The company is focused on its Nevada portfolio consisting of low-sulphidation epithermal gold & silver projects located along in western Nevada
Blackrock commences 7,000m drill program at Tonopah West project. (Credit: Alex Banner from Pixabay.)
Blackrock Gold Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that drilling has commenced at its 100% controlled Tonopah West project located in the Walker Lane trend of Western Nevada. This newly-consolidated project, optioned from Ely Gold Royalties Inc. (TSX-V: ELY, OTCQX: ELYGF), (“Ely Gold”), represents the entire western half of, and largest package of claims within the historic Tonopah silver district. From 1900 to 1950, the district produced 174 Mozs of silver and 1.8 Mozs of gold from 7.45 million tonnes of material[1].
This fully-financed, initial program, will consist of up to 7,285 metres of drilling in 16 reverse circulation (“RCV”) drillholes primarily targeting strike and dip extensions of well-defined historic veins. Blackrock’s geologic team has reviewed the historic underground mining maps and assay data from the production that spanned decades on our consolidated properties and incorporated the information into GIS and Leapfrog software which assisted in the selection and prioritization of these initial drill targets. It is anticipated that this program will run through to the end of August.
Andrew Pollard, President & CEO commented “With a production profile that averaged 2125g/t silver equivalent over fifty years, the Tonopah silver district has already proven itself as one of the most significant silver-gold districts in North America[2]. In the 1910s this camp, which spans only four miles end to end, established itself as one of the largest producers in America, though the tumultuous decades that followed were enough to dethrone what was known as the “Queen of the Silver Camps.” The western-half of the district, newly-consolidated and of which we now control, represented where the last of the production took place when operations shuttered due to low metals prices. It’s precisely where these miners left off that we are targeting as the first group to conduct modern exploration on the historic workings. With over 7,000 meters of drilling lined up this summer we aim to be the ones to restore prominence to this prolific district.”
Four broad target areas have been defined which have the potential ranging from 2.5 million to 6 million tonnes with an average grade ranging from 13 to 21 g/t gold and gold equivalent. The potential quantities and grades of the target zones set out below are conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in the targets being delineated as mineral resources.
Source: Company Press Release