Ore-Grade Gold Assays at Bates-Hunter Mine
MINNEAPOLIS - Wits Basin Precious Minerals Inc. reported that it has received additional assays confirming economic ore-grade gold at the Bates-Hunter Mine project located in the Central City Mining District in Colorado. The assays range up to 2.6 ounces per ton (opt) gold and come from new underground sampling at the 360-foot level.
There is a pillar in the 360-foot level that allows sampling of the Bates vein along a strike length of 26 feet.
A summary of the pillar samples from east to west follows:
Sample Type Au (opt) Ag (opt)
BH8001 1.0 ft channel 1.0 0.7
BH8018 grab 2.648 2.7
BH8005 0.6 ft channel 1.15 4.3
BH8013 0.6 ft channel 0.636 0.592
BH8014 0.8 ft channel 2.653 1.3
BH8011 0.8 ft channel 0.919 3.4
At a depth of 351 feet in the shaft, the Bates Vein is exposed. The vein is three feet wide and contains 0.202 opt Au and 2.1 opt Ag (BH8019). At 347.5 feet, the Bates Vein is 1.5 feet wide and contains 0.27 opt Au and 2.8 opt Ag (BH8020).
Along with the encouraging ore-grade gold assays, underground samples continue to show promising silver assay results. Current assays range up to 4.3 opt silver (Ag). Past production records estimated 118,900,000 ounces of silver were produced in the Central City Mining District between 1859 and 1947, along with more than 4,000,000 ounces of gold.
Wits Basin plans to evaluate new methods to significantly increase water removal, review plans for additional surface drilling, and continue developing this asset.
The Bates-Hunter Mine is located in Central City, Colorado, approximately 35 miles west of Denver. The Bates Vein was the second lode discovered in Colorado and helped spark the great Colorado gold rush of the mid-1800s. Famous for production from high-grade gold ore shoots, it has been estimated that more than 4,000,000 ounces of gold and 118,900,000 ounces of silver were produced in the Central City Mining District between 1859 and 1947. During the early 1930's, the mine was still in production but was shut down due to litigation between the mine owner and operator. The principal veins that underlie and are controlled by the Bates-Hunter property have historically produced approximately 750,000 ounces of gold. A 1930's report from the 745-foot level included an average of 27 samples that assayed 1.37 ounces per ton gold. The Central City district produced close to 4,134,000 ounces of gold and 118,900,000 ounces of silver, with the vast majority of gold production (3,397,000 ounces) occurring between 1859 and 1903.
The company's address is 900 IDS Center, 80 South 8th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402, 612-349-5277, fax: 612-395-5276. www.witsbasin.com.