Thursday April 16, 12:25 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Joint Venture Option Signed by Grand Central Silver Mines
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 1998--Grand Central Silver Mines Inc. (NASDAQ:GSLM - news) Thursday announced that an option to joint venture has been signed with Arizuma Resources Inc. (CDN:ARZM) on Arizuma's holdings in the Wonder Mining District, Churchill County, Nev.
The joint venture will explore for and develop all oxide silver-gold and silver-rich base metal sulfide deposits below open-pit mineable depths (500 feet) in this famous silver district, located in the Clan Alpine Mountains 50 miles east of Fallon.
The joint venture will control approximately 2,200 acres in the heart of the district, of which nearly 1,000 acres are patented, and include the Nevada Wonder, Queen, and Jackpot Mines, and the unmined Silver Center Vein. The Wonder District was discovered in 1906, and caused one of the last great mining rushes in the West.
From 1907 to 1942, the district produced approximately 6.7 million ounces of silver and 71,600 ounces of gold from 413,000 tons of ore. Average grades were 16.2 ounces per ton (opt) of silver and 0.17 opt gold. Of these productions totals, nearly 90% is credited to the historic Nevada Wonder Mine.
The majority of production from the district occurred between 1911, when a mill was commissioned, and 1919, when the Pittman Act was repealed by Congress causing silver prices to drop by 50%.
The Wonder vein system has a strike length of nearly 6,000 feet, of which only 2,000 feet have been explored and partially mined. Mining widths up to 40 feet were reported from two larger ore shoots, one of which was explored to over 2,000 feet in depth.
The vein system is strongly oxidized to 1,300 feet, and contains two zones of high-grade, secondarily enriched ore from 500-700 feet and from 1,100-1,300 feet.
Historic data shows that of the two main ore shoots, the southerly, or Extension shoot was stoped nearly continuously for hundreds of feet to the 1300 level. Exploration in the sulfide zone continued to the 2000 level, where good grades were still reported, and the mine remained dry.
Because the milling operation could only treat oxide ores, no sulfide ore was produced. The northerly and larger of the two main ore shoots, the Nevada Wonder, was stoped nearly continuously from the surface to the 500 level, and only sporadically lower to the 1600 level.
Grand Central Silver is currently conducting surface exploration and mobilizing a drill crew and equipment to the district for a 5,000 foot initial program to begin in May. This program will test both the strike potential and depth potential of the Wonder vein system.
In other business, the company announced today that effective April 15, 1998, Spenst M. Hansen has resigned as a director. The board expects to name a replacement in the near future.
Grand Central Silver Mines is a U.S. based exploration and development company focused on silver and base metals in Mexico and the United States. For further information, please contact John Ryan at 208/769 7340 or David Nahmias at 800/361-6914.
Contact:
Grand Central Silver Mines Inc., Coeur d'Alene
John Ryan, 208/769-7340
David Nahmias, 800/361-6914 |
