New Quartz Veins And Initial Soil Sampling Program At Buckingham Gold Project

 

TORONTO - Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. has completed the initial phase of a soil sampling program at its Buckingham Gold Property located in central Virginia. In the course of sampling a new zone of outcropping quartz veining totaling 500 meters (m) in length was discovered three kilometers (km) east-northeast (ENE) of the main Buckingham vein where recent drilling has intersected significant gold mineralization. Panning for heavy minerals in the small tributaries draining the newly discovered quartz vein zone yielded multiple placer gold grains.

Highlights: 1,203 soil samples collected covering an area of 8.5km2; New zone of outcropping quartz veins exposed over approximately 500m of strike length discovered 3km ENE of the previously drilled main Buckingham gold-bearing quartz vein; & Multiple placer gold flakes were identified in panned alluvial gravels adjacent to the newly discovered quartz veins.   

This initial soil sampling program at the Buckingham Gold Property comprised 1,203 soil samples at a sample spacing of 25m to 50m along lines separated by 100m to 500m. Approximately 31 linear kilometers of sample lines were sampled covering a total area of approximately 8.5km2. Analytical results are expected in early 2020 followed by further field work to extend the sampled area and to follow up on anomalies resulting from this initial phase of sampling.

Prospecting efforts in the course of soil sampling discovered a significant zone of float and outcropping quartz veins located approximately 3km ENE of the gold-bearing Buckingham vein drilled by the company earlier this year (see June 27, 2019 Aston Bay release). These newly discovered quartz veins range from float blocks to outcrop.  The veins commonly comprise white to grey crystalline quartz, are massive to strongly fractured, and contain trace to 1% sulfides (chalcopyrite and pyrite) as disseminations and stringers.  Furthermore, moderately to strongly oxidized brown to red oxide coatings occur locally, characteristic of the main Buckingham quartz vein. The newly discovered quartz vein float and outcrops occur along a nearly 500m long trend.

Visible particulate (placer) gold grains were also recovered from adjacent streams in hand-panned alluvial gravels. These are the first rock, stream and soil samples collected in this new area.

As part of ongoing work, a mapping and structural analysis will be conducted across the property in early December by Mr. John C. Spurney, a highly experienced field-oriented exploration geologist. This work will be integrated with results of soil sampling and planned induced polarization geophysics for the purposes of drill hole targeting for a proposed early 2020 drill program. 

“The soil sampling program was designed to detect gold-bearing quartz systems similar to that found in our initial discovery at the main Buckingham vein, but are currently hidden under the extensive soil cover in the area,” stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay. “There is less than 1% outcropping bedrock in this area, so to discover such an extensive zone of previously unrecognized quartz veining that is spatially associated with placer gold allows us to vault ahead to the next step in geologic evaluation in this area without waiting for further analyses. As well, the results from soil samples over both this newly discovered area and the previous discovery will be valuable in identifying other zones of similar mineralization currently hidden under the soil cover.”

The Buckingham Gold Property hosts sub-cropping quartz veins containing visible gold that have yielded up to 701 g/t Au (20.4 ounces Au per short ton) in surface grab samples. Recent drilling by Aston Bay intersected significant gold mineralization in quartz veins, including 35.61 g/t Au over 2.03m core length in hole BUCK19-001, 20.44 g/t Au over 3.30m and 34.25 g/t Au over 0.5m core length in hole BUCK19-003, and 24.73 g/t Au over 3.57m including 62.51 g/t Au over 1.39m core length in hole BUCK19-004. Broad zones of gold mineralization associated with sericite-quartz-pyrite alteration were intersected as well: 2.16 g/t Au over 18.07m including 17.45 g/t Au over 1.57m core length and 1.90 g/t Au over 22.22m including 19.30 g/t Au over 1.5m core length in BUCK19-005. Based upon multiple vein intersections, the estimated true width is 80% of the core interval.

The gold-bearing system is hosted within a package of interpreted Cambrian-age sediments, including greywackes with minor quartz-arenites (phyllite, schist and quartzites), within the Appalachian orogenic belt. This region is the site of the historically prolific Pyrite Belt which hosted a reported 250 gold mines that were in production prior to the California gold rush of 1849 but has seen little recent mineral exploration. Small scale and significant gold production have occurred historically throughout North and South Carolina as well as Virginia. A notable example of a rejuvenated historic producer in the region is OceanaGold’s Haile Mine located in South Carolina where commercial production began in 2017 and is scheduled to produce up to 150,000 ounces of gold per year.