Drilling Of Newly Discovered Multi-Kilometer Vein Corridor At Western Rim Target

VANCOUVER – Nevada King Gold Corp. has initiated drilling at the Western Rim Target, a large and newly defined multidirectional vein corridor that follows a district scale normal fault and associated subsidiary quartz veins along the western rim of the Atlanta caldera. Despite measuring a large 2.5km x 1.5km area, the Western Rim remains undrilled, until now. The Western Rim is located within the Company’s 13,000 hectare (130km2), Atlanta Gold Mine Project, located in the prolific Battle Mountain Trend 264km northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. Drilling is ongoing, with 25,000m of the 30,000m planned Phase III regional drill program now complete. 

Recent groundwork completed by the Bureau of Land Management in 2023, consisting of bulldozing with large chain arrays to clear trees and vegetation, has led to the discovery of large angular blocks of sub-cropping altered tuff and exposed bedrock at the Western Rim. These large blocks of variably argillized-limonitized-hematized welded rhyodacite and dacite tuff contain a variety of quartz-limonite-hematite veins hosting Au-Ag-As-Mo mineralization that have now been mapped over a 2.5km north-northeast strike length. Numerous rock chip samples have been assayed throughout the target area showing gold mineralization with gold grades up to 20.8 g/t from NNE and NW trending hematitic quartz veins surrounding a high-temperature ammonia-illite altered rhyolitic dome complex with the strongest As-Mo-Pb-Zn-Cu geochemical signatures on the property, both evidence for a strong hydrothermal system with a magmatic driver.

The mapped quartz vein zone hosts gold mineralization that is more consistent compared to the rest of the Atlanta district, with some individual veins traced over a kilometer. In aggregate, the Western Rim shows a multi-kilometer north-northeast trending corridor of multidirectional veins exhibiting strong epithermal-type alteration and vein structures. High-crystallinity illite in exposed rhyolitic host rocks similar to gold hosts at the past producing operations indicate low-temperature hydrothermal alteration commonly associated with epithermal gold systems.

Cal Herron, Exploration Manager, said, “The geological, geochemical, and geophysical signature at the Western Rim point to a highly prospective region that covers a much broader footprint compared to the ARZ. It is particularly attractive given the close association of altered, rhyolitic intrusions with strongly anomalous Au-Ag-As-Mo mineralization. The Company’s mapping and sampling in and around this recently exposed area has revealed a consistent pattern of NNE and NW-trending quartz veins hosting mineralization that is also more consistent and persistent compared to the rest of the Atlanta district.       

While exploration at the Western Rim is still at an early stage, the target exhibits all the hallmarks of a large, potentially significant gold system. The combination of alteration type, robust multi-element geochemistry, and strong multidirectional fault/vein patterns are indicative of favourable structural preparation – a key component of the Atlanta Resource as well as large epithermal gold systems across Nevada. 

Ongoing Phase III drilling at Western Rim will pursue Au-Ag mineralization both within the volcanic-hosted quartz vein zones as well as along the Tertiary-Paleozoic unconformity, similar to the Company’s Phase I and II drill programs within the ARZ.  We’re very excited to begin drilling this target, as it represents one of the most compelling opportunities to expand the known gold potential within the greater Atlanta district.”