Harvest Gold Summarizes Rosebud Mine N.I. 43-101 Technical Report; Report Posted
posted on
Sep 11, 2008 11:40AM
A mineral exploration company working in Nevada, USA and Manitoba, Canada.
Harvest Gold Summarizes Rosebud Mine N.I. 43-101 Technical Report; Report Posted on SEDAR
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Sep 11, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) --
Harvest Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE: HVG) (the "Company") has received and posted on SEDAR a NI 43-101 Technical Report on its Rosebud Mine property in Pershing County, Nevada USA.
http://sedar.com/DisplayCompanyDocum...
The report is authored by independent geologist Robert G. Cuffney, a Certified Professional Geologist and Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Cuffney has recognized expertise in low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposits such as Rosebud that he developed over 33 years of exploration with a focus on epithermal and Carlin-type precious metals deposits in Nevada and other parts of the world.
The report represents a major step forward for the Company in cataloguing and understanding the body of information produced by more than ten exploration and mining companies over a period of more than 20 years. The Rosebud deposit produced 396,842 ounces gold and 2,309,876 ounces silver from high grade ores between 1997 and 2000. The 43-101 report describes exploration and mining activities at Rosebud from pre-discovery in 1988 until now and provides favorable evaluations of exploration targets developed by the Company. In late 2000, following closure of the Rosebud Mine, at a time when gold prices had reached US$252/oz Au, Hecla reported an historical remaining Measured and Indicated Global Resource of 6,816,021 tons grading 0.036 oz Au/t and 0.31 oz Ag/t at a 0.01 oz Au/t cut-off, containing 242,857 gold ounces and 2,129,750 silver ounces (Hecla Mining Company, 2000). This historical estimate was made prior to the implementation of NI 43-101, may not comply with current CIM standards, and is presented for purposes of historical reference only. The Company is not treating the estimate as a National Instrument 43-101 defined resource, and the historical estimate should not be relied upon. The Company believes that there is very good potential to discover additional high grade zones within and adjacent to the bulk tonnage envelope and to expand the size of this envelope.
Some highlights of the report are:
- The data produced by previous operators has been verified as being valid and useful
- The Rosebud mine occurs within a large, strong, hydrothermal system
- There is good potential for the discovery of additional high grade zones and expansion of the bulk tonnage envelope
The discovery and development potential at Rosebud merits an aggressive drilling campaign. Mr. Cuffney recommends a two-phase drill program totaling 36,800 ft (11,215 m) in 32 holes. This program has several objectives: (i) to discover additional high grade mineralized zones, (ii) to increase the average grade and extend the limits of the bulk tonnage envelope, and (iii) to accurately define the gold-mineralized envelope. The combination of geologic mapping, review and evaluation of the volume of data produced by prior operators, and additional soil geochemical surveys has resulted in the definition of several new high-quality targets within the bulk tonnage envelope. The data gathering, review, and evaluation process has also strengthened our understanding of previously-defined targets.
An important outcome of the process is the recognition of a key feature of the mined body called the "chimney". This zone graded greater than 1.0 oz Au/t and contained approximately 40% of the pre-mining resource within an area measuring approximately 130 ft (40 m) long by 220 ft (60 m) high. A lower-grade, 0.10-1.0 oz Au/t (3.4-7.2 g/t) stockwork and disseminated zone of mineralization surrounded the chimney. The Company feels that there are very good opportunities to discover additional high-grade zones and is placing high priority on discovering additional zones similar to the chimney. Potential exists for discovering additional high-grade Au zones in all of the targets described below. The most significant targets are highlighted below. Detailed descriptions of these can be found in the 43-101 report.
