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Summary Click here to view the Red Canyon Photo Gallery The Red Canyon sediment-hosted gold project is made up of 254 lode claims (8.2 sq mi / 21.2 sq km) along the Battle Mountain-Eureka Gold Trend in Eureka County, Nevada (Figure 1). The project covers a 3 sq mi (7.8 sq km) alteration cell developed in carbonate rocks that are age-equivalent to gold-bearing host rocks at the Cortez Hills, Pipeline and Gold Bar deposits. Exploration results include:
CMQ's Vice President of Exploration, John Hogg, and Miranda's Senior Geologist, Steven Koehler, participated in the gold discoveries at West Leeville, Hardie Footwall Extension and Four Corners on the Carlin Trend. As such, Mr. Hogg and Mr. Koehler bring considerable knowledge and expertise regarding Carlin-type gold deposits to the Red Canyon project.
Location Red Canyon is on the northwestern flank of the Roberts Mountains approximately 75 miles (120 km) south of Carlin, Nevada. The project is on the Battle Mountain-Eureka Gold Trend, a northwest alignment of bulk-mineable gold deposits including Pipeline, Cortez Hills, Gold Acres, Cortez, Horse Canyon, Gold Bar and Archimedes (Figure 1). The property is 12 miles (19 km) southeast of the Cortez Hills deposit, a +12.0 million ounce sediment-hosted gold deposit discovered by the Cortez Joint Venture (now Barrick Gold). The northwestern portion of the property adjoins U.S. Gold's Tonkin Springs property. Geology On a regional scale, the upper and lower plate rock packages are separated by a low angle, regional fault known as the Roberts Mountains thrust. At Red Canyon, uplift and erosion of the upper plate rocks created a "window" that exposes favorable carbonate host rocks. The "window" exposes strongly oxidized, decalcified, brecciated and silicified lower plate carbonate rocks over a three square mile area (7.8 sq km). Carbonate rocks at Red Canyon are age equivalent to rocks hosting the Cortez Hills and Pipeline gold deposits. Four distinct rock packages occur on the project (Figure 2). They include:
At the surface, hydrothermal alteration in the form of iron oxidation, decalcification, silicification, clay, and barite/stibnite occurrences are exposed over a three square mile (7.8 sq km) area. In the subsurface, select drill holes contain oxidation that locally exceeds 1,000 ft (305 m) in depth. Alteration extends to the north under pediment and volcanic rock cover at the Ice prospect. Recent drilling by Montezuma indicates that a Carlin-style alteration system is present beneath barren volcanic rocks as evidenced by elevated arsenic, mercury, antimony and thallium associated with zones of low-level gold. Additional drilling for near-surface, oxide gold mineralization is recommended in this area.
Exploration History Previous exploration by Meridian, Tenneco, Great Basin, Hycroft, Kennecott, Newmont and Romarco focused on shallow, oxide gold targets at four separate prospects: Ice, Gexa, Red and Sage. Ninety-five percent of the historic drilling was less than 500 ft (152 m) deep. Only 14 holes reached depths greater than 1,000 ft (305 m). Kennecott completed KR-001, a 2,500 foot (762.2 m) vertical drill hole at the Ice Prospect, to follow up on surface gold (>0.01 oz Au/t / 0.343 g Au/t) mineralization, in the footwall of the northwest-striking Wall fault. The hole intersected 95 ft of 0.117 oz Au/t from 20 to 115 ft (29.0 m of 4.01 g Au/t from 6.1 to 35.1 m) in silty carbonate rocks, above massive dolomite of the Lone Mountain Formation. Additional drilling in the vicinity of KR-001 intersected disseminated gold, including:
Joint Venture Exploration 2005 Newmont completed geologic mapping, rock chip sampling, a 340 station CO2/O2 soil gas survey, and 13,115 ft (3,998.5 m) of reverse circulation drilling in 11 holes. Three holes, NRC-4, -5 and -6, identified a vertically-extensive hydrothermal/gold system below shallow drilling. Drill cuttings from NRC-4 contain deep oxidation, zones of moderate to strong decalcification and silicification, and breccia zones. The hole ended prematurely in the Denay Formation at 1,170 ft (356.7 m) in silicified and oxidized multi-lithic breccia with the following metal values: Au 170 ppb, As 123 ppm, Sb 75 ppm and Hg 7.5 ppm. The alteration in combination with elevated pathfinder metals confirms the presence of a deeper, previously unrecognized sediment-hosted gold system. This gold system remains open in all directions, particularly down section in the McColley Canyon Formation -- the host for gold mineralization at the Ice Prospect. 2007 Romarco completed 6,070 ft (1,850 m) of reverse-circulation drilling in eight holes. The holes tested geologic and soil geochemical targets. Results included 85 ft of 0.046 oz Au/t (25.9 m of 1.568 g Au/t) in drill hole ROM07-01 at the Ice Prospect. Romarco spent in excess of $500,000 on the project and terminated the exploration agreement in March 2008. In plan, five drill holes at the Ice Prospect roughly outline a 195 ft by 820 ft (60 m by 250 m) zone of gold mineralization that remains open along strike to the northeast (Figure 3). The northeast exploration potential is supported by the five mineralized drill holes, surface rock chip sampling, structural contouring, gravity and a geochemical evaluation completed by specialist Robert Jackson. Additional drill targets have been identified.
