Pilot Gold To Expand Projects With 60,000 Meters Of Drilling
VANCOUVER, BC - Matt Lennox-King, President and CEO of Pilot Gold said, "With a carefully managed treasury of almost $28 million in cash and short-term investments, no debt, and the proven track record of our technical team, we are well positioned to advance our portfolio of projects in Turkey and Nevada. Throughout the remainder of 2011, we will explore and grow our projects with 60,000 metres of drilling and 13 drill rigs operating on eight projects."
The company continued to advance its principal Nevada exploration projects in the second quarter of 2011, with active exploration and drill programs on the Regent, Brik, New Boston and Viper projects.
The Regent project is located in Mineral County, Nevada, on the eastern margin of the prolific Walker Lane epithermal gold-silver belt. Regent hosts an extensive low-sulphidation epithermal gold and silver mineralized system with both disseminated and high-grade vein hosted mineralization.
In April the company commenced a 10,000 metre, Phase 1 core and reverse circulation ("RC") drill program designed to expand the historic disseminated gold and silver deposit and follow-up on historic high-grade intervals. Geologic and alteration mapping and ground geophysics are underway in conjunction with the ongoing drill program, with initial metallurgical work to follow.
The Brik project is located on the northern flank of the Cedar Range in east-central Lincoln County, Nevada and is comprised of 103 unpatented lode claims on land administered by the United States Bureau of Land Management.
The Brik project contains gold mineralization in a volcanic-hosted low-sulphidation quartz vein environment. Previous exploration programs identified five prospective target areas on the property, which were identified through ongoing exploration programs by Pilot Gold.
Five areas were tested with 27 reverse circulation drill holes, with a new discovery at the Hidden Treasure target area generating significant near-surface gold intercepts. A second phase program is planned to commence fall 2011, as these mineralized zones remain open in all directions, indicating that there is substantial potential to increase the size of the discovery.
The Viper project located in Elko County, Nevada, hosts a gold mineralized low sulphidation epithermal vein system discovered on the property in 2009 by Pilot Gold's exploration team. A Phase 1 3,500 metre RC drill program is underway and is expected to wrap up in the fourth quarter of 2011.
New Boston is an extensive copper-molybdenum porphyry and skarn system located in southwest Nevada. A 2,500 metre drill program is currently underway to test outcropping copper mineralization and molybdenum targets at the Blue Ribbon, New Boston and Eastern areas.
Through the six-months ended June 30, 2011, the company continued to advance, in partnership with Teck Madencilik Sanayi Ticaret A.S. ("TMST"), an indirect subsidiary of Teck Resources Limited, the Halilaga copper-gold porphyry property and the TV Tower gold-silver-copper property, both of which are located in northwest Turkey's Biga District. TMST is Pilot Gold's 60% joint-venture partner and operator for both projects. Through the six-months ended June 30, 2011 our share of expenditures on the Halilaga Project and the TV Tower Project, amounted to $1.69 million.
At the Halilaga Project the company continued with the Phase 1, four-rig, 10,000 metre exploration / delineation drill program focused on the Central Zone of the Kestane target, and testing prominent magnetic anomalies on the remainder of the property. Approximately 11,000 metres have been completed as part of this program, providing a sound base to proceed with the additional 10,000 metres of drilling for the second half of the year.
To date, drilling at Kestane has intersected porphyry style copper-gold mineralization over a strike length of 1,200 metres, a width of 850 metres, and thicknesses of up to 600 metres. Halilaga is also endowed with a supergene enrichment zone that is locally up to 40 metres in thickness at grades of 1%-to-2% Cu. Ongoing drilling at Halilaga continued to intersect significant widths of copper-gold mineralization, including 0.22% copper and 0.34 grams per tonne gold over 466.7 metres. Additional drill results from July 2011 intersected 0.34% copper and 0.27 grams per tonne gold over 306.7 metres. Through the remainder of 2011, drilling will focus on infill drilling at the Kestane Zone, and will be carried out in conjunction with ongoing metallurgical and hydrological testing. A project-first NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate is expected by the end of 2011. TV Tower Project The TV Tower gold project is located approximately 20 kilometres to the northwest of Halilaga. The property is accessible by road and covers more than 67-square kilometres. Initial drill results from the Kucukdag target continue to expand the footprint of the gold mineralized zone. Results from four additional exploration holes are currently pending, while drilling continues. Phase 1 drilling in 2010 and early 2011 tested a total of 19 core holes (4,184 metres) confirming the presence of at least two large, gold-bearing, mineralized systems at the Kucukdag and Kayali targets. Six other highly prospective zones of surface alteration and gold mineralization have been identified at TV Tower, and remain the focus of further exploration and drilling. Eight high-conviction targets have been identified with widespread epithermal to porphyry characteristics, typical of those seen at other deposits in the Biga District. A 15,000-metre Phase 2 drill program commenced in April. Five drills are currently operating on the property. The Phase 2 program is focused on expanding the results from Kucukdag and Kayali, with exploration drilling on additional high priority targets. The company's address is Suite 1650, 1055 West Hastings, Vancouver, BC V6E 2E9, 604.632.4677. fax: 604.632.4678, email: [email protected].