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HTML <html> <head> <title>Is There Gold at Winnemucca, Nevada? Part Two</title> </head> <body> <h1>Is There Gold at Winnemucca, Nevada? Part Two</h1> <div class="info">Author: <a href="author_1_4887.html">James Finch</a></div><div class="body">But despite the excitement of its exploration team, Santa Fe stopped drilling for gold on the Winnemucca property in the late 1980s. We asked CEO Dr. Lawrence Dick for an explanation. "It's hard to imagine, but that's the case with many properties held by majors," he responded. "They have to priority rank their projects, just like any other company has to. If you read the reports, they were certainly excited about the similarities of Winnemucca Mountain to the Sleeper deposit. That's what we're aiming at. That's our target. But they never went forward."<br /> <br /> Well then, why didn't Santa Fe move forward with Winnemucca? "More often than not, properties are explored several times before discoveries are made," Dr. Dick pointed out. "That's because any one group coming in will explore with a certain conceptual model in mind. Another group coming in will pick it up because they can see it from another model point of view." But more than 70 vertical, reverse-circulation holes were drilled on the Winnemucca Mountain property. What did they miss? "They were looking for low grade disseminated gold," Dr. Dick responded. That sums up many of the proven Nevada gold deposits: bulk-tonnage, open pit, low grade gold. "That's not what we're looking for," he argued.<br /> <br /> Dr. Lawrence Dick described why the model that Santa Fe used during their drilling led to disappointment, "Most of the drilling done in the past was vertical holes. That's very difficult to hit in a nearly vertically dipping structure." And that may account for why Santa Fe dropped Winnemucca from their priority list, he analyzed, saying, "They were looking at it from the point of view of an open pit deposit. The higher grades coming in at depth were uneconomic for an open pit." <br /> <br /> Feeder Zones and Angular Drilling May be the Key to a New Discovery<br /> <br /> If Santa Fe used the wrong model, how will Evolving Gold's exploration team succeed? <br /> <br /> The CEO defined exactly what the exploration hopes to find, "We're looking for a high grade, vein-hosted gold deposit, much like the feeder zone at the Sleeper deposit." From the time Santa Fe drilled Winnemucca Mountain until now, numerous low grade deposits were found to have feeder zones into them comprised of much higher grades of gold. "Most of their structures are veins," he said. "You can only explore for those types of deposits by drilling angle holes and, normally, core holes." <br /> <br /> Why is his model more than just speculative, wishful thinking? "There is one drill hole that was put 500 meters to the north of the intensely drilled area – the Swordfish Extension Zone – that intersected five feet of over two ounces of gold per ton," Dr. Dick responded. "That hole has never been followed up. It actually went through a quartz vein, which hosted the gold. This is exactly what we are looking for." <br /> <br /> He laid out his exploration plan, "Our objective is to follow up along the structural trend, looking for extensions of high grade, structurally controlled gold. We're not drilling for bulk-tonnage of one gram of open pitable reserve. This is the type of deposit that you would access by a vertical shaft, much like the high grade deposits in Canada. These are all underground mines, accessed by an external shaft and mined to thousands of meters to depth, and running on the order of half an ounce per ton."<br /> <br /> Dr. Lawrence Dick hopes to find at least one high-grade feeder zone on the Winnemucca property. How substantial of a deposit would make sense for this nascent minerals exploration company? "We'd be looking at something that would be on the order of one kilometer long, about two meters wide, and a thousand meters deep," he clarified.<br /> <br /> What would investors be looking for, after the first round of drilling, to see if this could become an economic gold deposit? Dr. Dick made it very plain, "What we would want to see is a number of, say four or five, intersections of good, solid vein-hosted mineralization – a number of intersections of five to seven feet in width, grading on the order of one-half an ounce per tonne, or higher. That would be certainly enough information to go beyond and carry on." <br /> <br /> The veteran exploration geologist explained why such a discovery would be important. "For example, the intersection of five feet of two ounces would certainly be an economic intersection," he said. "In Canada, for example, most of the veins of gold deposits that have become underground mines are normally running on the order of 0.3 to 0.5 ounces per ton over 1.5 meters to two meters width. This can constitute an economic grade for these deposits." <br /> <br /> </div> <div class="source">Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlealley.com/article_61619_19.html">http://www.articlealley.com/article_61619_19.html</a></div> <div class="author"> <div class="authorOccupation"><strong>Occupation:</strong> Writer</div> <div class="authorBio">James Finch is a contributing editor for StockInterview.com and other publications. http://www.stockinterview.com</div> <div class="authorUrl"><a href="http://www.stockinterview.com" target="_blank">http://www.stockinterview.com</a></div></author> </body> </html>
