PolarX Ltd (ASX:PXX) (FRA:PX0) is making progress with the highly prospective Humboldt Range Gold-Silver Project in Nevada, USA, with soil sampling, geological mapping and rock-chip sampling of exposed epithermal veins advancing smoothly.
The company is anticipating a strong upcoming newsflow from Humboldt Range as well as its high-grade Alaskan copper project with first assays from the epithermal veins sampled at the former expected in around two weeks.
Previous Humboldt Range sampling reported by PolarX in January and February this year included assays of up to 3,384 g/t gold, 2,837 g/t silver, 22.9% lead and 3.1% zinc from epithermal quartz veins and mine dumps associated with historical workings.
Mapping program
Fieldwork began at the Fourth of July claims in mid-April with the company ascertaining that Renaissance Exploration Inc undertook a limited program of vein sampling, soil sampling and geological mapping in the central part of these claims in 2015-2016.
This information is being incorporated into PolarX’s database and will be reported once fully validated.
Detailed geological mapping has started over the entire claim block and will incorporate previous mapping by Renaissance, Victoria Gold Corp and the US Geological Survey.
Rock-chip sampling has commenced along known epithermal veins in the southern part of the claim block.
To date, 73 rock-chip samples have been collected along the Black Warrior Vein, Jackson Vein, Lucky Dog Vein, Cottonwood Vein and veins in the Arizona Canyon mine area.
Oblique view of the Jackson vein system which has been mapped along more than 600 metre of strike-length.
Systematic soil sampling has commenced on a notional 200-metre x 50-metre grid, with 503 samples collected and around 400 more samples planned.
Contractors are now on-site and have started collecting ultra-high-resolution drone orthophotography and digital terrain mapping for use as 3-D base maps.
The first pass evaluation of Fourth of July is expected to be complete within two weeks and field crews will then begin a similar program on the Black Canyon claims.
Integration of all exploration data including assays to define preliminary drill targets is expected in July-August, allowing drill permitting to commence in August for a potential drilling campaign in the December quarter.
Swarms of epithermal quartz veins
The Humboldt Range Project comprises 273 lode mining claims in Nevada in two claim groups, Black Canyon and Fourth of July, and is situated between two large-scale active mines - the Florida Canyon gold mine and the Rochester silver-gold mine.
These claims have been owned by the same family since the 1950s and only limited exploration has been reported.
Access to the project is straightforward using roads off the I-80 Interstate Highway, which lies less than 15 kilometres to the west of the claims.
Widespread narrow vein mineralisation with visible gold occurs within the claims and was historically mined via numerous adits and underground workings between 1865 and 1927.
Mineralisation occurs in swarms of high-grade epithermal quartz veins of varying thickness (from 1 centimetre to 3 metres), either as isolated veins or as broad zones of sheeted/anastomosing veins within zones of intensely altered and mineralised host rocks.
Alaskan drilling program
With copper prices approaching US$10,000/tonne, PolarX’s Caribou Dome Copper Project in Alaska is of increased importance to enhancing the company’s 100%-owned and neighbouring Zackly Copper/Gold Project.
PolarX is set to conduct metallurgical tests to determine how the two deposits could be combined into one processing operation.
The company is also close to finalising a contract for a drilling program to commence at the high-grade Caribou Dome Project in August 2021.