QV Project

Click here to enlarge

Highlights

Strong exploration results propel fast-track approach – trenching August 2012 – drilling September 2012

• Eight core holes completed totalling 1,334 metres. Refer to 2012 Drill Program below.

• Drill hole QV12-004 intersected 89.85 metres (m) of 2.34 g/t gold starting at 43.75 m including 3.35 m of 9.98 g/t Au, and 45.5 m of 3.04 g/t Au including 12.9 m of 4.89 g/t Au

• All eight holes intersected thick zones of quartz-sericite-carbonate altered gneiss and porphyry dykes. Quartz stockworks, zones of massive silicification, and breccia contain disseminated and fracture-controlled pyrite, sometimes with visible gold

• The system remains open along strike and at depth

• The VG mineralized zone has now been confirmed by trenching over 390 metres of strike length and remains open to the west and east –Trench results from 2012 returned up to 3.31 g/t Gold over 95 m in 2012 trenching

• The VG Zone discovery has remarkably similar geology to Kinross's million-ounce Golden Saddle Deposit (10 km away) with the exception that mineralization dips at a shallow angle (30°) beneath a low-rising hill

• Other targets with a similar or stronger signature, such as the VG Zone, remain untested

• A new target, the Shadow Zone, has been discovered 12 km northwest of the VG Zone. Trenching has encountered favourable felsic gneiss units and sampling returned 0.33 g/t Au over 85 m from the north end of trench QVTR12-27, including 0.9 g/t Au over 10 m. Large soil anomaly present and zone appears to be open to expansion north, west and east.

• Strong pathfinder elements associated with gold guide exploration to mineralization (one of the strongest arsenic anomalies in the region)

• Magnetometer surveys help pinpoint trend of the zones, lead to new targets, and link common structures from the Golden Saddle Deposit to the Comstock QV claims

2013 Exploration and Drill Program

The first phase of the diamond-drill program, scheduled to commence May 2013, will focus on expanding the newly discovered VG Zone through systematic drilling along strike and depth. The Company discovered the VG Zone in 2012 through systematic soil-sampling and trenching followed by an eight-diamond-drill program. Seven out of eight diamond-drill holes intersected near-surface gold mineralization, and hole QV12-004 drilled 2.34 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 89.85 metres (m) starting at 43.75 m, including 3.04 g/t Au over 45.5 m.

New targets such as the Shadow Zone and Stewart Grid, 12 kilometres (km) and 7 km respectively from the VG Zone, will be followed up by additional trenching, IP survey, and reverse circulation drilling.

2012 Exploration and Drill Program

The 2012 drilling program at QV consisted of eight core holes totaling 1,334 metres.  The drill program was designed to test strong gold enrichment discovered in trenches at the VG Zone, including 3.31 g/t gold over a 95 m sample length from trench QVTR12-06 and 3.77 g/t gold over 45 m in QVTR12-15.

Preliminary gold assays recently completed, intersected gold mineralization at grades and width of potential economic interest:

Metallic fire assays check for the presence of coarse gold in core samples and are an important check to ensure gold grains are not being removed during crushing and screening at the sample preparation facility.

Drill holes QV12-001, -002, and -004 were collared from the same drill pad. Holes QV12-001 and -002 were drilled southeasterly at -50° and -80° respectively, such that the intervals reported are estimated to have true widths of 70 metres and 55 metres respectively.  Drill hole QV12-004 was drilled in the opposite direction, northwesterly at -50°, such that the true widths are 65% of the reported intervals. Hole QV12-003 was collared approximately 50 metres northeast at -65°. 

These results show a strong increase in grades and widths down-dip, suggesting the depth potential of the VG Zone discovery is excellent. The high grades encountered in QV12-004 are consistent with the strong silicification, brecciation, and pyrite content noted by geologists familiar with the White Gold Camp. Also of note is step-out hole QV12-003, which confirms that the zone extends easterly. The reduced thickness encountered by this hole may be related to a minor fault offset.

