ATAC Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:ATC) has announced final 2010 diamond drill results from the Osiris area, located along the Nadaleen Trend of the Company's wholly-owned 1,600 sq/km Rackla Gold Belt in central Yukon.
Based on the results of the Osiris area drilling and new Nadaleen Fault discoveries at the Conrad and Eaton Showings, the Company has increased its proposed 2011 drill program to include a minimum of 40,000 m of diamond drilling utilizing up to eight drills.
The Nadaleen Trend is defined by a 25 km long, 5 km wide, east-west trending belt where stream sediment samples are highly anomalous for arsenic and/or thallium and mercury. Eight days of surface follow up and four weeks of reconnaissance drilling within a restricted eight sq/km area of the Nadaleen Trend revealed five significant areas of surface gold showings. Four of these targets were drilled, resulting in three confirmed gold discoveries at the Osiris, Conrad and Eaton Showings. The remaining 90% of the Nadaleen Trend will be aggressively explored in 2011. Highest gold grades are associated with intense decalcification or decarbonatization and clay alteration of limestone, and enhanced thallium content - all of which are signature characteristics of Carlin-type mineralization.
Osiris Showing
- Four of six broadly spaced holes along a 300 m wide fence across the south part of the Osiris gold-in-soil anomaly yielded significant gold bearing intercepts.
- Multiple intersections occur in some of the holes confirming the Company's belief that the Osiris target consists of stacked gold-bearing intervals within favourable limestone debris flow units that are linked by feeder structures.
Drill hole OS-10-05 was collared outside the Osiris gold-in-soil anomaly and did not intersect mineralization.
Nadaleen Fault (Conrad and Eaton Showings)
Conrad Showing
One hole at the Conrad Showing (OS-10-08) and one hole at the Eaton Showing (OS-10-09) were drilled to test an intense alteration zone directly associated with the Nadaleen Fault, a regional east-west structure interpreted to be a possible feeder structure for the Osiris area mineralized zones.
- Alteration associated with the structure is significantly more intense than observed in the Osiris and Isis Showings, with host limestone (Conrad) and calcareous sandstone (Eaton) exhibiting strong clay alteration, decarbonatization and jasperoid alteration.
- The Nadaleen Fault is at least 5 km long and has seen very limited prospecting elsewhere on the property. Spring water precipitate samples taken 4 km to the west of the Conrad-Eaton area graded 15.5% arsenic. A mineralized mafic dyke occurs along this structure, a feature of feeder structures in the Carlin Trend.
- Mineralization along the Nadaleen Fault has been traced by prospecting for 500 m. Four representative rock samples collected from a 250 m long transect along the steep hillside graded 21.4, 21.9, 40.3 and 66.6 g/t gold, while a continuous channel sample taken across a short hand trench that partially exposed the zone assayed 14.89 g/t gold over 2.30 m.
A single short hole was drilled to test the Conrad Showing below the hand trench:
- The Conrad discovery occurs at an elevation 500 m lower than the Osiris gold discovery, confirming the significant vertical extent of multiple stacked mineralizing systems.
Eaton Showing
Drill hole OS-10-09 tested a strong alteration zone exposed in a creek cut located approximately 300 m east of the Conrad Showing and 100 m south of the Nadaleen Fault.
- The mineralized intercept occurs within highly altered and silicified or jasperoid altered calcareous sandstone, a different host rock than identified in the other discovery areas.
- The entire 5 km length of the Nadaleen structure is now considered a priority drill target.
Isis Showing
The Isis Showing occurs with a limestone debris flow unit that lies approximately 200 m stratigraphically above the Osiris Horizon. Three areas of gold showings and/or gold-in-soil anomalies occur along 2 km of strike length. One reconnaissance drill hole at the west end of the target intersected a 230 m zone of decalcified limestone, with concentrations of orpiment and realgar (arsenic sulphides) and fine grained pyrite.
- The intercept was geochemically anomalous with weak gold grades throughout.
- The remaining 2 km strike length of the Isis Horizon will be sequentially drill tested in 2011.
"The Osiris area gold discoveries are very exciting as they are the product of only a four week long prospecting to reconnaissance drill program. Results confirm, that the characteristic alteration, style, type and gold grade of Carlin-type mineralization occur in Yukon; a first for Canada," states Graham Downs, ATAC's CEO. "First pass exploration has been completed on only ten percent of the highly prospective 25 km Nadaleen Trend. Next year's project design and logistics are currently underway in preparation for a greatly accelerated exploration program for this area and the remaining part of the 185 km long Rackla Gold Belt on the Company's 100% owned Rau Gold Project."
Source: ATAC Resources Ltd.