Cornucopia, Glactic move on Carlin bet

An attempt to speed up exploration at the huge Ivanhoe property in the Carlin gold trend near Elko, Nev., has produced some significant new discoveries, The Northern Miner learned recently.

But even though joint-venture partners Galactic Resources and Cornucopia Resources are producing some outstanding results from the 100,000-acre property, what lies beneath the surface is still a mystery. “It’s such a large property that it’s difficult to determine the size of the orebody,” said Cornucopia Chairman Andrew Milligan.

In the first of two announcements this week, Milligan said a drill hole 600 ft northeast of the original bonanza grade hole in the Hollister deposit has intersected 15 ft of 0.995 oz gold per ton at a depth of between 390 ft and 405 ft.

As reported (N.M., Nov 16/87), the Hollister hosts a 27-million-ton shallow deposit containing one million oz gold at 0.041 oz.

But with five reverse circulation drills and two diamond drill core rigs already on site, Cornucopia and Galactic are attempting to expand those reserves before starting production in late 1988.

This new discovery follows reports of an 80-ft bonanza drill hole intercept which averaged 0.343 oz (including 0.5 oz in the bottom 20 ft).

Milligan said the new hole represents an easterly extension of the 400-ft grid being drilled on the Hollister deposit where production will begin in an area called the east oxide pit.

Located approximately 2,400 ft south of the original bonanza hole, the east pit is the scene of a round-the-clock drill program designed to prove up existing reserves and provide information for a feasibility study.

Included in assays received this week from drilling at the east pit was Hole IV-87-206 which cut 95 ft of oxide ore grading 0.243 oz at a depth of between 80 ft and 175 ft.

A 25-ft intercept from 105 ft to 130 ft averaged 0.846 oz, The Northern Miner has learned. “This is beyond our wildest dreams,” said Milligan who was expecting assay results to be in the 0.04-oz-per-ton area.

He said two core rigs are engaged exclusively in a deep drilling program aimed at probing below 1,000 ft where American Barrick Resources has encountered two major deposits.