Hey Marwal, you wrote....." ". . .Placer mining gold recoveries, usually accomplished in surface sand, gravel and loose rocks, is typically only a miniscule portion of the real total deposit. . . "

.......it's been my understanding that placer deposits are not necessarily an indicator of lode deposits still in place. Let me explain by example.......here in BC near Princeton, in the Tulameen River(and surrounding creeks) was discovered a very rich placer area. This was discovered by Johnny Chance in 1885. This was a great deposit as it also contained platinum. A lot of the platinum was thrown away, as it was not understood what it really was.....leading to treasure stories of those prospectors that saved and buried the platinum, believing that any metal heavy enough to get in the way of sluicing and panning gold was worth keeping.

but I digress.......my point is that long long after the placer deposits were mined, hard rock miners, with there drills and science could not find the origin of the gold or platinum. It's not a very big watershed either. They found some, but it was such low grade that it was not economical....not even close.

They concluded that the origin of the gold and platinum had been eroded over time, and the nemisis of most placers(at least in Canada)...glaciers....had not disturbed them much or at all. Glaciation in this area could have removed several kilometers of surface crust. It is thought that a mountain or two of low grade au & pt was eroded over time. and as nature can do, she perfectly sifted out the heavies into her creeks and river, where over time it became VERY rich. Several 50+oz nuggets of gold. The platinum was mostly in 'matchhead' and smaller size spheres.

This is not an isolated scenario.

So while I'm REALLY hoping you are right, my 'spidey sense' tells me to wait for the drilling. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just a heads up on other possibilities.

....cheers....sambone