A gold-copper intercept below old workings in Montana and a U.S. defence award for nickel exploration in Michigan show two ways early-stage projects can advance. In Nevada, explorers are testing whether a phosphate bed holds together along strike and whether old silver and base-metal workings conceal a larger sulphide system. Here are four projects to watch before they reach a resource estimate.
American Pacific Mining
American Pacific Mining (CSE: USGD; US-OTC: USGDF) is testing for a larger gold-copper system beneath the historical workings at its Madison project, about 40 km southeast of Butte, Mont. A 15,000-metre drill program is testing both shallow skarn and vein targets and deeper porphyry-style mineralization that could be their source.
Drill hole M26C-02 cut 30.8 metres grading 7.4 grams gold per tonne, 9.6 grams silver and 0.29% copper from 218.2 metres depth, American Pacific reported in September. That included 20.1 metres at 11.15 grams gold, 14.3 grams silver and 0.42% copper. The massive sulphide mineralization remains open and appears to thicken to the southwest, the company said.
The drill hole tested the ground between the historical Madison and Broadway workings, where the company is looking for a connection between previously identified high-grade zones. In October, American Pacific said it planned geophysical and structural surveys in the drill hole to guide step-out drilling.
Madison produced copper and gold intermittently from underground workings. Rio Tinto (ASX, LSE, NYSE: RIO) subsidiary Kennecott Exploration spent several years exploring the property under an earn-in agreement before returning it to American Pacific. The junior also holds the Ziggurat gold and Gooseberry silver-gold projects in Nevada.
American Pacific Mining had a market value of about C$41.4 million at print time.
Bitterroot Resources
Bitterroot Resources (TSXV: BTT) is preparing to drill its LM nickel-copper project in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula after securing U.S. government backing to look for a domestic source of high-grade nickel.
The U.S. Department of Defense agreed in September to provide up to $5.22 million (C$7.4 million) under the Defense Production Act, Bitterroot said. The award is expected to cover half of approved exploration spending, including drilling, surveys and permitting. The company arranged a C$2.4-million private placement to help fund its share and provide working capital.
Bitterroot planned to start 15 to 20 drill holes in the fourth quarter, each 500 to 700 metres long, to locate the bedrock source of high-grade nickel-copper sulphides. Earlier drilling totalled 7,565 metres in 26 core holes and identified a magma conduit with nickel-copper and platinum group metal sulphides in 10 of them.
Bitterroot subsidiary Trans Superior Resources operates LM and owns 51%. Private Michigan explorer Below Exploration holds the balance. The project sits in the Baraga Basin, in the same peninsula as Talon Metals’ (TSX: TLO; US-OTC: TLOFF) Eagle nickel mine.
Bitterroot Resources had a market value of about C$18 million at print time.
Nevada Organic Phosphate
Nevada Organic Phosphate (CSE: NOP; US-OTC: NOPFF) is tracing a shallow phosphate bed at Murdock Mountain in northeastern Nevada as it looks for a potential domestic source of fertilizer feedstock.
Murdock Mountain in northeastern Nevada is a potential domestic source of fertilizer feedstock. Credit: Nevada Organic Phosphate
A 1.5-km step-out extended confirmed mineralization along the upper phosphate zone to more than 3 km of strike, the company reported in August. Drill hole MM26-10 returned 3.6 metres averaging 10.89% phosphorus pentoxide. The company brought a drill contractor back in September to continue testing the trend.
The company interprets the phosphate as a nearly flat-lying sedimentary bed in the Phosphoria Formation, which hosts deposits across parts of the western U.S. It is assessing whether the rock could qualify for organic fertilizer use, citing low concentrations of heavy metals, uranium and thorium.
Murdock Mountain lies near Montello, about 665 km north of Las Vegas and 6 km from a railway. Drilling is aimed at establishing the bed’s continuity, thickness and grade ahead of any resource or economic study.
Nevada Organic Phosphate had a market value of about C$23 million at print time.
North Peak Resources
North Peak Resources (TSXV: NPR; US-OTC: NPRLF) has added diamond drilling at Prospect Mountain near Eureka, Nev., to test for sulphides beneath and around historical workings.
The company began reverse-circulation drilling in August and added a diamond rig in September after reviewing geophysical survey results. The roughly 7,000-metre program targets five areas. Initial diamond drilling is focused on the main sulphide anomaly, with deeper holes testing conductive targets that could represent extensions of the mineralization.
Earlier drilling found narrow intervals of high-grade zinc and silver in massive sulphides. The new program tests whether those intervals connect to a larger system at depth. North Peak secured an on-site water supply over the summer, clearing a practical hurdle to deeper drilling.
Prospect Mountain lies at the southern end of the Battle Mountain–Eureka trend. Historical mining targeted shallow gold, silver and base-metal mineralization, while deeper targets have seen relatively little modern exploration.
North Peak Resources had a market value of about C$36 million at print time.
Source: www.northernminer.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.
