Pershing Gold, the up and coming, Nevada-focused (Pershing County) precious metals developer, which has already established a solid acreage position via their Relief Canyon, Red Rock, and North Battle Mountain properties, reported today that a new high-grade zone of gold mineralization was discovered at the Relief Canyon Mine.
All of the mineralization observed by this round of drilling is within the pit area or is on PGLC subsidiary, Gold Acquisition Corp. (GAC), wholly-owned unpatented mining claims.
Phase I of the company’s drilling program for 2012 (began last year) and already we have a new discovery. The best part is the mineralization is outside the main open-pit area, extending about 600 feet north. In addition to this rousing discovery for the North Target Area (hole SBG12-D03, henceforth D03) returning choice values like 55 feet at 0.125 opt Au, the Southwest Target Area also turned up promising hits, again outside the pit boundary, further defining the overall mineralization profile for the site.
When taken into consideration alongside drilling from the program that was done inside the pit boundary (D04 and D05 for instance are on the north edge of the pit area, returning 309 feet at 0.014 opt, and 113 feet at 0.016 opt, respectively), which also intercepted significant quantities (D06 in the south of the pit near the South and Lightbulb mineralization zones pulled in 15 feet at 0.010 opt), we have a very attractive portrait of the further-defined resource.
Chairman and CEO of PGLC, Stephen Alfers, was clearly pleased with the results of Phase I drilling, and was particularly happy with the nice, thick intercept at D03 in the area north of the pit, the high-grade gold mineralization of which is also a very promising for further drilling to the north in the Range Front Area where GAC has additional mining claims. Alfers was obviously excited by the findings and indicated that the data from D03-D05 was a positive sign of substantial mineralization to the north of the pit for at least the 600 feet observed and likely much further, well into the Range Front Area.
Alfers projected confidence that additional drilling result in adding ounces to the overall resource for Relief Canyon, eventually leading to a new mine plan and expansion of open-pit operations to include the additional mineralization.
Extant drilling in the program consisted of a total of 15 core and 5 reverse circulation holes, punching through roughly 19.3k feet of earth combined, including the previously reported (Mar 29, 2012) data sets. Cross section mapping analysis reveals clear targets in the main cave-fill/fault breccias zone (contains lots of jasperoid clasts) and plot the new intercepts below the main, mined-out zone.
So we have nice, thick slabs of new mineralization to get at in Relief Canyon with the potential to significantly expand overall operational footprint/resource. This dovetails quite well with the company’s 5,380-acre Red Rock and 360-acre North Battle Mountain properties, also located in the mining friendly state of Nevada, offering shareholders a firm foundation for future growth.
Holes D01 and D02 in the Southwest Target Area have reinforced the underlying geological profile of the site, with D02 intercepting the main breccia zone in the contact between the primary formations (Cane Springs and Grass Valley), and returning 38 feet at 0.075 opt. So we have mineralization of ore grade or better a full 1k feet south of the main pit as well.
Phase II of the drilling program will seek to further define the Southwest Target Area trend out to about 2.5k feet, especially considering the sporadic previous drilling by various operators in the past which has offered a good indicator that the main breccias trend does indeed extend a considerable distance to the south. Alfers projected early 2013 for a refined resource estimate for Relief Canyon, bolstering shareholder confidence about the future of the site and the Phase II drilling results, which should give an even better view of the full mineralization to both the north and south of the main pit.
The east/northeast Pershing Gold-Newmont AOI acreage will also be targeted in Phase II as a key emphasis for the project, as between this and the Range Front Area, most of the potential mineralization at the main site should be covered.
Technical and scientific analysis has been done by Quentin J. Browne, P.Geo, an NI 43-101 Qualified Person, with half of the core samples sent to ALS Chemex over in Reno for assay and the other half secured in the core box at a fenced-off location on the Relief Canyon site. Full quality control was utilized, including use of blanks, duplicates, and standards.
With the Euro crisis entering limbo mode during elections season, the price of precious metals have declined slightly amid deflation risk, liquidity tightening, and a general lack of sensitivity to the underlying problems. The bullion markets are clearly showing fatigue even as gold inches back up today, but the inevitability of a major catalyst from the ECB or Fed here in the states are all it will take to put the kettle back on the stove price-wise.
For more information on the new discovery at Relief Canyon, or to stay up to date with the latest news and information on Pershing Gold Corp., please visit the company’s website at: www.PershingGold.com
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