Drilling Commences On White Horse Flats Project
VANCOUVER, BC - Columbus Gold Corporation reported that drilling has commenced at its White Horse Flats gold project in Nevada, where joint-venture partner, Navaho Gold Ltd., can earn an initial 51% interest by completing minimum exploration expenditures.
White Horse Flats is located approximately 43 km (27 miles) south of Wendover, Nevada. The property is 13 km (8 miles) east of the Kinsley Mine, which has reported past production from a Carlin-type deposit.
Navaho reports that the drill program at White Horse Flats will test the down-dip extensions of outcropping zones of highly gold anomalous silicification (rock chip samples ranging from 0.32 to 1.82 ppm) as well as a number of structural targets identified from the interpretation of gravity data, collected by Navaho. Approximately 1,500 m (4,921 ft) of reverse circulation drilling will be completed in 8-10 holes. Navaho expects initial results to be received this month.
White Horse Flats covers three small hills and portions of the surrounding pediment. Exposures on the three hills are limestones and siltstones of Permian age, overlain by a cap of silicification. The silicification forms a discontinuous north to south belt approximately 2,130 m long and up to 150 m wide (7,000 ft long and up to 500 ft wide). Silicification varies from weak to strong with common liesegang banding and is almost everywhere anomalous in gold (from 30 to 1,817 ppb gold), associated with anomalous arsenic, antimony, and mercury. The mineralization is Carlin-type.
Detailed surface sampling by Columbus Gold delineated a significant area approximately 165 m long and 60 m wide (550 ft long and 200 ft wide) yielding 16 samples ranging from 0.32 to 1.82 g/t (0.01 to 0.05 opt) gold. The zone is covered with alluvium on its north and east sides.
Historical drilling of 27 holes by Energy Reserves Group located a number of mineralized zones under the valley pediment approximately 550 m (1,800 ft) SW from the area of surface sampling by Columbus. A drill hole intersected 6.1 m (20 ft) averaging 0.64 g/t (0.019 opt) gold from 43 m (141 ft). Another hole intersected 3 m (9.8 ft) averaging 0.5 g/t (0.015 opt) gold from 18 m (59 ft) within a wider interval of 9.2 m (30 ft) averaging 0.24 g/t (0.007 opt) gold on the east side of the outcrop.