Mar 31 2015
Columbus Gold Corporation ("Columbus Gold") is pleased to provide a general update on activity at its 100%-owned Eastside Gold Project in Nevada.
Highlights:
- Environmental Assessment submitted March 6, 2015, and final plan of operation permits anticipated in the second quarter of 2015;
- 250 hole, 64,000 m (210,500 ft) drill program to commence May/June 2015;
- Two additional priority areas, New Target 6 and New Target 7, recently discovered; and
- Property size increases from 607 to 725 BLM claims or 58.7 km2 (22.6 mi2).
Permitting
Columbus Gold, along with its environmental consultant Stantec, submitted the Eastside Environmental Assessment ("EA") to the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on March 6, 2015. The BLM is currently reviewing the EA and it is anticipated that it will be made available for public comment in April 2015. The operating area being permitted for 2015 and 2016 drilling totals 248 hectares (615 acres) and includes construction of 18 km (11 mi) of new drill roads and 175-200 dedicated drill pads suitable for drilling of multiple holes from each drill pad. In practice, if additional road building and drilling in the operating area becomes necessary during the course of exploration, it can be quickly modified, as the entire operating area will have been cleared by the EA. Columbus anticipates final permits in the second quarter of 2015 and drilling to begin in the same quarter.
Drilling
The total planned size of the drill program is 64,000 m (~210,500 ft) in 250 holes; Columbus is aiming to drill 45,000 m (~147,500 ft) in 185 holes by the end of 2015. Drilling is anticipated to commence in May/June 2015, initially with 2 drills and increasing to 3 drills in Q4 2015. The purpose of the drilling is to extend the area of known gold mineralization in the Original Target, and to infill gaps between widely spaced existing drill holes containing significant gold. The 2015 drilling will also test New Targets 4 and 6, and the northern half of New Target 1.
Additional Targets
Sampling and mapping in late 2014 and early 2015 have developed two additional areas of interest (New Target 6 and New Target 7). Fifty samples of hydrothermally altered rock in New Target 6 contain traces of gold and silver, and very high values in pathfinder trace elements of arsenic (ranging from 30 to greater than 20,000 ppm As), and antimony (ranging from anomalous to 330 ppm Sb). The position of the New Target 6 geochemical anomaly, continuing immediately to the north along the strike of the Original Target, makes it a priority target for drilling. The hydrothermal alteration and anomalous geochemistry centered on the Original Target (when one also includes New Targets 1, 2, 4, and 6) is impressive with a current size of ~3.5 km long by ~1.5 km wide (~11,500 ft by ~5,000 ft).
One hundred surface samples and geologic mapping were also completed at New Target 7, where gold values in the surface samples range from anomalous to 1.58 g/t (0.046 oz/ton). The gold mineralization is associated with quartz and adularia veining along north and northeasterly-trending structures and breccias. The structures cut Tertiary rhyodacite flow domes and lavas, Tertiary andesites, and Ordovician cherts and shales, and appear to extend to the north and northeast, toward New Target 5, under shallow cover (~15 m (40-50 ft) of gravel and alluvium). Twelve widely-spaced historic drill holes, drilled by ASARCO and Uranerz in the 1990's, are in the area of New Target 7. Most of the historic holes contain gold, with the best intercept being 16.6 m (55 ft) of 0.32 g/t Au (0.009 oz/ton), and the highest gold intercept was 2.4 g/t (0.069 oz/ton) over 1.5 m (5 ft). A target map is available at the following link:
www.columbusgoldcorp.com/i/nr/2015-03-30_map.pdf
Additional Staking
Columbus' land position at Eastside was recently expanded from 607 to 725 BLM claims, and now totals ~5,870 hectares (14,500 acres) or 58.7 km2 (22.6 mi2). The new staking, both on the north and the south, was positioned to cover New Target 6 and New Target 7, and the pediment area of shallow gravel cover between New Targets 5 and 7. The claim block covers all rhyolite flow dome complexes with associated hydrothermal alteration, and any other nearby target, regardless of host rock, with significant gold values in surface sampling.
About Eastside Gold Project
The Original Target at Eastside hosts a large area of shallow oxide gold mineralization still open to the south that measures about 1,600 m long and up to 600 m wide (5,280 ft by 1,980 ft).
The project has outstanding infrastructure for mining and processing; is 32 km (20 mi) west of Tonopah, Nevada, and lies 9.7 km (6 mi) north of paved highway US 95, the main road route from Las Vegas to Reno. A good gravel road from the highway, along with a major power transmission line both pass through the claim block. The current drilling area is on the east flank of the Monte Cristo Range and a portion of the claim block extends well into the adjacent flats, which would provide excellent operating sites. The valley is known to have shallow water available in the same aquifer, which provided water for milling the Tonopah ores in the early 1900's. The area is high desert with sparse vegetation, and year-round drilling is possible.
Gold at Eastside occurs near, and is associated with, the contact of an altered Tertiary rhyolite dome and the surrounding tuffs and volcaniclastic rocks intruded by the dome. Geologic mapping was completed in 2014 over the Eastside claim block at a scale of 1:6,000. This mapping has identified 41 separate rhyolite domes, which Columbus believes to be significant for potentially controlling gold mineralization at Eastside. The domes range from 100 m to 1,000 m in diameter (328 ft to 3,280 ft). Hydrothermal alteration has been identified in, or near, about half the domes. Dozens of faults have been identified and mapped throughout the claim block, mostly trending north and northeast. Areas with hydrothermal alteration, particularly silicification and quartz veining, have been mapped, and sampling of all these altered areas is in progress with 2,700 samples collected so far. Based on results received to date, Columbus has identified seven drill targets, in addition to the Original Target, and continues to identify other areas of interest throughout the property.
Andy Wallace is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG) with the American Institute of Professional Geologists and is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release. Mr. Wallace is the principal of Cordilleran Exploration Company (Cordex), which is conducting exploration and project generation activities for Columbus Gold on an exclusive basis.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,
Robert F. Giustra, Chairman & CEO
Source: http://www.columbusgoldcorp.com/