Deadwood data from a previous Deadwood participant.....
posted on
Dec 04, 2011 01:54PM
Ultimately Developing a District with Multiple Near-Surface Gold Resources along the +30 km Property in Idaho
Description of Deadwood Property
The Deadwood Property consists of 36 unpatented lode mining claims located in
Idaho County in Townships 28 and 29 North in Range 7 East, Sections 5, 6, 7 and
8, Boise Meridian and is adjacent to the Friday Property. Initially the Property
consisted of 64 claims, however, during 1999, the land position was reduced by
dropping 28 peripheral claims to reduce the holding costs. All current claims
are approximately 20 acres each and are in the exploration stage.
Second to the Buffalo Gulch Property, the North end of the Deadwood Property
appears to be the most significant gold resource outlined by reconnaissance
prospecting of the Company's gold properties. Beginning in 1985, prior owners of
the property performed various samplings and mappings on the property. Stream
silt sampling outlined an anomalous gold source area at the head of Little
Campbell Creek and several drainages over a northerly strike length of 5,000
feet from the South Fork of the Clearwater River to Campbell Creek, with values
of 900 to 4,000 parts per billion gold. Idaho Gold conducted additional
geological mapping and sampling, which outlined a silicified, sheared and
brecciated structure 200 feet wide on the property with rock sample values of
0.01 to 0.036 oz of gold per ton and soil values of 25 to 400 parts per billion
gold. The anomalous silt and soil samples continued south through to Big
Campbell Creek 5,000 feet to the south.
To trace this persistent gold structure a large soil geochemical grid measuring
10,000 feet by 4,000 feet was established extending southwesterly from the South
Fork of the Clearwater River just east of the height of land.
Geochemistry
Idaho Gold conducted a gold soil geochemical sampling program consisting of
1,424 soil samples on 200 foot spaced grid lines at 100 foot centers was
completed over a grid area measuring 10,000 feet by 4,000 feet. The survey
outlined a broad gold geochemical anomaly greater than 25 parts per billion gold
striking N20(0)E over the entire grid length of 10,000 feet with a width varying
from 500 to 2,000 feet. The anomaly has a strongly defined core of greater than
100 parts per billion to a maximum of 1,220 parts per billion gold which
corresponds to an intensely sheared, brecciated and silicified gold zone.
Geology
Geological mapping was conducted by Idaho Gold over the gold soil geochemical
grid as a follow up on the large gold geochemical anomaly. In review of the
mapping, a broad zone of pervasive sericite-clay alteration, which averages
2,000 to 3,000 feet in width, was traced throughout the grid area and surrounds
the gold soil anomaly. On the northern portion of the grid the alteration zone
corresponds to the outer limits of the greater than 10 parts per billion gold
soil anomaly and on the southern portion of the grid it extends 2,000 feet further
north outside the soil anomaly. This extension may be due to a weakly limonitic
quartz monzonite intrusive mapped in this area.
The persistent linear core gold anomaly of greater than 100 parts per billion is
associated with a strongly sheared, brecciated, and intensely limonitic
silicified zone which has been traced from the northern most line to the
southern most portion of the grid. Detailed mapping and channel sampling on
recent drill road cuts, show the zone to be a complex brecciated system. The
rock is a mixed assemblage of quartz monzonite and sericite schist which has
been altered to sericite and clay, then silicified, sheared and brecciated with
gracutes and voids coated with intense orange to dark chocolate brown limonite.
The oxide zone extends to a depth of 50 to 200 feet below surface and averages
170 to 200 feet on the ridge tops. Below the oxide zone the fractures and voids
are filled with pyrite and traces of arsenopyrite.
The alteration has characteristics of a porphyry copper system, with large
advanced argillic alteration zones and mineralization being associated with
fractures filling in zones of brecciation and silicification. The inner fault
zone is a part of a large scale Orogrande Shear Zone, which has controlled
intrusive emplacement, alteration and gold mineralization.
Gold Zones
Idaho Gold conducted rock sampling over the length of the silicified, brecciated
and limonitic gold zone and outlined four strong gold zones with values of 0.010
to 2.8 oz/ton gold, with an average of 0.03 to 0.05 oz/ton gold. These gold
zones are indicated from north to south and are numbered I to IV, as set out in
detail below.
Zone I
Located on the north end of the Deadwood zone, this was an area that returned
anomalous gold soil geochemistry. Follow-up mapping and sampling determined that
the mineral potential in this area is limited and therefor no further work has
been done in this area.
