Start Of CSAMT And Drill Program At The Breccia Gold Property
VANCOUVER - Ophir Gold Corp. reported the start of the CSAMT geophysical program and provides an update on the drilling and surface exploration at the Breccia Gold Property, located approximately 40 km southwest of Salmon, Idaho, and may be accessed directly by road. The Company has engaged TMC Geophysics to carry out a Controlled Source Audio-frequency Magnetotelluric Survey (CSAMT) survey on the Property. TMC Geophysics is a leading geophysical services provider to the mineral exploration industry with its head office in Canada. The purpose of the CSAMT survey is to map silicification and structure at depth related to the hydrothermal system with the overarching objective to refine drill hole targets to test for a high-grade mineralized body at depth that is feeding the high-grade quartz-veined breccias observed at surface. The CSAMT survey is also anticipated to trace the Breccia Zone to the south where magnetic data indicates it continues under alluvium cover.
The CSAMT survey is designed to cover the majority of the Property and will include 15 lines at a 200 m spacing totaling approximately 472 stations and 26 line-kilometers. Crews from TMC Geophysics are being mobilized to site over the next few days.
Initial challenging drilling conditions, coupled with regional forest fires forcing a reworking of some site logistics, had hindered the operations of the drilling over the first half of the program resulting in slower than anticipated progress. However, the drill advancement rate and conditions have improved over the past week, as well as the forest fire risk abated, and the program is now proceeding with more momentum.
A total of approximately 1,295.7 m (4,251 ft) over seven (7) drill holes have been completed to date - BG21-001, 002, 003, 003a, 004, 005, and 006. Core length depths range from 69.2 m (DDH BG21-003, lost due to hole conditions) and 296.3 m (DDH BG21-006), with all holes oriented to intercept and cross at depth the breccia unit that defines the Meadows Fault Zone. The Company is pleased to report that the breccia unit has been successfully intersected in each hole and is characterized by variable widths of heavy iron-manganese oxide and clay alteration, quartz veining, and silicification, with the unit similar in appearance to that observed at surface. Occurrences of bladed quartz have also been encountered in several drill holes.
Significant clay alteration and occurrences of bladed quartz in drill core are characteristics consistent with the uppermost regions of a low-sulphidation epithermal system. In addition, quartz veining and silicification are observed to increase with depth of the breccia zone intercepted in drill core. The Company anticipates reporting core sample assays for the first batch of drill holes in this month, once it has received full and final results.
The Company has submitted a five-year Plan of Operations to the United States Forestry Service for extended exploration of the Breccia Gold Property (see news release dated May 17, 2021). The permit, once received, will allow the Company to explore the Property for five consecutive years, under the same authorization, providing significant advantages and flexibility for follow-up aggressive and expanded diamond drilling on the Property. Coupled with the CSMAT data, the Company intends to continue delineating the near-surface breccia unit, as well as targeting the roots of the system where silicification and quartz stockwork veining, associated with gold mineralization, are anticipated to be 'mapped' by the CSAMT survey.
As a result of the initial slower than anticipated drilling, the opportunity was taken to further prospect areas of the Property and follow-up on the mineralized occurrences discovered in 2020. The Company is pleased to report that the prospecting has led to the discovery of a new breccia outcrop occurrence located approximately 800 m north-northwest of the drill area, and several hundred meters west of the extensive gold in soil anomaly situated along the northern portions of the Meadow's Fault Zone. A total of 16 samples were collected from a series of large breccia outcrops, extending for least 200 m in a generally east-west direction. The discovery indicates a potential splay off the Meadow's Fault Zone and further highlights the surface exploration potential of the Property, and most specifically the north end of the Meadow's Fault Zone. Analytical results are expected to be reported shortly.