More gold at Midway

Vancouver — Midway Gold (MDW-V) has tabled results from 13 more drill holes from the Discovery zone area on the Midway Gold prospect, in Nye County, Nevada.

Newmont Mining (NEM-N), is Midway’s joint venture partner and manager of the ongoing project designed to test several targets along a 23 km strike length of the Midway property.

In the recent batch of drill results, 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 drill testing will be required to determine the extent and degree of mineralization.

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. The company reports that 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. A number of areas around the Discovery zone exhibit a similar style of mineralization and as a result, the company believes that continued drilling may show that these zones coalesce into a larger system.

Highlights of the recent batch of drill results include;

• Hole MW-303 cut 19.6 metres averaging 1.94 grams gold per tonne, starting 106.2 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 1.8-metre interval that averaged 5.6 grams gold, and a 2.9-metre interval that averaged 1.84 grams gold.
• Hole MW-306 cut 9.14 metres averaging 1.88 grams gold, starting 85.3 metres down-hole.
• Hole MW-307 cut 40.8 metres averaging 1.73 grams gold, starting 207.3 metres down-hole. This included a 12.2-metre interval that averaged 3.85 grams gold and a 5.9-metre interval that averaged 3.19 grams gold.
• Hole MW-308 cut 4.6 metres averaging 7.36 grams gold, starting 193.5 metres down-hole.
• Hole MW-311 cut 1.52-metres averaging 2.45 grams gold, starting 138 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 4.6-metre interval that averaged 1.34 grams gold.
• Hole MW-312 cut 1.52 metres averaging 1.37 grams gold, starting 157 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 18.3-metre interval that averaged 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.

Midway reports that in late January a Plan of Operations was submitted to the Bureau of Land Management for review. Once this plan is accepted, Midway and Newmont intend to drill 600 holes to define the main Discovery zone as well as the peripheral targets.

Recently the joint venture management committee authorized an additional 4,572 metres of drilling to test regional target areas within the 125 sq. km property. A total of 13,700 metres of drilling in 70 holes has been planned during the first half of 2003. So far about 7,000 metres has been completed.

Last year, Newmont inked a deal to earn a 51% interest in the property by spending US$8.8 million on exploration and development. The major can acquire a further 19% by delivering a feasibility study.

The Midway property 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 Kinross Gold (K-T) and Barrick Gold (ABX-T).