Gold Standard strikes again at Railroad

It looks like Gold Standard Ventures (GV-V) has done it again. The company’s shares jumped 51%, or 91¢ on April 26, following the new results from the North Bullion zone at its Railroad gold property outside of Elko, Nev.

Gold Standard made a similar leap in late February when company shares increased 55% on preliminary results at Railroad. The company started the year at 75¢ per share and has since jumped 259% to a presstime close of $2.69.

The catalyst this time around was another long gold intercept at North Bullion. Gold Standard cut 164 metres grading 3.38 grams gold per tonne starting from 237 metres depth at hole 12-1, which was a 91- metre, northern stepout from hole 11-16 that cut 56 metres of 4.29 grams gold starting from 169 metres in early April.

“The hole did bottom out in mineralization,” president and CEO Jonathan Awede comments. “So at some point we are going to try to finish it up. We continue to confirm we’re dealing with a very robust, Carlin-style trend that is more akin to some of the deposits on the northern end of the system.”

Additional highlights from the two new holes include 43 metres grading 9.4 grams gold starting from 279 metres, and 15 metres of 1.16 grams gold from 256 metres.

“We’re pleased to see the high grades near the top of the system,” vice-president of exploration David Mathewson says. “It is above the collapsed breccias, which are formed in the carbonate units the below. The style of the setting is one of mixed breccias — both tectonic and collapsed breccias induced by dissolution.

It’s an ideal environment that has been replicated in a number of environments around Nevada, and usually where there are better and bigger deposits.”

Mathewson could be labelled a Carlin-trend specialist, and compares what he is seeing at Railroad to deposits that spawned gold mines, like Barrick Gold’s (ABX-T, ABX-N) Cortez Hills, and Newmont Mining’s (NMC-T, NEM-N) Gold Strike and Gold Quarry mines.

“It’s an ideal environment that has been replicated in a number of environments around Nevada. I’m not suggesting we’re looking at something that large at this time,” Mathewson explains. “But the style and the thickness of the mineralization are very, very similar in nature. We like to see the high grade obviously, because it represents a potential proximity to conduits, and perhaps more favourable environments for the gold deposition.”

Drilling collared at the North Bullion target has defined goldmineralized breccia bodies in the carbonate rocks more than 1,500 feet thick, over 800 feet along strike and several hundred feet in width.

The high grades occur within a complex, commonly silicified baritic, alunitic and sulfidic tectonic, and coincident dissolution create collapse breccias. Various zones at greater than 5.2 grams gold are also characterized by the presence of abundant “sooty” sulphides, as well as realgar and orpiment.

“Typical of what we’re seeing in the high grade is some sooty sulphide and abundant, fine-grain sulphide,” Mathewson says. “We see some brassy-sheen sulphides mixed with it. Then there is the disseminated and fracture-coated realgar.”

Gold Standard has two drill rigs running at Railroad at the moment, but based on its exploration successes to date has mobilized three more rigs it expects to be in action by the beginning of June. The company is focusing on its stepout program at the North Bullion zone, but has more high-priority targets lined up.

“We will aggressively pursue the Railroad fault zone target, which is southwest of the North Bullion fault zone,” Mathewson says. “Interestingly, we have strong oxidation in that target, and I think this all relates, in one fashion or another, to a much larger system — geochemical or hydrothermal — that has placed all the gold in these localities. All this portends well for the future. This is a district-scale opportunity in the range of [78 sq. km] of property.”

Gold Standard’s share structure remains tightly controlled with 69.9 million shares outstanding.

The company is 74% owned by insiders and institutional investors, including Albert Friedberg’s FCMI Parent, which subscribed for 11 million shares in February 2011. FCMI is a pro forma, 19.9% shareholder in Gold Standard, and maintains a right to participate in future equity financings on a prorata basis.

Gold Standard has a US$156- million presstime market capitalization and trades at an average daily volume of 352,000 shares.