Nym Fault Targets/Southern Extension
A previously unrecognized fault, now named the "Nym" fault, has been located through mapping and reinterpretation of geology in the district. This new fault is exposed in trenches on Dozer Hill above the Rosebud ore system, and to the south of the property in Rosebud Canyon. The fault may have served as a magmatic feeder for rhyolite flows that host much of the mineralization at Rosebud and is interpreted to have been an important conduit for mineralizing fluids. It is the Company's interpretation that the Nym fault is a key structural feature that was necessary to form the chimney zone and that this fault was not recognized or well understood previously. Several targets with high-grade potential and of similar or larger size have been identified along the Nym fault approximately 1000 feet to the south of the mined ore bodies. These are being refined and prioritized in preparation for drilling. Evidence of high-grade mineralization is provided by an underground drill hole, DRSU-453A, which intersected 2 ft @ 0.224 oz Au/t (0.6 m @ 7.7 g/t) and 0.6 ft @ 0.542 oz Au/t (0.18 m @ 18.6 g/t) near the periphery of one of the Nym fault targets. This underground drill hole is subhorizontal and sub-parallel to the Nym fault, and did not drill into the target but may have grazed its margin.
Basement Targets
High-grade gold vein and stockwork targets are present within the basement Triassic to Jurassic Auld Lang Syne Group sedimentary rocks. The Auld Lang Syne Group has never been adequately drill-tested despite the presence of significant gold mineralization intersected by historic exploration. The contact between the Tertiary volcanic rocks and basement rocks is a favored locus for high-grade precious-metals mineralization in several low-sulfidation, adularia-sericite systems. Drilling beneath the East and North Ore Zones encountered significant gold mineralization in the Auld Lang Syne basement rocks in the footwall of the South Ridge fault. As an example, beneath the East Ore Zone, core hole RL-106C drilled 200 feet (61 m) of Auld Lang Syne argillite and quartzite and intersected four gold intervals grading in excess of 0.02 oz Au/t (0.7 g/t), including 20 ft @ 0.085 oz Au/t (6.1 m @ 2.9 g/t) and 50 ft @ 0.064 oz Au/t (15.2 m @ 2.2 g/t). The hole terminated in 15 ft @ 0.109 oz Au/t (4.6 m @ 3.7 g/t) mineralization at 1202 feet (366.4 m).
Far East Zone Target
Several high-grade drill intercepts, including 60 ft @ 0.25 oz Au/t (18.3 m @ 8.6 g/t) and 10 ft @ 1.0 oz Au/t (3.0 m @ 34.3 g/t) are present. The mineralization lies on strike with the East Ore Zone and occurs within the same structural and stratigraphic setting as the East deposit. Drilling of the Far East Zone was limited to a few holes due to higher-priority targets in the mine area.
Northeast Target
The Northeast target is in a structural and stratigraphic setting similar to the Rosebud ore bodies. It is adjacent to, and south of, the Rosebud Shear in an area of structural intersection. A northwest-trending, 2000 ft (610 m) by 600 ft (180 m) zone of argillic and silicic alteration and hydrothermal breccia is present within rhyolite flows. This alteration zone coincides with a larger enzyme leach soil geochemical anomaly and lies within a magnetic embayment that is similar to the magnetic response associated with the Rosebud ore bodies.
Northwest Corridor Target
Numerous drill intercepts have been encountered to the northwest of the Rosebud mine in the Northwest Corridor. Drill intercepts include 10 ft @ 0.357 oz Au/t (3.0 m @ 12.2 g/t) in hole 96-356. Two follow-up holes drilled from underground workings encountered multiple high-grade intervals (six intercepts of greater than 0.25 oz/t (greater than 8.6 g/t) in hole D345-99, including 5.6 ft @ 0.888 oz Au/t (1.7 m @ 30.4 g/t); and two high-grade intercepts in hole D365-99, located 400 ft (122 m) from hole RSD 345-99. These intercepts were followed up with a 17 hole underground drill program in 2000 as the mine life was coming to an end and gold prices were depressed. Mineralization was encountered during this program but an underground resource has yet to be defined. The high grades intersected in the Northwest Corridor target are indicative of strong gold mineralization along one of the dominant structural and alteration trends in the mine area. The target is viable both for high-grade stockwork mineralization localized at structural intersections and/or inflections in the low-angle controlling fault, and for bulk-tonnage gold mineralization in the hanging wall of the structure.
