Romarco cuts high grade in Nevada

Romarco Minerals (R-T) has intercepted high-grade gold values at its newly acquired Red Rocks project in western Nevada.

The company completed 12 reverse-circulation and three core holes, totalling 12,331 ft., enabling it to test a mineralized structure over 2,400 ft. The most significant intercept occurred in hole RMR-4, which hit 115 ft.

grading 1.6 oz. gold and 8 oz. silver per ton, starting at a depth of 405 ft.

Hole RMC-9b, drilled below that intercept, encountered 15.8 ft. of 0.15 oz.

gold and 2 oz. silver, starting at a depth of 476 ft. Included in this second interval was a 1.5-ft. zone grading 1 oz. gold and 10.5 oz. silver.

Hole 9a, drilled above hole RMR-4, was abandoned when it became clear the mineralization was faulted off. Hole 8 tried to pick up the structure from the opposite direction, but came up empty.

In 10 holes, the company hit significant intercepts of at least 5 ft.

assaying greater than 0.1 oz. gold. Hole RMR-14, drilled 1,400 ft. from the bonanza intercept (RMR-4) hit 40 ft. grading 0.31 oz. gold at a depth of 480 ft.

Romarco remains unclear about the orientation of the bonanza intercept, which lies hidden below 300 ft. of post-mineral gravel. However, Laurie Gaborit, the company’s manager of investor relations, describes the zone as “definitely an underground target” and says it is comparable to Romarco’s Midas property in northern Nevada.

Comprising 4,440 acres, the Red Rocks property was discovered by Phelps Dodge in the 1980s and occupies a huge zone of structural deformation, stretching from Reno to Las Vegas, known as Walker Lane. The area is characterized by extensional tectonics, strike-slip faulting and volcanism, spanning much of the Tertiary age. Various epithermal mineral deposits have formed within this environment, including Echo Bay’s McCoy/Cove mine, the Paradise Peak mine, and Cornucopia’s Mineral Ridge mine.

Drilling at Red Rocks is planned for the fall. Meanwhile, the company has optioned the South Midas property, 7 miles southwest of the main Midas property. The company can earn a half-interest in 1,200 acres by spending $2 million on exploration before 2004. The remaining half interest is split evenly between Blue Desert Mining (BDE-A) and Golden Glacier Resources (GGA-V).