New Sediment-Hosted Gold Mineralization Discovered at Taylor Project
RENO, NV - Silver Predator Corp. has received assays for 14 reverse circulation holes designed to test outlying gold and silver target areas to the east and southeast of the current silver resource and 2 reverse circulation holes completed within the resource area. The most significant results, including hole SPT-66 with 18.3 meters of 1.02 g/t gold starting at surface, were concentrated in three holes drilled from a site immediately west of the Antimony prospect area. Further drillhole delineation of this gold enriched portion of the district will be a high priority during the next Taylor drill program.
Taylor, located approximately 15 miles southeast of Ely, Nevada, has been the site of intermittent historic underground and modern open pit silver production during the past 139 years. Between 2006 and 2012 Silver Predator and other companies focused their exploration efforts in and around the open pit mine workings to create a near surface pit-constrained silver resource prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and CIM definitions and guidelines.
The 2014 spring drilling program was primarily designed to test outlying gold and silver targets to the east and southeast of the current silver resource area. In these outlying areas, 14 reverse circulation (RC) drillholes totaling 11,745 feet were completed. An additional two RC holes totaling 885 feet were completed within the resource area near the Bulls Eye target. Drilling was designed to provide an initial test of the areas identified by detailed mapping and soil sampling as previously reported. Target areas typically displayed strong precious and indicator element geochemistry, prominent silicification, known or projected faults, felsic intrusive bodies as dikes and key host rock silty carbonate units.
The most significant results obtained from the outlying target areas were concentrated in three holes drilled from a site immediately west of the Antimony prospect area, where potential bulk mineable gold mineralization starting from surface was encountered in all three holes. Both holes drilled in the Bulls Eye target area intercepted strong silver zones in the Guilmette carbonates with significant added gold values associated with the cross cutting intrusive. Other widespread targets across the property encountered strong alteration in the upper Guilmette transition with the overlying Pilot Formation in all 14 drillholes, although no ore grade mineralization was found with this initial pass.
The Antimony prospect area, named for the small pit area where antimony was intermittently mined from silica flooded carbonates of the lower Chainman Formation over the past century, has a well demonstrated gold component known previously from surface soil and rock chip geochemistry, and limited historic drilling in the area. Three east-directed angle holes were drilled towards the prospect from a site located approximately 140 feet to the west and all three holes encountered significant gold intercepts starting at the surface as shown in the table below. SPT-75 was drilled approximately 220 feet to the northwest and appears to have cut the same silicified host rocks and Antimony Fault system from surface. Based on drillhole geology and detailed surface mapping in the area, this newly identified gold zone appears to be primarily bedding controlled with secondary structural controls and suggests that a sizable bulk mineable gold-only target may exist at surface throughout this area.
Within the current silver resource envelope at Taylor, at least two areas are currently known to exhibit economically significant gold values associated with high grade silver zones, although gold potential is not currently included in the Taylor resource. One of these areas is along the southern portion of the Argus Fault, while a more recently identified gold bearing portion of the resource is being explored to the north in and around the intersection of the NW oriented Bulls Eye and N-S trending Feeder Fault zones. The Bulls Eye area precious metal distribution is unusual in that while strong silver values are associated with the silty carbonate host rocks of the upper Guilmette, anomalous gold mineralization is almost always hosted in the felsic dikes that intrude the Bulls Eye Fault zone. The intercepts in SPT 61 and 62 will provide additional information on the geometry of this zone as part of a targeting model that will be used for deeper drilling during the next Taylor drill program. Known receptive host rocks further down in the Guilmette have not been tested to date, but could provide deeper high grade potential for both silver and gold.