- An initial 5,000 meter diamond drilling program has commenced, targeting near-surface projections of reported historic high-grade mineralization at the Excelsior Reef.
- Historic records from Excelsior indicate the mining of 13,200 tons for 9,260 ounces of gold to a depth of 100 meters at an average grade of 22 g/t Au between 1909 and 1915.
VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 18, 2021 /CNW/ - Leviathan Gold Ltd. ("Leviathan", the "Company") is pleased to announce that further to its press release of February 17, 2021 in respect to the geological prospectivity of the Avoca and Timor projects (the "Projects") in the Victorian goldfields, Australia, that diamond drilling has commenced at Avoca. This initial phase of work, which is expected to comprise at least 5,000 meters of diamond drilling, has been designed to target near-surface strike and depth projections of mineralization around and beneath the Excelsior Reef. Historic production records from Excelsior indicate the mining of 13,200 tons for 9,260 ounces of gold to a depth of 100 meters at an average recovered grade of 22 g/t Au between 1909 and 19151, with said mineralization open to depth and along strike. The drilling planned at Excelsior forms part of a greater program of approximately 30,000 meters that Leviathan plans to deploy at Avoca and Timor.
Leviathan Gold Chief Executive Officer, Luke Norman, remarked: "We are excited to commence drilling of this near-surface high grade target at Excelsior. Historic records from this prospect suggest that themining and processing methods of the day were rudimentary, such that only isolated extraction of shallow, near-surface, visible, high-grade mineralization was possible, resulting in only very selective and discontinuous mining, and leaving open targets at Excelsior – and numerous other prospects - for Leviathan to drill-test".
About the Excelsior Prospect
The Excelsior prospect is interpreted to host structurally controlled gold mineralization developed within quartz veins. Historic production records from Excelsior indicate the mining of 13,200 tons for 9,260 ounces of gold down an ore shoot to a depth of 100 meters at an average recovered grade of 22 g/t Au between 1909 and 19152, with said mineralization open to depth and along strike.
Recent exploration work completed on Excelsior.3 included surface sampling and mapping. Two soil sampling traverses were conducted at the western part of the prospect, one of which crossed considerable quartz vein float. The outcrop of the reef is presently covered by mine tailings. The initial phase of drilling work by Leviathan, which is expected to comprise at least 5,000 meters of diamond drilling, has been designed to target near-surface strike and depth projections of mineralization around and beneath the Excelsior Reef.
Comparable Projects
Leviathan considers the Currighanalt project, in Northern Ireland, to be potentially similar in terms of its geology to the Avoca and Timor projects. In 2018 Dalradian Resources Inc. defined Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 6.34 million tonnes at a grade of 15.01 g/t Au for 3.06 million ounces of gold, and Inferred Mineral Resources of 7.72 million tonnes at a grade of 12.24 g/t Au for 3.04 million ounces of gold4. The Currighanalt project, which is described as "a high grade orogenic gold deposit characterized by a series of west-northwest trending, moderately to steeply dipping, stacked quartz-carbonate-sulphide veins and arrays of narrow and short extension veinlets" is hosted by rocks of similar lithology and age to those found at Avoca and Timor.
Future Work Programs
There are over thirty historical gold workings within the Avoca project area5, all of which require additional mapping, surface sampling and drill testing to assess their potential and on which the Company intends to report on an ongoing basis. The highest priority targets include:
- Pyrenees Reefs: 16,199 tons mined for 16,602 ounces of gold to a depth of 130 meters at an average recovered grade of 32 g/t Au, worked from 1860 to 1912; mineralized shoots per historic underground mine plans.
- Excelsior Reef: 13,200 tons mined for 9,260 ounces of gold to a depth of 100 meters at an average recovered grade of 22 g/t Au, worked from 1909 to 1915; mineralized shoots per historic underground mine plans.
- Vale's Reefs: 1,444 tons mined for 1,388 ounces of gold to a depth of 52 meters at an average recovered grade of 29.4 g/t Au, worked from 1865 to 1883.
- Monte Christo Reefs: 2,795 tons mined for 937 ounces of gold to a depth of 30 meters at an average recovered grade of 10.3 g/t Au, worked from 1872 to 1877.
| 2 GeoVic (2020) https://earthresources.vic.gov.au/geology-exploration/maps-reports-data |
| 3 Motton, N. (2016). Currawong Pty Ltd. "Annual Report for EL5387 Avoca" |
| 4 Dalradian Resources (2018), "Technical Report for the Curraghinalt Gold Project, Northern Ireland", by SRK Consulting. |
| 5 State of Victoria Mining Surveyors and Registrar's Quarterly Reports from 1860 to 1891 and Annual Reports issued thereafter. All the production from these reefs occurred within the Avoca licence. |
The Timor project lies immediately east of the Avoca project and hosts numerous hardrock and alluvial gold deposits as evidenced by the extent of historic workings, of which approximately twenty hardrock workings can be considered to have been significant producers. The highest priority targets include:
- Leviathan Group of Mines: 189,085 tons mined for 56,474 ounces of gold at an average recovered grade of 9.14 g/t Au. The Leviathan structural corridor hosts several parallel quartz veins with most of the production coming from one mine active in the early 1900s. Significant potential is believed to lie within the various other veins and faults within the corridor to the north.
- Shaw's Reef: 16,881 tons mined for 12,623 ounces of gold to a depth 130 meters at an average recovered grade of 22.9 g/t Au, worked from 1883 to 1891. Along strike of this fault zone, arsenopyrite and stibnite mineralization is recorded in association with the gold mineralization indicating possible epizonal Fosterville-style gold mineralization.
The Leviathan Group of Mines and Shaw's Reef both lie on separate large regional north-south structures known to occur for tens of kilometers associated with hardrock workings over their length. Neither of these structures have witnessed significant drilling. These two mineralized structures will be a near-term focus for exploration within the Projects. Modern core orientation techniques, with the objective of further understanding the structural controls on mineralization, will be systematically applied during this program.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Keith Whitehouse, AusIMM (CP), Exploration Manager of Leviathan Gold (Australia) Pty. Ltd., a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.
On behalf of the Company,
Luke Norman, Chief Executive Officer and Director
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This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.