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Summary The Coal Canyon property consists of 64 unpatented lode claims in the heart of the Cortez Trend. The property is three miles south of Barrick's ET Blue project and it adjoins the northeast side of US Gold's Tonkin Springs property (Figure 1). The property occupies two square miles (5.2 sq km) of the Coal Canyon lower-plate window, a feature that exposes favorable carbonate rocks known to host economic gold mineralization on the Cortez Trend. In mid-March 2008, Miranda signed an Exploration Agreement with Option to Form a Joint Venture with Queensgate Resources Corporation (Queensgate). Queensgate may earn a joint venture interest in the Coal Canyon, BPV and CONO projects. Miranda and Queensgate are currently discussing an exploration program and budget that would include drill testing defined targets at Coal Canyon. Under the terms of the exploration agreement, Queensgate must fund $3,000,000 in exploration activities over a five-year period in order to earn a 51% interest in the properties. Upon earning a 51% interest Queensgate may earn an additional 9% interest, for a total of 60%, by funding an additional $2,000,000 and can eventually earn up to a 70% interest in all three properties by funding a bankable feasibility study on any one of the properties. The first year's $260,000 is an obligation that will include exploration expenditures as well as payments to maintain the underlying mineral lease.  click to enlarge Location The Coal Canyon gold property is located in west-central Eureka County, Nevada along the Battle Mountain-Eureka mineral trend. The region is typified by north-northeast trending mountain ranges separated by broad, alluvium filled valleys. The property is on the northwest flank of the Simpson Park Mountains and extends into Pine Valley. Elevations range from 5,000 ft (1,525m) to 7,500 ft (2,286m). Access to the property is excellent via secondary roads and tracks branching off Highway 278. Nearby towns include Elko (85mi/136km to the northeast), Carlin (65 mi/104 km to the north) and Eureka (60mi/95 km to the south). The property is currently held by Miranda Gold Corp. via an agreement with Nevada North Resources. Coal Canyon is proximal to existing economic gold mines, newly discovered gold deposits and previously operating mines, including: the Pipeline mine complex (+20.0M oz), Cortez Hills/Pediment (+9.0M oz), Cortez mine (1.7M oz), Horse Canyon mine (0.8M oz), Buckhorn mine (0.4M oz), Tonkin Springs mine (1.7M oz), and Gold Bar (1.0M oz). Geology The Battle Mountain-Eureka mineral trend is a 90 mile long (145 km), north-northwest alignment of predominantly carbonate-hosted gold deposits in north-central Nevada. Examples include the Pipeline mine complex, Cortez Hills, Archimedes, Gold Acres, Horse Canyon, Marigold/Millennium and Gold Bar. Disseminated gold deposits are hosted in Ordovician through Devonian sedimentary rocks, but seem to blossom in Silurian and Devonian-age carbonate rocks. The Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend is also famous for a world class gold-base metal skarn deposit (Fortitude/Phoenix), and a Climax-type porphyry molybdenum deposit (Mt. Hope). Gold deposits (Buckhorn, Mule Canyon) hosted in Miocene basalt occur in the Northern Nevada Rift. The Battle Mountain-Eureka mineral trend is 39 miles (62km) southwest of a prominent, 40 mile long (64km), 100 million ounce gold belt known as the Carlin Trend. Three distinct rock packages occur on the property (Figure 2). They include:
At surface, dozens of west-northwest, northwest and northeast-striking faults transect the property. Mapping indicates these faults focus hydrothermal alteration and zones of elevated gold, arsenic and antimony (Figure 3). The northwest striking Grouse Creek fault focuses igneous dikes, hydrothermal alteration and concentrations of potentially economic gold. The Grouse Creek fault and parallel faults, will continue to be a focus of exploration particularly where these faults intersect favorable lower-plate stratigraphy.  click to enlarge  click to enlarge Exploration History The Coal Canyon property has a long exploration history including work by Homestake, Amselco, Cordex, Fisher Watt, American Copper and Nickel Company, Great Basin Exploration and Mining, and most recently by Kennecott Exploration. These operators completed 39,200 feet of drilling in 81 holes (Figure 4). Of these 81 holes, only 12 holes were drilled beyond 500 feet (152m). Past exploration focused on the northwest-trending Grouse Creek fault that lies on ground controlled by others, adjacent to the southwest margin of Miranda's property. Historic drilling along this fault has encountered significant gold mineralization of up to 85 feet of 0.022 oz Au/t (26m of 0.753 g Au/t) in the Hanson Creek dolomite and the underlying Eureka Formation. Gold mineralization is associated with altered dikes, iron oxides, breccias and silicification.  click to enlarge Previous Joint Venture Exploration Geophysical surveys conducted by Golden Aria demonstrate the Grouse Creek fault-controlled gold mineralization correlates with gradient resistivity and self-potential geophysical anomalies. Conceptual targets inferred from these geophysical responses are for broad zones of silicification enveloping vertically-extensive, oxidizing sulfides, which could represent pyritic dikes within gold-bearing fault zones. Compilation of geophysical data, surface mapping and geochemical sampling illustrates five untested exploration areas that warrant follow-up drilling. These target areas were not tested by previous shallow drilling campaigns. Golden Aria Corporation completed a two-hole drill program totaling 2,020 ft (615m) in late 2006 (Figure 5). The holes, MCC-1 and MCC-2, were designed to test resistivity and self-potential anomalies at the intersections of altered fault zones, in favorable lower plate carbonate rocks. The holes intersected six, 30 ft (9.1m) to 200 ft (61m)-thick zones of moderately decalcified, and variably silicified/clay altered silty limestone; however both holes did not test the entirety of their target horizons due to poor drilling conditions. Neither of the holes intersected significantly anomalous gold mineralization. The Venture Agreement between Miranda and Golden Aria was terminated on March 23, 2007. These target concepts listed above should be the focus of continued exploration in 2007, despite the assay results of this limited drill program.  click to enlarge 2008 Plans Miranda and Queensgate are currently discussing an exploration program and budget that would include drill testing defined targets at Coal Canyon. As these plans evolve, additional information will be posted on this page. Prior exploration work, which includes geologic mapping, surface sampling and a resistivity survey, has delineated a number of drill targets. These targets include several discrete structural intersections that are associated with jasperoid, breccias and anomalous gold geochemistry. This disclosure contains information about properties which we have no right to explore or mine. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining operations disclosure guidelines generally preclude disclosing information of this time in documents filed with the SEC as we must focus on properties in which we do have an interest. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not necessarily indicative of mineral deposits on our properties. |
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