East Zone Targets
This area, along with the South and North Ore Zones, contains much of the nearly 250,000 oz Au post-mining historic global resource calculated by Hecla. Specific high-grade targets are being developed within the East Zone.
Valley Target
The Valley target occurs along the Rosebud Shear and along strike to the southwest of the Rosebud mine. An IP chargeability anomaly has been tested by several wide-spaced drill holes that were drilled blind due to alluvial cover. Stockwork mineralization was encountered in several holes, including 15 ft @ 0.032 oz Au/t (4.6 m @ 1.1 g/t) in RL-77 and 50 ft @ 0.014 oz Au/t (15.2 m @ 0.5 g/t) in RL-56. The spacing of drill holes in this large (3500 ft x 1000 ft; 1070 m x 300 m) area is wide and potential remains good for discovery of both high-grade tabular deposits and bulk-tonnage deposits along splays of the Rosebud Shear. A north-northwest trending enzyme leach gold anomaly has been found in geochemical data just received by the Company. This new gold anomaly is approximately 2100 ft (650 m) long by 1000 ft (300 m) wide and contains a north-northwest trending high-response center. This is part of a broader enzyme leach gold response that roughly coincides with the IP chargeability anomaly and contains the drill intercepts described above. Drill holes are being planned to test this new gold anomaly. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Lac Minerals and Equinox Resources discovered and developed Rosebud in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hecla acquired Rosebud by way of its merger with Equinox. In 1996, information published in Hecla Mining Company's 1995 annual report quotes a Rosebud resource of 1,276,634 tons grading 0.392 ounces gold and 2.70 ounces silver per ton containing 500,441 ounces of gold and 3,446,912 ounces of silver at a cut-off grade of 0.18-ounce gold per ton.
A Hecla-Newmont joint venture mined the underground deposit between 1997 and 2000 producing a total of 396,842 ounces gold and 2,309,876 ounces silver. The joint venture milled 953,119 tons of ore, which was processed in a conventional carbon-in-leach circuit at Santa Fe's Twin Creeks Pinion mill. The product was a high-quality gold-silver dore. Reported recoveries for gold were in the 95% range and 58% for silver.
It should be noted that the historical resource estimates by Hecla were made by a source believed to be reliable. However, the Company has not yet independently verified the estimate according to CIM standards. The resource estimate is presented for historical purposes only. Therefore, the Company is not treating the estimate as a National Instrument 43-101 defined resource, and the historical estimate should not be relied upon.
The technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed by Greg Hill, Certified Professional Geologist, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. The Qualified Person has not classified historic estimates as current under NI 43-101. The historic estimates contained herein should not be relied upon. The issuer is not treating them as current and historical estimates should not be relied upon.
Harvest Gold Corporation is a mineral exploration company working in Nevada, USA and Manitoba, Canada. In Nevada, the Company is exploring the 100% optioned Rosebud Mine property, a generative gold property at Garcia Flats in the South Carlin Trend and an advanced property with a gold-silver resource at the Longstreet Mine, in Northern Nye County. In Manitoba, Harvest is exploring three groups of claims in the Rice Lake Gold Belt of south eastern Manitoba and at Assean Lake, Manitoba.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
John Roozendaal, B.Sc., President,
Harvest Gold Corporation
For more information about Harvest Gold Corporation, please review the Company's website www.harvestgoldcorp.com or speak with a Company representative at 1-866-816-0118 or 604-986-2020.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Harvest Gold Corporation
Keith Patey
Director of Communications
(604) 986-2020 or Toll Free: 1-866-816-0118
(604)-986-2021 (FAX)
Website: www.harvestgoldcorp.com
First Canadian Capital Corp.
Dan Boase
(416) 742-5600 ext. 232 or Toll Free: 1-866-580-8891
Email: dboase@firstcanadiancapital.com
SOURCE: Harvest Gold Corporation
http://www.harvestgoldcorp.com mailto:dboase@firstcanadiancapital.com
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