Oar Resources Ltd (ASX:OAR) has heard the starting gun at its wholly-owned Douglas Canyon Gold-Silver Project in Nevada, where its maiden diamond drilling campaign is officially underway.
The precious metals explorer plans to drill four holes, covering 1,000 metres, to target both near-surface mineralised structures and down-dip depth extensions at the project, which sits within the state’s prolific Walker Lane Gold-Silver District.
Specifically, Oar’s campaign will hone in on outcropping, high-grade, gold-silver epithermal veins, where historical sampling has fielded as much as 18 g/t gold and 495 g/t silver.
The maiden drilling program should conclude in November, while results will hit the market as they become available.
“Potential to deliver strong intersections”
Speaking to the campaign’s commencement, Oar Resources’ general manager of geology, Tony Greenaway, said: “We are delighted to commence our maiden drill program at the high-grade Douglas Canyon Gold Project in Nevada.
“This first phase of drilling will be a diamond drilling program comprising four holes for roughly 1,000 metres, targeting stand-out targets within the project area.
“Based on the exceptional high-grade results delivered in our outcrop sampling program, and the project’s location in the prolific Walker Lane district of Nevada, we see the Douglas Canyon Project as an exciting gold exploration opportunity …
“ … We are excited by the potential of the program to deliver some strong gold intersections.”
Turning the soil at Douglas Canyon
Oar’s maiden diamond drill program is adopting a two-pronged approach.
The first two holes drilled at the Douglas Canyon tenure will target known near-surface mineralised structures.
From there, the remaining two will be positioned to test for down dip depth extensions at the precious metals play.
As it hopes to turn the soil on some promising results, the company is spurred on by surface outcrop sampling in the area, which has returned high-grade gold and silver readings.
These include:
- 18 g/t gold and 398 g/t silver;
- 16.2 g/t gold and 495 g/t silver; and
- 14 g/t gold and 423 g/t silver.
Hunting for silver and gold
Oar Resources’ exploration play is nestled within a prolific precious metals region, home to a number of other high-grade, gold-silver epithermal projects.
Just 24 kilometres to the north lies the Fortitude Gold (OTCQB:FTCO) Corporation’s Isabella Pearl mine, which is reported to host 1.28 million tonnes of ore in reserves, grading 3.88 g/t for 159,000 gold ounces.
Fortitude is aiming to produce between 40,000 and 45,000 ounces of gold every year at the Nevada mine site.
The company has also found exploration success in the area.
Not far from Isabella, Fortitude has uncovered high-grade gold at the Mina Gold Project and the East Camp Gold Project — adjacent and south of Oar’s Douglas Canyon gold play.
At Mina, intersections like 15.24 metres at 3.86 g/t have been discovered from surface, while East Camp has returned a 22.86-metre hit at 13.55 g/t from 4.6 metres.