2008 Montezuma completed 1:2,000 geologic mapping over the northern half of the carbonate window; collected in excess of 2,000 soil samples; completed a detailed, property-wide airborne magnetic survey; and completed 13 CSAMT lines. 2009 Montezuma completed 2,295 ft (700 m) of reverse-circulation drilling in three vertical holes at the Ice prospect. Past exploration at Ice focused on gold-bearing and altered surface exposures of McColley Canyon Formation limestone, however past drilling did not step out to test open ended extensions to the northeast and southeast. The three holes (MR09-01, -02 and -03) evaluated a portion of the northeast potential, beneath younger volcanic rocks. Each hole intersected decalcified, silicified and oxidized rocks in the target zone with low-level gold, but failed to detect gold values exceeding 0.010 oz Au/t (0.343 g Au/t). Elevated arsenic, mercury, antimony and thallium are associated with zones of low-level gold. Montezuma's drilling indicates that a Carlin-style alteration system is present beneath barren volcanic rocks. Recent drilling results do not diminish the Ice target as exploration potential remains open to the northeast along 3,600 ft (1,100 m) of strike, and to the southeast for 7,600 ft (2,320 m) along a plunging syncline. Geologic mapping at 1:2,000 was completed in the southern portion of the carbonate window. Property-wide mapping results include:
Montezuma completed a three hole, 1,137 ft (346.6 m) diamond core drilling in November 2009. Drill holes MR09-05C and MR09-06C were designed to follow-up known gold mineralization at Red Canyon's Ice prospect and as such are not new discovery holes (Figures 3 and 7). MR09-05C verified the results in KR-001, a reverse circulation hole which intersected 95 ft of 0.117 oz Au/t from 20 to 115 ft (29.0 m of 4.012 g Au/t from 6.1 to 35.1 m), but with 30% higher grade (0.152 oz Au/t / 5.25 g Au/t) and 25% greater thickness (119 ft / 36.28 m) (Figure 5). MR09-06C intersected 60 ft of 0.10 oz Au/t (18.29 m of 3.43 g Au/t). MR09-04C had no significant assays. All drill results are based on a 0.010 oz Au/t (0.343 g Au/t) cutoff and represent drill indicated thicknesses.
Core samples from MR09-05C and MR09-06C indicate strongly decalcified and clay-altered limestone is associated with the gold alteration (Figure 8). As previous drilling targeted areas with strong silica alteration, this information will be valuable in effectively determining the location of future drill holes. Exploration potential at Ice remains open in two directions: to the southeast for 7,600 ft (2,320 m) along the axis of a plunging syncline; and to the northeast along 3,600 ft (1,100 m) of strike.
2010 Plans To date, Montezuma's drilling has been permitted through a Notice of Intent (NOI) with the Bureau of Land Management. The NOI limits surface disturbance to a maximum of 5 acres (2 hectares). Currently, Montezuma and Miranda geologists recognize eight unique target areas that require multiple phases of drilling. To test these targets, Montezuma has initiated the permitting process for an Exploration Plan of Operations (POO). When complete, the POO will allow for more than 5 acres (2 hectares) of surface disturbance and increased flexibility in drill testing a variety of targets across the property. Montezuma is currently executing an eight hole, 7,200 ft (2,195 m) drilling program. |
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