Zone II
Rock sampling has outlined a zone 800 feet in strike by 150 to 200 feet in width
with an average of seven rock chips of 0.05 oz/ton gold. Two vertical reverse
circulation drill holes tested the southern fringe of this zone with one hole
returning 0.012 oz/ton gold over 50 feet.
Zone III Central Zone
This is the largest gold soil geochemical anomaly outlined along the sheared
gold structure. Detailed mapping and rock channel sampling on three drill access
road cuts have outlined a large gold bearing structure. A central zone 400 feet
wide consisting of strong brecciation and silicification with intense limunitic
fracture coatings and void fillings is flanked on either side by several hundred
feet of soft intensely clay-sericite altered limonitic schist. Channel sampling
shows the best gold values of 0.03 to 0.283 oz/ton gold to the south in the area
of the best reverse circulation drill holes. A total of 18 reverse circulation
drill holes totaling 2,385 feet tested the zone in October 1986. Three holes in
the southern portion of the drill area intersected significant gold
mineralization over a strike of 300 feet. Gold soil geochemical and rock
sampling have traced the zone 1,000 feet to the south with five rock chip
samples averaging 0.048 oz/ton gold.
Summary
A broad gold bearing zone has been outlined by drilling and channel sampling in
the area of the southernmost drill holes. Channel sampling on surface indicates
average grades of 0.02 to 0.028 oz/ton gold with significant drill intersections
averaging 0.028 oz/ton gold on the southernmost holes with the zone open to
depth and on strike to the southwest and north.
The silicified brecciated structure is 350 to 400 feet wide and is flanked by a
soft intensely sericite-clay altered zone to the north and south of over several
hundred feet. Channel sampling on the southern sericite-clay altered zone
averaged 0.02 and 0.028 over 100 to 200 feet on road cuts.
Drilling indicates the gold zone may be vertical with grades and alteration
dropping off to the north down slope into the steeply incised little Campbell
Creek. The depth of oxide is greatest in the bench area, with a thickness of 150
to 200 feet. This zone is the main drill target.
The gold zone has a potential strike length of 1,200 feet and a width of 800
feet. The zone should be tested by 5,000 feet of angled reverse circulation
drill holes on 200-foot centers during a future exploration program, once gold
prices improve.
Zone IV
The soil geochemistry and rock sampling has outlined a large gold zone extending
over 3,000 feet in the southern portion of the grid area. This gold zone is
separated from the Central Gold Zone III by a projected east-west fault zone
along Big Campbell Creek with an inferred displacement of 1,000 feet. Rocks in
the northern portion of the Zone IV Gold Zone are a highly sheared and
sericite-clay altered mixed zone of quartz monzonite and schist with irregular
crushed silicified zones. In the main southern portion of the gold zone sericite
quartzite is the main rock type which has been highly fractured and cut by
irregular quartz veins and veinlets. The silicification of Zone IV is
characterized by the splayed out zone of quartz veins and veinlets rather than a
central core flanked by soft intense sericite alteration as in the Northern Gold Zones I to III.
The northern portion of the gold zone IV is 100 to 200 feet wide and has a
strike of 1,500 feet. It consists of mixed schist and quartz monzonite, which is
highly sheared and altered to a soft sericite-clay with sheared silicified
zones. Soil geochemistry and rock sampling indicate gold mineralization is
irregular and should be drill tested after Zone III.
The southern portion of the gold zone IV is 400 to 500 feet wide and has a
strike length of 2,000 feet. It consists of highly fractured and limoratic
sericite quartzite with minor sericite schist-gneiss. Numerous quartz veins and
veinlets cut it with similar gold grade to the limonitic sericite quartzite. The
average gold value of thirteen rock samples is 0.05 ounces of gold per ton with
a range of 0.004 to 0.163 ounces of gold per ton. This is a strong persistent
gold system with good alteration, fracturing and gold values. The southern
portion of the Zone IV gold zone should be tested by 4,000 to 5,000 feet of
angled reserve circulation drilling spread throughout the anomaly at 200 to 300
foot centers. Such drilling has not yet occurred and will not occur until gold
prices improve.
The Company has not performed any other work on the Deadwood Property, except
for its review and analysis of the prior work performed by Centennial and Idaho
Gold, except for an IP/resistivity geophysical program in 1997 to delineate the
Orogrande Shear Zone and locate the mineralizing structures.