Vancouver —
Using a 3.4 gram gold per tonne cutoff grade, an inferred resource estimate of 2.7 million tonnes grading 6.8 grams gold (or 592,000 contained ounces) was reviewed.
If the cutoff grade is halved to 1.7 grams gold, the inferred resource figure comes in at 7.6 million tonnes of 3.9 grams gold or 944,000 contained ounces.
The resource estimate, conducted by Colorado-based Gustavson Associates, incorporates results from extensive drilling over two years of Gateway’s work, in addition to a historic database purchased from former operator
Previous mining from 1987 through 1993 at Big Springs produced a total of 386,000 oz. gold from several open pits.
Gold at Big Springs occurs predominantly as “Carlin-type” sediment-hosted mineralization. Steeply dipping fault structures host the bulk of mineralization, exhibiting thickening and enrichment in association with secondary cross-faults.
On its Mac Ridge prospect, east of, and adjacent to, Big Springs, Gateway recently sampled an outcropping section of Lower Plate rocks and returned significant gold grades. The grab-sampling program, following up a soil geochemical anomaly, delivered grades ranging from 1.2 grams gold per tonne to 5.7 grams gold within a largely untested area.
Gold mineralization at Mac Ridge is largely controlled by easterly trending structures. A small past-producing open-pit mine exploited this mineralization in the late 1980s, under the operation of Independence Mining. The mine had a reported average grade of about 7.5 grams gold.
The Lower Plate sediments (generally silty carbonates) are a much more prospective host for gold mineralization in northern Nevada than the commonly overlying Upper Plate sequences. Gold deposits in Lower Plate units are also referred to as Carlin-type, generally discovered where large sections of the Lower Plate “window” has been fault uplifted.
The area has advanced to a high-priority target for the company’s upcoming exploration season. Drilling will test the hypothesis of a significant Lower Plate sequence at relatively shallow depths at Mac Ridge.
Shares of Gateway Gold recently rallied to the $1.40 level from around 70. The company posts a $31-million market capitalization given its 22.7 million shares outstanding.
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