Revolution explores Carolina slate belt

Drilling along a 25-km-long trend is bound to generate mixed results, and such is the case for Revolution Resources (RV-T) at its Champion Hills project in North Carolina.

The company pulled a very encouraging 22.5 metres grading 6.10 grams gold per tonne and 258.7 grams silver per tonne from 29 metres downhole in a first crack at its Jericho Hill target. The first drill hole on the target was a follow up to a number of strong sample results taken last fall, while results from three more holes are pending.

However, at its Silver Valley and Silver Hill prospects, respectively 16 and 25 km southwest of Jericho Hill along the Champion Hills trend, results were humdrum.

Three holes at Silver Hill didn’t hit anything significant, while results from the other three holes included: 1 metre grading 4.2 grams gold, 35.6 grams silver and 4.2% copper from 295 metres downhole in hole SH11-01; 1 metre averaging 2.8 grams gold, 106 grams silver, 13.45% lead and 22.4% zinc from 241 metres depth in hole SH11-02; and 8 metres carrying 2.84 grams gold and 6.44 grams silver from 332 metres depth in hole SH11-03.

At Silver Valley, two holes had no significant intercepts while hole SV11-05 returned 4 metres grading 2.12 grams gold from 14 metres depth. Two other holes returned short intercepts of low-level metals.

With limited outcrop and multiple properties, the area can take lots of drilling before Revolution will understand what it has underground.

Romarco Minerals (R-T), for instance, also on the Carolina slate belt, drilled around 190,000 metres between 2008 and 2010 before establishing a 3.1-million-oz.-gold indicated resource at its Haile project in South Carolina. Romarco has no less than 172,000 metres of drilling planned for 2011.

Revolution, meanwhile, has drilled a total of 15,000 metres at four properties, having only started exploring the area late last year after a switch in company focus away from Greenland.

Last year Revolution concentrated drilling on its Loflin and Jones-Keystone targets 8 km southwest of the Jericho Hill target. Results included 70 metres grading 1.1 grams gold and 30 metres grading 2.59 grams gold at Loflin, and 104 metres averaging 1.27 grams gold and 57 metres carrying 1.56 grams gold at Jones-Keystone.

Revolution president and CEO Aaron Keay said in a recent meeting with The Northern Miner that the company plans to conduct “slow, methodical, planned exploration,” as it explores the company’s seven projects covering 30.4 sq. km along the Champion Hills trend.

The land package was patiently put together over more than a year by making deals with numerous private land owners. Keay argues that the fractured land ownership is a big reason why the area has not been properly explored in recent years, and says the company is working to keep landowners on its side.

“We spent a ton of time building relationships,” Keay said. “The community loves us.”

Keay said Revolution’s land package shows similar host rocks, alteration and geochemistry as Romarco’s Haile deposit, which put the Carolinas back on the map for gold exploration.

He also noted that Revolution’s properties host a small fraction of the wetlands that Romarco’s does, which has delayed permitting for its Haile project.

Elsewhere on the Carolina belt, Strongbow Exploration (SBW-V) has become a significant landholder with several option agreements. Last September the company secured its 11.3-sq.-km Midway project near Haile in South Carolina, and in March it added the 3.2-sq.-km Parker project within North Carolina’s Gold Hill mining district, 100 km north of the Midway project. Recently the company added four properties totalling 1.8 hectares that sit along strike from the past producing Ridgeway gold mine, and added 2.4-sq.-km to its Midway project.

The company had two drill rigs on its Midway gold project as it worked through a 3,000-metre drill program. It has since moved one to Parker to drill 1,200 metres.

Revolution’s share price was up 2¢ to 62¢ on the drilling news with 57.7 million shares outstanding. Strongbow’s share price recently closed at 35¢ with 82 million shares outstanding.