GUYANA GOLDSTRIKE IDENTIFIES OUTCROPS ALONG A 1,100 M MAGNETIC TREND; MARUDI GOLD PROJECT, GUYANA
Guyana Goldstrike Inc. has identified previously unmapped outcrops along 1,100 metres of a magnetic quartzite-metachert trend on its Marudi gold project, located in the Guiana gold belt, Guyana, South America.
North of Mazoa Hill, which is the location of the present National Instrument 43-101 resource, the geological team identified and mapped several weathered outcrops of magnetic quartzite-metachert, within a length of 1,100 metres. Twenty-five grab samples from four outcrops have returned and confirmed the presence of gold mineralization, with gold values by fire assay up to 1.04 parts per million (ppm) gold.
Gold mineralization that is hosted in quartzite-metachert at Mazoa Hill is associated with a magnetic anomaly. This magnetic anomaly extends northerly from Mazoa Hill for approximately 1,700 metres. The identification of auriferous quartzite-metachert host rock on surface along the northerly trend of the magnetic anomaly indicates the importance of this exploration target.
The magnetic feature that coincides with the Mazoa Hill occurrence is considered underexplored. This strong linear magnetic anomaly trends both north and south of Mazoa Hill for a total length of approximately five kilometres, of which about 7.5 per cent has been tested by previous drilling.
Targets in the vicinity of Mazoa Hill offer the potential to expand known mineralization and to increase the mineral resource by exploratory drilling. The company is prioritizing drill targets for its planned 2019 phase 1 diamond drilling program.
Current gold zones and mineral resource estimates at Marudi
The Mazoa Hill zone contains the company's current mineral resource estimate. The Toucan Ridge area is located approximately one kilometre north of the Mazoa Hill zone. Data analyzed suggests that the mineralized zone is open at depth and to the southeast. Mazoa Hill zone mineral resource estimates:
- 259,100 indicated gold ounces within 4,428,000 tonnes grading 1.80 grams per tonne (g/t);
- 86,200 inferred gold ounces within 1,653,000 tonnes grading 1.60 g/t.
About quartzite-metachert (host rock) at Marudi
At Marudi, all important gold mineralization discovered to date is associated with the medial quartzite-metachert (host rock) unit of the Marudi Mountain formation. Gold occurs within the magnetite-hematite-rich quartzite and in the magnetite-silicate iron formation. Mineralization of the host rock may be affected at surface by the erosion at different levels of the strata. Therefore, all discoveries of quartzite-metachert on the property are considered important for the potential of containing mineralization at surface and/or at depth and should be explored through trenching and drilling.
Marudi geology
Gold mineralization at Marudi is regarded as being related to iron-formation-hosted gold (IFG) deposits that occur in other cratonic greenstone belts around the world. These deposits can be remarkably long lived with sizeable gold production. They have a strong association between gold and iron sulphide minerals, the presence of gold-bearing quartz veins and structures, the occurrence of deposits in structurally complex terranes, and the absence of lead and zinc enrichment.
Examples of some existing IFG deposits are the Homestake mine, Lupin mine and Musselwhite mine.
The Homestake mine is located in South Dakota, United States, and was the largest and deepest gold mine in North America. It has reported production of 43.9 million ounces of gold and was in production from 1878 to 2001.
The Lupin Mine, located in Nunavut, Canada, no longer in production, produced approximately three million ounces of gold.
The Musselwhite mine, located in Ontario, Canada, has estimated reserves of 2.29 million ounces of gold and is owned and operated by Goldcorp and will be in production until 2020.
About the Marudi gold project
The company is developing the Marudi gold project, located in Guyana, South America. The project has an 18-year mining licence in good standing, all-season road access, infrastructure in place, with an established camp serviced by employees, service buildings and a full-time camp manager. The property has three known gold-bearing areas: the alluvial areas, the saprolite and the underlying hard rock.
There has been 42,000 metres of historic diamond drilling (141 holes) completed on the project by prior operators that have delineated two zones of mineralization: Mazoa Hill and Marudi North zones. The company has recently completed a mineral resource estimate on the Mazoa Hill zone, containing 259,100 indicated gold ounces within 4,428,000 tonnes grading 1.80 g/t and 86,200 inferred gold ounces within 1,653,000 tonnes grading 1.60 g/t. The company has recently discovered a third mineralized zone: Toucan Ridge. This zone is the current focus of the company's 2018 trenching program.
There exists excellent exploration upside for the further discovery of mineralized zones through the development of previously and newly identified mineralized bedrock targets on the project.
Sampling and assaying
All samples collected during the trenching program were delivered by Guyana Goldstrike staff to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Actlabs), located in Georgetown, Guyana. Actlabs is ISO 17025 accredited and an ISO 9001:2008 qualified and certified assayer that performs and makes available internal assaying controls. Actlabs has more than 25 years of experience and maintains complete analytical laboratories that perform high-quality analysis for many industries around the world.
Two samples are collected from each interval in the trenches. The first sample is sent to Actlabs to be assayed either by fire assay for gold, or for gold by total metallic content, to account for free gold and nugget effect. The second sample is panned to determine if visible gold may be present; a count of gold points and dust is recorded.
All samples that are identified by the project geologist as quartzite-metachert (the typical host rock for gold mineralization at Marudi) are routinely sent to Actlabs for total metallic content. Sample intervals of any rock type that contain visible gold in panning are also assayed by total metallics.
Quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC)
Certified blanks and standards are systematically used in the trenching program as part of Guyana Goldstrike's QA/QC program. One blank and one standard are inserted into sample shipments at every 20th sample. Duplicates are also inserted into sample shipments.
About Guyana Goldstrike Inc.
Guyana Goldstrike is a Canadian-based junior gold company focused on the exploration, development and operation of the Marudi gold project in Guyana, South America.
Qualified person
Locke Goldsmith, master of science, professional engineer, professional geoscientist, chief geologist and exploration manager for the company, is a qualified person in accordance with NI 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Goldsmith has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of this news release.
© 2019 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.