Nevada continues to be one of North America’s hot spots for gold mining, and companies such as Viva Gold (TSXV:VAU)(OTCQB:VAUCF) continue to capitalize on the market thanks to its 100-per-cent-owned Tonopah project.
Located in the Ralston Valley, on the northeast side of the San Antonio Mountains on the prolific Walker Lane structural belt of west-central Nevada, the Tonopah project consists of 508 unpatented mineral claims totalling approximately 10,200 acres of land, 184 of which are subject to a 2 per cent net smelter royalty (NSR).
In late April, the company revealed high-grade results from the Tonopah project, highlighting that the 10-hole, 1,515-metre drilling program was successful in infilling gaps in the existing drill pattern to connect higher-grade areas into much larger zones.
High grade results from Tonopah
Notable highlights from the program include:
- Hole TG2409 (21.3 metres at 5.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold was drilled as an approximate 40-metre offset to the west of TG2211 (57.9-metres at 5.0 gpt gold commencing at 40 metres depth) and was oriented to locate and cross the East Fault zone
- Hole TG2408 (18.3 metres at 4.4 g/t gold) was drilled as an approximate 40-metre step-out to the north of TG2211 where additional shallow high-grade gold mineralization in the TVL was encountered. The combination of TG2409, TG2408, TG2211 and TG2318 (54.9 metres at 1.0 gpt starting at 38 metres) to the south defines a large zone of shallow high-grade gold mineralization.
Image credit: Viva Gold
“This drill program produced amazing results with 60 per cent of the holes hitting long sections of high-grade gold mineralization and within the footprint of our existing 2022 PEA resource pit outline. We discovered previously unknown areas of gold mineralization with longer lengths and higher gold grades than expected,” James Hesketh, CEO of Viva Gold, said in a statement. “These holes were placed to tie together existing high-grade intercepts to strengthen and expand the shallow high-grade starter pits for the project, which we believed will substantially improve project economics.
Hesketh added that the results from the program are also expected to increase gold ounces at the project and result in an upgrade to resource confidence levels. He also said the program provides support for an additional influx and step-out drilling program at Tonopah.
Viva Gold in the news
The latest results come after Viva Gold’s initial assay results for three holes at the Tonopah project earlier in April.
According to the company, the first three reverse circulation (RC) holes were drilled to offset widely spaced gold intercepts from its 2022 and 2023 drill programs on the north side of the 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment main pit area, an area that had previously been considered waste in the resource model. All gold and silver intercepts in these first three holes were in tertiary volcanics.
These first three holes, when combined with prior wide-spaced drilling, potentially create strong grade continuity on the northeastern side of the resource pit shell defined in our 2022 PEA. This area had been only sparsely drilled in the past and was previously described as containing primarily waste material in the model. Additional infill and step-out drilling in this area of the project is clearly justified,” Hesketh said in a statement.
The investment corner
Ideally located in the heart of Nevada’s gold rush, Viva Gold is in a strong position to advance its Tonopah project and become a coveted producer.
Prior to these results, the company had envisioned a 10-year mine life with the project producing an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 ounces of gold per year through open pit mining and heap leach to generate more than US$100 million per year production revenue. Now investors will be keen not only to see this met, but exceed those expectations as the company moves towards a pre-feasibility study.
The company is also a standout amongst juniors with a strong institutional shareholder base including Dundee Corporation and RAB Capital.
In other words, this small-cap gold stock has nothing short of a bright future ahead of it, making it one company investors will want to keep their eyes on.
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