Text Is There Gold at Winnemucca, Nevada? Part Two Author: James Finch But despite the excitement of its exploration team, Santa Fe stopped drilling for gold on the Winnemucca property in the late 1980s. We asked CEO Dr. Lawrence Dick for an explanation. "It's hard to imagine, but that's the case with many properties held by majors," he responded. "They have to priority rank their projects, just like any other company has to. If you read the reports, they were certainly excited about the similarities of Winnemucca Mountain to the Sleeper deposit. That's what we're aiming at. That's our target. But they never went forward." Well then, why didn't Santa Fe move forward with Winnemucca? "More often than not, properties are explored several times before discoveries are made," Dr. Dick pointed out. "That's because any one group coming in will explore with a certain conceptual model in mind. Another group coming in will pick it up because they can see it from another model point of view." But more than 70 vertical, reverse-circulation holes were drilled on the Winnemucca Mountain property. What did they miss? "They were looking for low grade disseminated gold," Dr. Dick responded. That sums up many of the proven Nevada gold deposits: bulk-tonnage, open pit, low grade gold. "That's not what we're looking for," he argued. Dr. Lawrence Dick described why the model that Santa Fe used during their drilling led to disappointment, "Most of the drilling done in the past was vertical holes. That's very difficult to hit in a nearly vertically dipping structure." And that may account for why Santa Fe dropped Winnemucca from their priority list, he analyzed, saying, "They were looking at it from the point of view of an open pit deposit. The higher grades coming in at depth were uneconomic for an open pit." Feeder Zones and Angular Drilling May be the Key to a New Discovery If Santa Fe used the wrong model, how will Evolving Gold's exploration team succeed? The CEO defined exactly what the exploration hopes to find, "We're looking for a high grade, vein-hosted gold deposit, much like the feeder zone at the Sleeper deposit." From the time Santa Fe drilled Winnemucca Mountain until now, numerous low grade deposits were found to have feeder zones into them comprised of much higher grades of gold. "Most of their structures are veins," he said. "You can only explore for those types of deposits by drilling angle holes and, normally, core holes." Why is his model more than just speculative, wishful thinking? "There is one drill hole that was put 500 meters to the north of the intensely drilled area – the Swordfish Extension Zone – that intersected five feet of over two ounces of gold per ton," Dr. Dick responded. "That hole has never been followed up. It actually went through a quartz vein, which hosted the gold. This is exactly what we are looking for." He laid out his exploration plan, "Our objective is to follow up along the structural trend, looking for extensions of high grade, structurally controlled gold. We're not drilling for bulk-tonnage of one gram of open pitable reserve. This is the type of deposit that you would access by a vertical shaft, much like the high grade deposits in Canada. These are all underground mines, accessed by an external shaft and mined to thousands of meters to depth, and running on the order of half an ounce per ton." Dr. Lawrence Dick hopes to find at least one high-grade feeder zone on the Winnemucca property. How substantial of a deposit would make sense for this nascent minerals exploration company? "We'd be looking at something that would be on the order of one kilometer long, about two meters wide, and a thousand meters deep," he clarified. What would investors be looking for, after the first round of drilling, to see if this could become an economic gold deposit? Dr. Dick made it very plain, "What we would want to see is a number of, say four or five, intersections of good, solid vein-hosted mineralization – a number of intersections of five to seven feet in width, grading on the order of one-half an ounce per tonne, or higher. That would be certainly enough information to go beyond and carry on." The veteran exploration geologist explained why such a discovery would be important. "For example, the intersection of five feet of two ounces would certainly be an economic intersection," he said. "In Canada, for example, most of the veins of gold deposits that have become underground mines are normally running on the order of 0.3 to 0.5 ounces per ton over 1.5 meters to two meters width. This can constitute an economic grade for these deposits." Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_61619_19.html About the Author: James Finch is a contributing editor for StockInterview.com and other publications. http://www.stockinterview.com http://www.stockinterview.com
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