Vancouver — A five-hole, reverse-circulation drill program by Imperial Metals (IPM-T) has discovered a new high-grade gold zone on the past-producing Sterling property near Beatty, Nevada.
Historical mining and exploration at Sterling have concentrated on the Sterling thrust, a gently dipping horizon that has produced some 200,000 oz. gold from material grading 7 grams gold per tonne.
Imperial recently shifted focus to the 144 zone at the southeastern limits of the Sterling deposit, where a 1989 drill hole cut a broad interval of low-grade gold mineralization. Two of the latest drill holes intersected significant gold mineralization, well below the Sterling thrust, in a north-dipping band of silty carbonates near the Reudy fault. Mineralization is marked by brecciation and strong silicification.
Hole 01-7A cut 33 metres grading 5.3 grams gold per tonne from 209 metres down-hole. Included in this interval was a higher-grade section running up to 14.3 grams gold over 3 metres.
Twenty metres along strike, hole 01-9 hit 13.5 metres grading 19.6 grams gold from 222.5 metres down-hole. Included in this interval was a higher-grade section running an impressive 58.6 grams gold over 3 metres.
Holes 01-10 and 01-12 were collared 90 metres to the south-southwest and 85 metres to the east-southeast, respectively. They failed to intercept any significant mineralization.
Hole 01-11 was drilled 40 metres east-northeast of hole 01-07 and was abandoned before it reached the target depth.
The next round of drilling will focus on: expanding the mineralized zone downdip to the north; and testing its width perpendicular to the Reudy fault.
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