CXX has mega gold too :)
BONANZA GRADE GOLD DISCOVERED AT SOUTH GOLDEN PROMISE, NEWFOUNDLAND
Crosshair Exploration and Mining Corp. has discovered a series of gold-bearing quartz veins, including grab samples with bonanza grade gold up to 105.3 grams per tonne gold, by a continuing backhoe trenching program at the South Golden Promise property located 30 kilometres southwest of Badger in central Newfoundland.
New discoveries
The new quartz vein discoveries with visible gold exposed in continuing trenching are potentially very significant as they occur in a geological and structural setting very similar to the Jaclyn and Christopher veins on the adjoining Golden Promise property currently being explored by Rubicon and Placer Dome. These favourable geological criteria were confirmed by Rubicon personnel during a recent field visit to the new trenches. The discovery has prompted Rubicon to stake approximately 10,500 hectares (419 claims) of additional ground along strike from the Crosshair property -- these new claims will be included as part of the existing option agreement.
These gold-bearing quartz vein discoveries are the direct result of company prospectors following up geochemical anomalies outlined by a systematic reconnaissance soil sampling program completed in the summer. The initial rock sampling was carried out on a cluster of angular quartz subcrop/float dubbed "Snow White," from which 29 grab samples were collected and submitted to Eastern Analytical Limited in Springdale, Nfld., for metallic screen fire assaying. All samples reported to date, including those reported in this release, were analyzed by metallic screen fire assay procedure. Several samples returned anomalous values (greater than 100 parts per billion gold) with five samples returning assays of 1.47, 1.69, 3.65, 9.46 and 9.59 grams per tonne gold.
Subsequent test pitting in the immediate area of the Snow White quartz boulder field has documented quartz veins in bedrock, with quartz veins measuring at least 1.5 metres in thickness over undetermined strike lengths. Mineralization consists of 1 per cent disseminated arsenopyrite and pyrite along with local free (visible) gold has been observed, locally associated with stylolitic banding and open space vuggy textures. A series of five selected grab samples collected over the five-metre exposed length of the vein (still open) returned two bonanza-grade samples of 105.28 grams per tonne gold and 41.66 grams per tonne gold (free gold observed in both). The other three samples returned significant to anomalous results of 5.12, 0.82 and 0.16 gram per tonne gold. The company is also pleased to report that continuing trenching, which was temporarily suspended due to an early winter blizzard, has resumed and additional mineralized quartz is being exposed and is still open in all directions. Washing and sampling of the Snow White vein are scheduled to start immediately and trenching will continue as long as weather conditions remain co-operative.
Additional new veins
Prospecting during the course of the trenching at Snow White resulted in the discovery of additional quartz float boulder clusters named Broken Hose and Linda, located approximately 75 and 100 metres southwest of the Snow White occurrence respectively. Both float clusters have been test pitted with quartz veins exposed; limited preliminary sampling has been completed over both veins and results confirm the presence of visible gold in the Linda vein which returned a weighted average assay of 2.09 grams per tonne gold (visible gold was noted in the hand specimen) as well as anomalous results from 0.23 to 1.0 gram per tonne gold. The samples from Broken Hose returned weakly anomalous results (three samples less than 100 parts per billion), but the vein is only exposed for about 1.5 metres in a small pit and the sample results should not be considered conclusive. Additional trenching will be carried out on both the Linda and Broken Hose veins concurrent with the Snow White activities.
Geological setting and model
The newly discovered gold-bearing quartz veins occur in folded sedimentary rocks near the contact with a regionally significant black shale unit overlying the top of the Victoria Lake group. The veins are white to grey in colour, locally vuggy, stylolitic to banded and up to four metres in thickness. Observed mineralization consists of fine to locally coarse-grained patchy arsenopyrite and pyrite with traces of galena. Several 0.5- to one-millimetre specks of visible gold have been noted associated with limonitic patches, which probably represent oxidized sulphide. Alteration observed in the host sedimentary rocks includes patchy iron carbonate associated with disseminated arsenopyrite.
The exploration model employed for the area is taken from the Bendigo gold district in southeastern Australia, where past production has totalled 22 million ounces of gold from rocks of similar age as well as within a similar stratigraphic/structural setting to the Golden Promise and South Golden Promise areas. Support for the overall Bendigo model comes from the recent CIM technical conference in St. John's, where Placer Dome/Rubicon presented a technical paper outlining the rationale for the Golden Promise area as a potential analogue to the prolific Bendigo gold district.
The company considers its new gold discoveries, along with those documented by Rubicon-Placer to, be a part of an emerging district of gold-bearing quartz veins similar to the Bendigo gold district, Victoria, Australia. The most productive region of the Bendigo gold belt occurs in a corridor 16 kilometres in length by four kilometres in width. Additional discoveries by Rubicon-Placer at the Christopher and Shawn's Shot zones give considerable support to the belief that the Golden Promise and South Golden Promise area may contain several zones of significant gold mineralization over an area similar in size to Bendigo. The Shawn's Shot discovery by Rubicon lies 7.5 kilometres southwest of the Jaclyn veins. The new discoveries by the company are 21 kilometres southwest of Jaclyn, and occur in a cluster similar to the veins at Jaclyn, where at least three gold-bearing vein zones returning values up to 16.57 grams per tonne gold over 1.64 metres have been intersected in diamond drilling (see Rubicon news in Stockwatch dated Sept. 19, 2002).
The company's recent gold discoveries are new and trenching to date has only focused on sourcing clusters of float, where in each case bedrock mineralization has been found. Activities will now be expanded to extend the veins along strike and concurrently soil geochemical anomalies along strike to the southwest of the Snow White area, as well as other clusters of quartz float, will be tested.
All work is being supervised by Timothy Froude, PGeo, general manager and chief geologist for the Newfoundland projects, and the qualified person as defined under the National Instrument 43-101.
The metallic screen process involves crushing and pulverizing the entire sample, followed by sieving the sample through a 150-mesh screen, which serves to capture any free gold that may be in the sample that may otherwise be discarded with the reject. The fraction greater than 150 mesh is analyzed (by fire assay) separately and serves to indicate the presence of any coarse (plus 150 mesh) free gold. The remainder of the sample (the minus 150 mesh) is analyzed by fire assay (30-gram sample) with the final reported gold value being a weighted average of both plus and minus 150-mesh fractions.
Data review
The company has also signed a confidentiality and data sharing agreement with Placer Dome Inc. and Rubicon Minerals Corp., with respect to data/information covering the entire area. This confidentiality agreement will allow the Placer Dome/Rubicon team to mutually evaluate the data and significance of the new Crosshair discoveries. The South Golden Promise project is currently under option from Rubicon, whereas the main Golden Promise project is the subject of an option agreement between Rubicon and Placer Dome. |
