Cimarron Gold Prospect Phase 1 Drilling Update
CALGARY - Crestview Exploration Inc. announced the completion of 1,684 feet of the 4,500 feet budgeted for the phase 1 drill program at the Cimarron gold prospect. Three core drill holes have been completed, and we are now moving to the fourth. In addition to the drilling, the company has started evaluating the extension claims at Cimarron. While still early in the process, encouraging sinter float has been observed and sampled on the extension claims both north and south of the core claims.
The Cimarron phase 1 drilling was designed to validate the historic drilling while simultaneously testing the expansion potential at depth. The phase 1 drill program allotted a 4,500' total footage budget spread between five to nine drill holes drilled between 400' and 1,000' depending on alteration and mineralization.
As a reminder to the reader, the Cimarron property was acquired with a large dataset of gold assays for approximately 190 drill holes that date back to the 1980's. The historic drilling was quite shallow, with the average depth of drill holes less than 200'. The historic dataset includes many intervals of greater than 0.1 opt Au, and a number of the holes were terminated in economic grade. This data set was used to estimate an approximately 50,000-ounce gold resource which was never reported in a 43-101 as the data predates the practice.
The gold mineralization at Cimarron is hosted in a stacked volcanic rock sequence (rhyodacite, pyroxene andesite, latite porphyry, and vitric tuff) with interbedded mud-flow breccia, which is the primary host rock for mineralization at Cimarron. This unit features poorly-sorted, cobble- to pebble-sized, intermingled volcanic and sedimentary fragments in a fine-grained mud matrix. The alteration observed in the first three holes includes silicification and argillic and propylitic alteration with strong iron oxides.
SA-01 is a twin of the historic EB-86, drilled by Echo Bay in 1987. EB-86 was drilled to a depth of 150', with assays reporting gold mineralization starting near surface and extending to 135' and grades as high as 0.264 opt Au reported. SA-01 was terminated at a depth of 487', more than 300' deeper than EB-86. The hole was collared in latite porphyry, with the mud-flow breccia unit encountered at 23.5' and extending 34'. The remainder of the hole was drilled in pyroxene andesite, with increased alteration along faults and fractures. Away from structures, only propylitic alteration was observed in the pyroxene andesite.
SA-02 is a twin of the historic C-93. C-93 was drilled to a depth of 380', with gold mineralization starting near the surface and gold grades as high as 0.186 opt reported. The hole was terminated in approximately 60' of economic grade. SA-02 was terminated in the pyroxene andesite unit at a depth of 627', more than 240' deeper than C-93. The hole was collared in the mud-flow breccia host rock, which extended to approximately 568'. The argillic alteration and iron oxides continued in the pyroxene andesite to approximately 570', giving way to propylitic alteration.
SA-03 is a twin of the historic C-18. C-18 was drilled to a depth of 230', with gold mineralization starting at the surface and gold grades as high as 0.042 opt reported. The last five-foot sample of the hole was in economic gold grade. SA-03 was terminated at a depth of 570' which is more than 300' deeper than C-18. The hole was collared in the mud-flow breccia host rock, which extended to approximately 492' then transitioned to vitric tuff.
V.P. of Exploration, Justin Lowe, said, "The program is going well overall. We had some unanticipated delays early in the program (primarily drill repair and maintenance issues), but those issues seem to have been resolved. Geologically speaking, we are very happy with what we are seeing. The alteration indicators are there, and we have been able to drill these first three twins significantly deeper than the originals. The total thickness of the mud-flow breccia unit was unknown at the start of the program, and we have been encouraged to see it extends much deeper than the original occupants drilled. We will complete one or two more holes depending on the depth. The assay results should be in by late summer, at which point we will plan our next move."