and 0.10-4.51 g/t Ag (avg. 2.0% Cu, 0.02 g/t Au, 0.59 g/t Ag).
The Big Blue project is located 75 km) southeast of the city of Elko, Nevada. The project includes the past producing Delker Mine, which produced a reported 94,434 pounds of copper averaging 6.2% copper between 1916-1917 and shares its southern boundary with Reyna Silver’s Medicine Springs Ag-Pb-Zn Carbonate Replacement project (CRD). Mineralization occurs as high-grade skarn located proximal to northeast trending felsic dikes that are interpreted as bleeding off a potential porphyry source in the valley, which has never been drill-tested. The primary target at Big Blue is porphyry-skarn Cu plus or minus Au-Ag mineralization, which may be the source of distal CRD mineralization at Medicine Springs – analogous to the Butte Valley porphyry Cu-Au system inferred to be a source of CRD mineralization at the company’s nearby Selena project.
A large portion of the Project is covered by shallow, post-mineral gravels covering a roughly 5 km target area resulting in limited surface expression of the porphyry system. The 100% owned project is comprised of a total of 29 km2 of prospective exploration ground that has seen limited exploration since the early 1900s and will benefit from the Ridgeline teams systematic approach to discovery.
Ridgeline is a discovery-focused gold-silver explorer with a proven management team and a 192 km2 exploration portfolio across six projects in Nevada and Idaho.