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White Rock Minerals planning aggressive follow-up exploration program at Last Chance Gold Target in Alaska

Last updated: 00:02 25 Nov 2020 GMT, First published: 23:51 24 Nov 2020 GMT

White Rock Minerals Ltd - White Rock Minerals progresses maiden exploration program at the Last Chance Gold Target in Alaska
Assay results for the three remaining holes are expected in mid to late December

White Rock Minerals Ltd (ASX:WRM) is encouraged by results to date from the maiden exploration program at Last Chance Gold Target in Alaska that are expected to result in an aggressive follow-up drill campaign in 2021.

The company has progressed with a program of eight diamond drill holes testing surface gold anomalies and hydrothermal silica breccia structural targets at the Pickle, Sidewinder West, Double Down and Sidewinder Blowout prospects.

Assay results for samples from a further three diamond drill holes have been received, with results confirming that the hydrothermal silica breccia bodies and quartz-arsenopyrite veins encountered in drilling and mapped at surface show a large system of strongly anomalous arsenic and antimony.

This is consistent with what has been interpreted to be the upper brittle levels of a very large orogenic and/or Intrusion Related Gold System (IRGS).

“Barely scratching the surface”

White Rock technical advisor Dr Quinton Hennigh said: “This season’s maiden drill program scratched the surface at Last Chance.

“Our first holes tested very shallow parts of the system, most hitting their targeted mineralised zones at depths less than 100 vertical metres.

“These holes were designed to test the geometry of a number of substantial mineralised structures we think are tapping a deeper, higher grade IRGS/orogenic gold system.

“Although we did not get to drill deeper holes this season, we are encouraged by the results received to date and have a high confidence that we are starting to understand the structural framework of this very large gold system.”

Peak assay of 2.19 g/t gold

A total of 1,990 metres was completed in eight drill holes across Pickle, Sidewinder West, Double Down and Sidewinder Blowout.

At the Pickle target, three diamond drill holes were completed for 455 metres, at Sidewinder West two diamond drill holes were completed for 444 metres and at Double Down one diamond drill hole was completed for 213 metres.

To date, a peak gold assay of 2.19 g/t was intersected at Sidewinder West (hole LC20-04) with gold >1g/t also intersected at Pickle (holes LC20-02 and 03).

All drill holes intersected multiple intervals of low-grade, but significant, gold mineralisation associated with hydrothermal silica breccia bodies, diffuse quartz-arsenopyrite veining and silicification.

The company is confident that the assay results received confirm strong, broad arsenic-antimony anomalism associated with gold mineralisation.

Overall, zones of silicification, veining and sulphide appear similar to that seen at surface where mineralised rock chip results range between 0.1 and 2 g/t gold.

Drill holes on gold soil assays results with basic geology from reconnaissance mapping.

418 trend target

Multiple shallow targets remain untested including the 418-trend, Sidewinder Ridge, Trio and Breccia Blowout.

Prior to the onset of snow and freezing temperatures a drill pad was prepared at 418 target, a 750-metre long NW-trending gold-arsenic soil anomaly (>100 parts per billion gold) on a south-facing talus covered slope with no outcrop exposure.

Although White Rock had hoped to drill the 418-trend target this season, it will be the first priority in 2021.

In combination with the CSAMT geophysics completed at the end of the 2020 season and incoming multi-element geochemistry results from the surface sampling and drilling completed this year, it is expected that a number of priority structural targets will be identified, allowing a series of deeper holes to be designed to follow leakage vectors downward to test for potentially high-grade gold mineralisation at depth.

Next steps

Assay results for the three remaining drill holes at Sidewinder Blowout (LC20-06 & 07) and Sidewinder West (LC20- 08) are awaited with the laboratory advising that assays are on track for reporting mid-late December.

White Rock is encouraged by results to date and sees the need for an aggressive follow-up drill campaign in 2021.

Dr Hennigh said: “Right now, we await results from our remaining three diamond drill holes.

“Once all data has returned, we plan to build a structural model of the mineralising system that allows us to develop an aggressive follow-up drill program for 2021.”

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