Aston Bay Discovers Significant Anomalies Program At Buckingham Gold
TORONTO - Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. reported results from the initial soil sampling program conducted at its Buckingham Gold Property located in Central Virginia. The survey identified a broad but discreet 1.0 x 1.8 kilometer (km) gold anomaly spatially associated with the gold-bearing quartz vein and zones of disseminated gold-quartz mineralization drilled in 2019. In addition, the survey identified several detailed gold-in-soil trends at its Buckingham Main Zone and several new gold anomalies elsewhere on the property which remain to be drill tested.
Highlights: New discovery of several significant gold anomalies of up to 1.75 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) in soil; A well-defined, broad 1.0 x 1.8 km gold-in-soil anomaly identified at the Buckingham Main Zone area, surrounding the area of current drilling where both high grade gold veins (e.g., 35.6 g/t Au over 2.0 meters (m) and 24.7 g/t Au over 3.6m) and broader zones of disseminated gold-quartz mineralization (2.2 g/t Au over 18.1 m and 1.9 g/t Au over 22.2m) were intercepted in the 2019 drill program; A newly discovered northeast trending anomaly extends for over 1 km, with the northeastern-most sample assaying 1.69 g/t Au in soil; this anomaly remains open to the northeast; & Several lines ended in anomalous gold values, suggesting additional work is warranted; management is currently in negotiations for additional land parcels in the area.
A total of 1,325 soil samples were collected in late 2019 and early 2020. Of these, approximately 1000 comprise a grid covering the area surrounding the Buckingham Main Zone with 25m-spaced sampling along east-west lines spaced between 100m and 200m apart. Results of the sampling in the vicinity of the Buckingham Main Zone. Several lines ended in anomalous gold values; these areas will be the focus of a proposed expanded soil sampling program, and management is in negotiations to increase the land package currently under exploration agreement.
The sampling has identified a broad but discreet >25 ppb Au anomaly approximately 1 km by 1.8 km in size surrounding the zone of the current drilling at the Buckingham Main Zone. Samples returned values up to a maximum of 1.75g/t Au. This large anomaly strikes north-northeast, which is concordant with the regional geological strike in this area.
The main gold anomaly includes a number of sub-parallel and cross-cutting trends, including a northwest striking feature that corresponds well with the high grade gold-bearing quartz vein (e.g., 35.6 g/t Au over 2.0m and 24.7 g/t Au over 3.6m) that has been the focus of the 2019 and the current 2020 drilling campaigns. Approximately 200 m strike length of the vein has been drilled by Aston Bay in 2019 and 2020; this corresponding northwest striking gold-in-soil anomaly extends for 600 m.
Current interpretations of the regional geologic trend, informed by structural measurements obtained from oriented drill core from the current drill program, suggest a general north-northeast strike, dipping moderately to the east-southeast. Two zones of disseminated and discontinuous veinlets of gold-quartz mineralization intercepted by drill hole BUCK 19-005 in the 2019 drilling (2.2 g/t Au over 18.1 m and 1.9 g/t Au over 22.2m are hosted in a discreet package of meta- felsic volcanic rocks associated with chloritic metasedimentary rocks; these gold mineralized zones are interpreted to mirror this regional structural trend, with the north-northeast soil anomalies to the west of the drilling potentially representing their up-dip expression at surface.
A newly discovered northeast trending anomaly extends for over 1 km, with the northeastern-most sample assaying 1.69 g/t Au in soil; this anomaly remains open to the northeast. The area of quartz veining at the Buckingham East Zone located 3.2 km to the northeast of the Buckingham Main Zone yielded three soil samples with detectable gold, with the highest assay at 0.32 g/t Au. Further sampling is planned for this area.
The March 2020 drill program completed 1,218 meters of drilling in ten diamond drill holes. Logging of the core confirms that the current drilling has intersected veining and alteration similar to that encountered in the 2019 drilling of the zone. Sampling of the 2020 drill core has been slowed by the program shutdown due to Covid-19 virus regulations. Processing of the core is ongoing, however, and analytical results will be released.
“We are excited by the size and gold grade of these newly discovered anomalous zones,” said Thomas Ullrich, CEO. “This area has almost no surface outcrops, so the soil survey provides a view into the subsurface to direct our drilling and potentially suggest the scale of the gold system. We look forward to resumption of drilling to expand on our gold discovery in Virginia.”