Thunderbird Minerals Corp. (“Thunderbird” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a mineral lease and option agreement dated July 24, 2023 with Bull Mountain Resources, LLC (“BMR”), for the Apache property, California (the “Apache Project”), whereby Thunderbird has been granted the exploration and development rights for the Apache Project for a minimum of 50 years as long as preproduction payments are maintained and then for an indefinite period of time thereafter as long as mining operations are continued.
California ranks as one of the premier gold districts, with historic production of approximately 140 million ounces of gold from lode and placer sources (Knopf 1929; Clark 1992, Bohlke 1999, Walker 2001). The Apache Project is located in the mineral-rich Mojave Desert region of Southern California. The southern California desert is host to multiple active mines, including: Equinox Gold’s Castle Mountain and Mesquite mines, Rio Tinto’s Boron Mine complex, and Golden Queen Mining’s Soledad Mountain Project. In addition, Apollo Gold and Silver owns the Calico silver-barite project, which hosts one of the largest undeveloped silver deposits in the western US. Kern County, where the Apache Project is located, has a long history of supporting responsible resource development.
The Apache Project consists of 152 unpatented lode mining claims (approximately 1,200 hectares) surrounded by numerous historic and active small placer gold mining pits and digs. The Apache property shows no evidence of historic drilling and overlies only a few hardrock prospect pits, shafts, and tunnels. Mineralization within the Apache property is primarily hosted in Paleozoic calcareous sediments and meta-sediments within a structural corridor that has strong similarities to other districts in the Sierra Foothills Metamorphic (California) and Walker Lane (Nevada) mineral belts.
The claims overlay a 3.0 km x 1.2 km alteration footprint with significant quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP), silicification and argillization of the meta-sediments and intrusive host rocks. Rock chip sampling revealed widespread gold (Au) and copper (Cu) anomalies with grades up to 7.46 g/t Au and 4.34% Cu (see Figure 3, 4 and 5). Sulfide minerals, however, have typically been leached from surface exposures. This target is interpreted to be the high-level exposure of an extensive Cu-Au porphyry system further defined by geophysical magnetic and electro-magnetic (EM) anomalies consistent with porphyry systems. Additionally, there are several outlying target zones also marked by magnetic, gravity and EM anomalies with similar characteristics to other oxide-gold and Cu-Au porphyry systems in the region.
John Newell, President and CEO of Thunderbird, states:
The management of Thunderbird Minerals is thrilled to have the opportunity to advance the year-round Apache Project in Kern County, California. “The Apache Project was discovered by Mr. Perry Durning and Mr. Bud Hillemeyer, the principals of BMR, both having a wealth of experience in mineral exploration. They are excellent grassroots explorationists renowned for mineral discoveries, and mine and project development. The geological team at Thunderbird looks forward to the prospect of adding another potential deposit to the pair’s impressive list of discoveries.”
Source: https://thunderbirdminerals.ca/