Vancouver —
Midway lies between the famous Tonopah mining district, to the south, and the venerable Round Mountain gold mine, to the north. Tonopah and Round Mountain were considerable producers in the first half of the past century, and the latter lives on as a heap-leach operation under
Paul Schmidt and Thomas Patton picked up the ground in 1986 and optioned the project to Rio Algom in 1990. The company drilled 42 holes and identified gold mineralization in sedimentary rocks under post-mineralized basalts.
Between 1992 and 1996, Kennecott Exploration, a subsidiary of
Midway Gold, previously Red Emerald Resources, optioned an interest in the project from Rex Exploration later that same year and preceded to drill the Discovery and 121 zones with encouraging results.
Newmont entered the scene last September, and is now managing drilling, which is designed to test several targets along a 23-km strike length of the property. The major stands to earn a 51% interest in the property by spending US$8.8 million on exploration and development. Newmont can acquire a further 19% by delivering a feasibility study.
Last month, the joint venture partners tabled excellent results from 13 drill holes collared at the Discovery zone area. Gold mineralization was intersected in holes that were drilled over 1 km southeast of the main Discovery zone and up to 800 metres north of the Discovery zone. Further drilling will be required to determine the extent and degree of mineralization.
Highlights of these results include the following:
— Hole 303 cut 19.6 metres averaging 1.94 grams gold per tonne starting at 106.2 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 1.8-metre interval of 5.6 grams gold and 2.9 metres of 1.84 grams gold.
— Hole 306 cut 9.14 metres of 1.88 grams gold starting at 85.3 metres down-hole.
— Hole 307 cut 40.8 metres of 1.73 grams gold starting at 207.3 metres down-hole. This included a 12.2-metre interval of 3.85 grams gold and a 5.9-metre interval of 3.19 grams gold.
— Hole 308 cut 4.6 metres grading 7.36 grams gold starting at 193.5 metres down-hole.
— Hole 311 cut 1.52 metres of 2.45 grams gold starting 138 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 4.6-metre interval grading 1.34 grams gold.
— Hole 312 cut 1.52 metres of 1.37 grams gold starting at 157 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 18.3-metre interval of 1.95 grams gold. Included within this last interval was a 1.52-metre section that averaged 6.32 grams gold, as well as a 4.57-metre interval that averaged 5.08 grams gold.
Mineralization at the Midway project is classified as low-sulphidation, quartz-adularia epithermal. Broad zones of disseminated gold mineralization occur within a package of Tertiary-age rhyolite volcanics and volcaniclastics. Higher gold grades are typically found in quartz stockwork veins that penetrate through the underlying argillitic sedimentary rocks and into the overlying rhyolite volcanics. The best gold intercepts occur within a strong quartz-vein stockwork system developed in the main Discovery zone. Several areas around the Discovery zone exhibit a similar style of mineralization, and the company believes continued drilling may show that these zones coalesce into a larger system.
In late January, operators submitted a plan of operations to the Bureau of Land Management for review. Once this plan is accepted, Midway and Newmont will begin drilling 600 holes to define the main Discovery zone, as well as peripheral targets.
An additional 4,572 metres of drilling will test regional targets within the 125-sq.-km property. For the first half of 2003, a total of 13,700 metres in 70 holes is planned.
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