RE:RE:Next drill results?Found this on another board. Hope the poster didn't mind me posting it on this board. This is from Sept. 20th.
Recently, I had the pleasure of spending time in the Carlin and Cortez Trends in Nevada with some very special geologists, including Dr. Roger Steininger of NuLegacy Gold Corp [NUG.V, (OTCQX:NULGF)] and Mac Jackson and Steven Koehler from Gold Standard Ventures (NYSEMKT:GSV), as well as Dave Mathewson. This group boasts a very impressive resume collectively, involved with previous significant finds while at other companies and literally writing the book on mineral geology in the Western United States. While learning about the region and geological formations, I was struck by the similarity of their methodology in gold exploration and that of my own methodology for chart analysis.
Nevada is incredibly mineral-rich; if it were a sovereign nation it would be the sixth largest gold producer in the world, and the Carlin and Cortez Trends are the so-called elephant country. This area is argued to have the largest concentration of gold on the Earth's crust, and is the most prolific gold mining belt in the Western Hemisphere. These two adjacent trends contain behemoth deposits like Barrick's Pipeline, Cortez Hills, Gold Rush, Gold Quarry, Meikle, and Gold Strike and Newmont's Leeville, Genesis, Rain, and Emigrant. GSV has been able to procure mineral rights to the entire Railroad district which sits atop the 4th window of the Carlin Trend. NuLegacy's Iceberg project is similarly situated on the 4th window of the Cortez Trend.
It may be possible to dig anywhere in this region and be able to recover gold, but the more concentrated mega deposits that make the capital expenditure of a huge mine a cost effective venture need to be located. Since it is rather expensive to drill very deep holes, there is a need to be more selective of where those holes are placed. Just like in planning a trade, geologists go to their charts. Their understanding of the hydro-thermal and tectonic activity that have shaped the region and given it its mineralization provide them with high probability patterns where gold is found, not unlike Elliott Wave patterns or an Inverse Head and Shoulders. They also have the benefits of numerous historic drill holes (although these were often not deep enough or just off from proving big discoveries), but these allow them to piece together a very clear stratigraphic view of the entire region. Think of this as a detailed candle chart with numerous trend lines showing support and resistance levels, and in between some of those levels are the sweet spots for concentrated deposits. In addition to this, the geologists use other studies like Gravity interpretations, Induced Polarity tests and CSAMT to find anomalies in rock density and retained charge. These indicators are like Stochastics, MACD, and RSI. Information from these indicators, just like in trading, does not provide conclusive evidence of a discovery. However, when used in conjunction with all of the other data, it narrows the target regions for drilling what could be the next big discovery hole or entry for a trade. As in technical analysis, there is nuance and an expertise that comes with passion and experience.