Drill Program At Atlanta Mobilizes Two Additional Drill Rigs
VANCOUVER - Nevada King Gold Corp. reported on Phase II resource expansion and definition drilling program at its 5,166 hectare (51.6km2) Atlanta Gold Mine Project, located in the prolific Battle Mountain Trend 264km northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. Two additional reverse circulation (RC) rigs have been mobilized to Atlanta and are now in operation, bringing the overall rig count at site to three. Since inception of the the Phase I Atlanta drill program in June 2021 followed by the Phase II program starting in June 2022 Nevada King has completed 272 reverse-circulation ("RC") holes totaling 39,253m and 17 core holes totaling 1,398m, for a total of 40,651m drilled. To date Nevada King has reported assays from 208 holes covering 27,278m with results pending from 81 drill holes totalling 13,373m. The Company is currently utilizing one rig to define deeper mineralization within the West Atlanta Graben, while a second rig is targeting shallower mineralization along the Atlanta Mine Fault Zone (AMFZ), both in the pit and connecting into the North Extension Target. A third rig is active on the East Ridge Target, testing a highly prospective, never before drilled, large area (1,200m x 150m) directly adjacent to the resource zone.
Cal Herron, Exploration Manager, said, "The increase from one drill rig to three will significantly increase the rate of adding to and upgrading our existing resource. Two of the drills are tracked machines that can negotiate more difficult areas to access, which will better enable us to advance our exploratory drilling outward in all directions from the existing resource area. Aside from the East Ridge Target, other immediate priorities include: In-fill and step-out drilling within the 150m wide by 500m long West Atlanta Graben, where current, mineralized vertical drill intercepts range from 40m to 180m with Au grades ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 g/t. The target is open to the north and south, and scattered historical holes indicate additional potential to the west; Expanding the North Extension Target westward and eastward and extending it to the main resource zone 200m southward; Expanding the AMFZ southward to the South Extension Target and In-fill drilling along the AMFZ to expand several zones of high-grade mineralization and to define fault contacts. This structural definition drilling is particularly important for constructing a new, more accurate resource model.
Our drill results early this year focused our attention on the West Atlanta Graben target and revealed potential for significantly expanding Atlanta's resource. Now, with two additional RC drill rigs in operation, we have the ability to more rapidly infill around recent intercepts and step-out to test for further potential resource expansion. Starting with the 2021 Phase I program, our drilling at Atlanta has yielded multiple new discovery areas resulting in a continual increase in tonnage potential. As well, our drilling indicates higher Au/Ag grades compared to previous exploration efforts. The Company was fortunate in that previous explorers had left large gaps in the overall drill hole distribution pattern either through adherence to an overly simplistic geologic model or simply due to bad luck. This allowed us to concentrate our resources and attention on areas that had historically shown some promise but for a variety of reasons were not followed-up on."