2.5 Million Ounce Maiden Gold Resource at Estelle
Melbourne, Sep 11, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Minerals explorer and developer Nova Minerals Limited (
ASX:NVA) (QM3:FRA)('Nova' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce its maiden Inferred Gold resource estimate for the Oxide Korbel prospect from the phase 1 resource drill programme at the Company's Estelle Gold Project ('the Project').
Investment highlights:
- Independent Maiden Inferred JORC Resource of circa 2.5 million ounces of gold at Oxide Korbel (Blocks A and B) one of fifteen known occurrences at Nova Mineral's Estelle Gold Project
- The Oxide Korbel deposit (Blocks A and B) remains open at depth and along strike
- Resource starts from less than 2 m from surface (ASX announcement: 2 September 2019 - Hole SE12-004)
- Resource occurs on less then 1% of the total project area
- Future plans include multiple diamond drill rigs on site operating 24 hours 7 days a week, with a focus on increasing the drill density of the maiden resource, plus extensional drilling to grow the global resource
- Further exploration drilling to test RPM and Shoeshine planned
- Aggressive drilling campaign to continue upon receiving permits and approvals
An Independent Maiden inferred JORC Resource ('the Resource') of circa 2.5 million ounces of gold has been confirmed at the Project. The Oxide Korbel deposit (Blocks A and B), which is one of fifteen known occurrences, remains open at depth and along strike.
The Resource Estimate starts from less than 2 m from surface and occurs on less than 1 % of the total project area. The mineral deposit type is comparable to Kinross' Fort Knox Gold and Victoria Gold's Dublin Gulch Eagles Gold Mine.
Nova Minerals plans include multiple diamond drill rigs on site operating 24 hours 7 days a week, with a focus on increasing the drill density of the maiden resource, plus extensional drilling to grow the resource. Further drilling to test RPM and Shoeshine is also being planned.
NVA Managing Director, Mr Avi Kimelman said: "With credit to the team, the Oxide Korbel maiden Inferred Resource and represent a major milestone to Nova and highlights the immense potential of the Estelle Gold project as this is only one of multiple major occurrences. The Oxide Korbel Blocks A and B also remain open at depth and along strike. This is just a start and we have literally only scratched the surface.
Our aggressive drilling efforts will continue upon receiving permits and approvals, with exploration planning around the existing resource already underway. We intend to use multiple diamond drill rigs to define the footprint of Oxide Korbel deposit, expand the resource and test additional gold targets on the Estelle property (Figure 5 in link below).
The Oxide Korbel deposit is a textbook example of a potentially bulk mineable, large scale, near surface, low strip Intrusion-Related Gold System (IRGS) mirroring that of Kinross' Fort Knox Gold and Victoria Gold's Dublin Gulch Eagle Gold Mine systems. The Estelle project is well located (Figure 6) for future development and the project receives strong government body and local support."
Mineral Resource Estimate
This Mineral Resource Estimate has been prepared for Oxide Korbel gold deposit one of several gold targets on the Estelle Property. The Mineral Resources were estimated using drill hole data.
Geologic Interpretation - The property is situated within the Koyukuk terrane, one of several arc assemblages accreted late into the North American Cordillera. The property straddles the north-south trending axis of the Late Cretaceous / Early Tertiary Mt Estelle plutonic suite that intrudes the Latest Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Kahilltna Assemblage sediments. The Kahiltna Assemblage includes units of volcaniclastic sediments, siltstone and local conglomerate interpreted as flysch deposits deposited in a continental margin setting.
The Mount Estelle composite pluton is the southern-most pluton in the Yentna trend and has isotopic ages ranging from 68 - 78 Ma with many crystallization ages averaging 70 Ma. The Mount Estelle pluton is zoned from a granite core to more mafic marginal phase. Xenoliths of the country rocks and of the various intrusive phases occur throughout the pluton. Sheeted joint sets and unusual spherical, onion-skin-like features occur in core areas of the pluton. Adjacent to the Mount Estelle pluton, the country rock is hornfelsed and locally exhibits red staining and sericite-clay alteration, and pyrite in disseminations and along fractures.
The Estelle gold deposit is interpreted to be a reduced intrusion-related gold system (IGRS). The main geologic characteristics of the Estelle deposit are remarkably similar to those of the Fort Knox and Dublin Gulch gold deposits which are also located in the Tintina Gold Belt (Nova Minerals News Release June 19, 2019)
A satellite image study of the entire Estelle property was completed by Michael Baker in 2019 (Figure 5). At the property scale the structural pattern is dominated by an orthogonal set of northwest and northeast trending faults that are interpreted to have originated above the rising Estelle pluton. The northwest faults are interpreted to truncate the earlier northeast fractures but are themselves cut by a later set of northeast trending minor faults. The northwest trending structures are inferred to have an extensional component. At the property scale (Figure 5), the 2 general structural trends are about 125 and 55 degrees.
Extensive zones of argillic and or phyllic alteration were mapped in the central Oxide deposit area Bundtzsen (2018). The alteration is characterized by a quartz-sericite-pyrite assemblage with minor to trace amounts of biotite, kaolinite and potassium feldspar. The alteration is most commonly observed in the Alaskite and in the enveloping quartz monzonite intrusive rocks. Within the altered zones, sulfide mineralization was mapped and sampled.
To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/A1P1488G
About Nova Minerals Limited
Nova Minerals Limited (ASX:NVA) (FRA:QM3) is a Gold, Antimony and Critical Minerals exploration and development company focused on advancing the Estelle Project, comprised of 514 km2 of State of Alaska mining claims, which contains multiple mining complexes across a 35 km long mineralized corridor of over 20 advanced Gold and Antimony prospects, including two already defined multi-million ounce resources, and several drill ready Antimony prospects with massive outcropping stibnite vein systems observed at surface. The 85% owned project is located 150 km northwest of Anchorage, Alaska, USA, in the prolific Tintina Gold Belt, a province which hosts a >220 million ounce (Moz) documented gold endowment and some of the world's largest gold mines and discoveries including, Barrick's Donlin Creek Gold Project and Kinross Gold Corporation's Fort Knox Gold Mine. The belt also hosts significant Antimony deposits and was a historical North American Antimony producer.
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