ASX-listed explorer, PolarX has struck a deal that gives it an exclusive option to acquire the rights to the historic Humboldt Range gold-silver project in north-western Nevada in the US nearby two producing mines. The Perth-based company says rock chip and grab samples taken at Humboldt Range between 2005 and 2009 maxed out at 3,384 grams per tonne gold and 2,836.6 g/t silver.
According to PolarX, the geological setting at Humboldt Range, located in the vicinity of the significant operating Florida Canyon gold and Rochester silver-gold open-cut heap leach mines, is consistent with bonanza grade-style epithermal gold-silver mineralisation found in the famous Nevada gold mining jurisdiction. Florida Canyon is owned by Argonaut Gold following its merger with Alio Gold last year and Rochester by Coeur Mining.
PolarX says widespread narrow vein deposits at Humboldt Range were historically mined via numerous adits and underground workings between 1865 and 1927. Mineralisation occurs in epithermal quartz veins of varying thicknesses.
The company intends immediately starting an evaluation of the length and continuity of the individual vein sets and an analysis of whether the altered volcanic rocks between the veins contain economically viable grades of gold and silver amenable to bulk mining methods. To that end, PolarX will undertake geological mapping, rock chip and channel sampling and induced polarisation geophysical surveys.
PolarX Managing Director, Frazer Tabeart said: “Surface grades from rock chip sampling and mine dumps at Humboldt Range are exceptionally high, with multiple samples exceeding 100 grams per tonne gold along with high-grade silver, lead and zinc. It is surrounded by large producing mines which shows the geology is conducive to significant modern-scale operations.”
Historic rock chip sampling of outcropping epithermal quartz veins and grab sampling of mine dumps near abandoned workings within Humboldt Range project’s Black Canyon “claims” encountered several very encouraging high-grade gold and silver sniffs.
Stand-out values included a whopping 3,384 grams per tonne gold, 512.73 g/t gold, 335.03 g/t gold, 239.10 g/t gold and 121.41 g/t gold, as well as 2,836.6 g/t silver, 1,451.9 g/t silver, 401.7 g/t silver and 218.5 g/t silver.
Of the total of 227 samples collected on the Humboldt Range claims by Victoria Gold Corp between 2005 and 2009, PolarX says 44 returned assays above 1 g/t gold, of which 19 came in above 10 g/t.
The company says one of the main observations from the historic sampling work is that epithermal veins in volcanic rocks occur in wide structural corridors varying from 30m to 275m in width. Within the structural corridors, the historical data suggests there are hundreds of quartz veins with visible gold ranging in width from five centimetres to more than 1.5m.
It also points out extensive exploration using modern techniques has not been undertaken at the Black Canyon and Fourth of July claims.
As part of the option agreement, PolarX secured a 120-day exclusive period to finalise due diligence investigations of Humboldt Range by paying vendor Armada Mining US$35,000.
Armada holds a mining lease agreement, or “MLA” with the private owner of the project, with the initial term of the MLA expiring in 2030.
Should PolarX’s due diligence come up trumps, it can then exercise the option to acquire Humboldt Range by issuing to 5 million of its shares and making additional staged cash payments of US$175,000 over the next couple of years to the vendor.
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By Matt Birney
