South Grass Valley Project - January 2020 Drilling Update

VANCOUVER - Nevada Exploration Inc. (NGE) reported an update on its ongoing reverse-circulation (RC) drilling program at its South Grass Valley Carlin-type gold project. Shortly after beginning the program in January, the Company mobilized a second drill rig to the Project, and has now drilled a total of 2,146 meters. Based on preliminary geologic logging, the Company is pleased to report that the additional drill holes are improving both the resolution of and its confidence in its exploration model at the Project.

Specifically, NGE reported that: (1) the silicic blanket seen in the northern cluster of 2018-2019 core holes has now been intersected further to the west, beneath the Freddie target area; (2) drilling at the northern end of the Golden Gorge target area has encountered the hornfels contact aureole predicted based upon the Company’s exploration model; and (3) drilling at the Waterfall target area intersected a thick section (125 meter) of favorable black, limey mudstone and siliceous mudstone and chert, that together sit immediately above the granite associated with the Grass Valley Stock. 

NGE expects to commence drilling at the Water Canyon target area this month. The company’s first drill hole of the program at the Golden Gorge target, SGVR005, encountered granitic bedrock at only 29 meters, which then continued to the bottom of the hole at 110 meters. The second drill hole of the program at the Golden Gorge target, SGVR006 (located approximately 550 meters northeast of SGVR005) encountered bedrock at 46 meters, consisting of a package of limestone and chert to 140 meters, and then marble, calc-silicates, and increasing silicification with sulfides until 198 meters, where the drill hole was stopped.

The presence of the shallow granite in SGVR005 confirms both the magnetic interpretation of granitic bedrock and the gravity interpretation that this bedrock is shallow. The significant changes in geology between the two holes, over a relatively short distance, are typical of the contact aureole interface surrounding large intrusives, which represent highly favorable depositional settings and known ore controls at Nevada’s major Carlin-type gold districts. These features of significance are what NGE is targeting at Golden Gorge, and this will be the interface that the Company expects to continue to test with additional holes at this target.

First drill hole of the program at the Waterfall target area, SGVR004, encountered bedrock at 46 meters, which consisted of a volcanic tuff that transitioned into an andesite mudflow unit. At 155 meters, the drill hole entered black, limey mudstone; and below that a hard, siliceous mudstone and chert unit; before finally entering granite at 280 meters, which continued until the bottom of the hole at 305 meters. Importantly, based on the geologic units encountered in SGVR004, it was reported that the granite-limestone interface immediately beneath Waterfall is resolving into a more complex geologic domain than simply a large mass of granite, within the larger magnetic-high feature seen in the airborne magnetic data. This first drill hole in this area of the Project supports the Waterfall exploration model of favorable host units located within close proximity to the Grass Valley Stock, immediately beneath the highest concentrations of gold in groundwater at the Project. The company expects to complete a number of additional holes to continue to refine its understanding of the granite-limestone interface across the target.

NGE’s first drill hole of the program at the Freddie target area, SGVR001, was located immediately next to Goodwin Butte, and very quickly entered a limestone and gray chert bedrock unit at 15 meters. The Paleozoic stratigraphy that it encountered closely followed that of core hole SGVC006, 263 meters to the east, and similarly, also encountered silicification features, in this case at 329 meters. Unfortunately, silicified chips clogged and damaged the tri-cone bit, and subsequent re-entry was unsuccessful due to collapsing limestone and chert bedrock, which resulted in stopping the hole at 371 meters. The second drill hole of the program at the Freddie target area, SGVR002, was located 850 meters NNW of SGVR001, and was completed to a total depth of 628 meters. The drill hole hit bedrock at 70 meters, and intersected tuff then likely mudflow, before entering a sequence of siltstone +/- black chert, black siliceous mudstone and chert, and bottoming in black shale.

The third drill hole of the program at the Freddie target area, SGVR003, is located 550 meters east of SGVR002, and remains in progress, currently at 536 meters. SGVR003 hit bedrock at 168 meters, entering a likely mudflow unit sitting on top of a sequence of siltstone, black chert, limestone, and mudstone, from 186 meters to the current bottom of the hole, which included silica-sulfide breccia units as well as other alteration features that will be further examined with the addition of geochemistry data, once assays are available. The alteration, and specifically the silicification, seen in holes SGVR001 and SGVR003 have confirmed that the silicification at the target horizon, based on NGE’s earlier core holes, extends towards the west, as well as have also confirmed that both the lithology and hydrothermal alteration plunge towards the east, as predicted based on the exploration model. Plans are to use the geochemistry results from these first three holes at Freddie to guide its next series of drill holes at the target.

The company’s address is 885 W Georgia St #1500, Vancouver, BC V6C 2G2, (604) 601 2006, www.nevadaexploration.com.