Rift Anticline
Overview
Drilling programs at Avocado and Serena in 2017 – 18 intersected strong Carlin-type alteration in favorable units of the Wenban Formation, and Serena holes SR17-02 and SR18- 02 intersected high-grade (>9 g/t) gold values in narrow (5 – 10m thick) intervals of favorable Wenban Unit 5; overall trends suggest that strong mineralization continues to the west of Serena. Hole WS18-01, drilled ~ 500m west of Serena intersected a 90 meter thickness of Wenban Unit 5, showing that thicker sequences of favorable host rock exist to the west. The hole also returned a low-grade gold value associated with a low-angle structure in lower Wenban, indicating that low-angle faults may be important fluid conduits for mineralization.
The results of WS18-01, coupled with interpretations from >60 line-km of CSAMT surveys, gravity data, comprehensive drill hole relogging and the overall trend of gold and trace-element values in historic drilling suggested that a large anticlinal structure occurs under relatively shallow (250 – 300m) volcanic and gravel cover ~700 meters west of the Serena and Western Slope targets. This newly-defined and recently drilled “Rift Anticline” structure contains much thicker sequences of favorable Wenban Unit 5 host rock (please see news release dated Nov 25, 2020) than seen to the east, and offers target potential for a large Carlin-type system analogous to Nevada Gold Mines’ Goldrush deposit 10 km to the northwest. Initial drill testing focused on the target zone to the north, which is best-defined from existing data; during 2021 the drill campaign will expand to testing of the entire 4 – 5 km strike length of the target zone.
