Great Western Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:GWMO) announced assay results from its summer 2022 drill campaign at the Mineral Jackpot and Rock House prospects in Nevada.
Drilling to explore gold, silver and copper targets in the Walker-Lane trend included the first four holes ever drilled at the historic, high-altitude group of mines that make up Mineral Jackpot, throwing up a near-surface target for further exploration and potentially a low-cost development.
At Rock House, where three holes were drilled at the Southern Alteration Zone (SAZ) to follow up last year's programme, a continuation of the mineralised system was established, with reportable gold intercepts near the surface and a new copper zone identified.
Mineral Jackpot
Initial drilling was concentrated on the 'Main Workings', one of several previously worked areas over the larger site, with one hole intercepting a 7.62m zone at a depth of 4.57m, grading at 180.94 grammes of silver per tonne of earth (g/t) and 0.315 g/t gold.
Contained within this was a high-grade silver zone hosted in quartz vein of 3.04 m at 418.00 g/t silver and 0.554 g/t gold, starting at 6.10 meters drilled depth.
This intercept "provides a near-surface, high-grade target for further exploration and potential low-cost development due to its shallow position", the company said.
Another hole contained reportable intercepts of gold in parts of the hole logged as 'Mineral Jackpot style' alteration at drilled depths of 3.05 m and 35.05m.
GWMO said all four holes also exhibited multiple single-digit metre intercepts with anomalous gold and silver grades, below the minimum threshold, around sections logged as altered.
The other Mineral Jackpot prospects contain "multiple strong, unexplored drill targets", it added, including not only historic workings but also geochemical anomalies parallel to the strike of the veins not associated with previous mining activities.
Rock House
At Rock House's SAZ, continuation of the mineralised system was established along-strike to the west of last year's drilling.
SAZ is one of three prospects at Rock House identified by the company's analysis of satellite imagery, none of which had previously been explored until last year's initial drilling.
There were no high-grade intercepts comparable with those from 2021, but "reportable, anomalous gold values" were encountered in one hole, with "clear evidence of a continuing gold mineralising system close to the gossan contact".
Another hole drilled under the surface gossan identified "a zone of low-grade copper enrichment", with 41.15m at 0.13% copper, including 3.04m at 0.23% and 6.10m at 0.24%, that the company said was associated with iron and manganese bearing horizons.
This zone was said to be open at depth and along strike, being the first hole that has intersected the material which crops out as gossan and is "a completely new development at Rock House which will be evaluated and followed up".