The VG Zone is a new discovery in the White Gold District, located just 10 kilometres from Kinross’s Golden Saddle Deposit. The geology of the VG Zone discovery is remarkably similar to Golden Saddle with the exception that mineralization dips at a shallow angle (30˚) beneath a low-rising hill. All eight holes at the VG Zone intersected thick zones of quartz-sericite-carbonate altered gneiss and feldspar porphyry dykes with quartz vein stockworks, breccias, disseminated and vein controlled pyrite, and visible gold.

Recent trenching has resulted in the discovery of an additional area of gold mineralization at QV called the Shadow target. This target covers a discontinuous, westerly trending, 1.3 km by up to 700 m wide greater than 10 ppb gold in soil anomaly, with maximum values of 492.4 ppb Au. The soil anomaly is coincident with an easterly break in the magnetic high trend which extends northerly from the Golden Saddle deposit of Kinross Gold Corp., through the VG zone and the Shadow target. Similar easterly breaks occur at the VG zone, 12 km to the southeast of the Shadow, and at the Golden Saddle deposit, a further 11 km to the south.

The best results were obtained in the northwestern portion of the soil anomaly from the north end of Trench QVTR12-27, which returned 0.33 g/t Au over 85 m, including 0.9 g/t Au over 10 m. The highest grade five metre chip sample returned 1.19 g/t Au. The zone is open to the north, west and east. Mineralization consists of variably limonitic and quartz stringered to veined intrusive rock. Trenches QVTR12-24 to -26 were excavated on the southeastern portion of the soil anomaly, 1.3 km from Trench 27.

Additional grid soils, infill soils and trenching are planned for 2013.

Property Geology

Only minor property scale mapping has been undertaken on the QV property but government mapping (Figure 3) indicates that the property is underlain by a central band of orthogneiss flanked by intermediate to mafic amphibolite (DMa) and metasiliciclastic rocks (DMps), intruded by an Early Jurassic granodiorite intrusion (EJgd) in the eastern property area (Gordey and Ryan, 2005). A quartz feldspar porphyry exposure was encountered northeast of the Korat property, which probably represents an Eocene aged dyke (Er).

On the QV property the amphibolite, consisting of quartz-feldspar-biotite-hornblende±chlorite schist to gneiss, interfingers with and stratigraphically overlies the metasiliciclastic unit, which consists of micaceous quartzite to psammite, siliceous grit and quartz-feldspar-biotite schist to gneiss, locally with muscovite, in addition to and/or instead of, biotite. An ultramafic horizon (mPums) is exposed just west of the property on Shamrock Dome (Figure 4).

Limited mapping in the southern and eastern property areas has shown that the metasiliciclastic unit (DMps) is more widespread (Figure 4) than previously mapped by the Geological Survey of Canada (Figure 3) and previously undocumented metasedimentary rocks were mapped north of Chris Creek in the northwestern property area. The Jurassic granodiorite intrusion (EJgd) is also less extensive than previously mapped, particularly northeast of the Korat property, as evidenced by limited reconnaissance mapping and the airborne magnetic signature (Figure 10).

Outcrop is limited on the property, comprising approximately 1%, and generally confined to ridge tops and creek exposures.

A prominent government airborne magnetic high (Shives et al., 2002), delineating an amphibolite package with some ultramafic horizons, extends northerly from the White property of Kinross Gold Corp. across the QV property. A northerly trending structure, closely associated with mineralization at the Golden Saddle zone at White Gold, also extends across the QV property. Evidence of brecciation occurs proximal to this structure in the southern property area and brecciation is also evident just east of the Korat claims.

Comstock Option:

The QV claims (14,180 hectares or 35,000 acres), located 78 km south of Dawson City in Yukon Territory, were optioned from Yukon prospector Shawn Ryan in June 2010. All exploration expenditures under the option agreement have been completed with one property payment June 22, 2014 remaining to acquire 100% of the QV Property. Shawn Ryan was instrumental in the discovery of Kinross Gold's Golden Saddle Deposit, which hosts measured and indicated resources of 1,005,000 ounces grading 3.19 g/t gold and inferred resources of 578,000 ounces of gold. He also assisted Kaminak Gold in the discovery of their flagship Coffee Project in the Yukon. Kinross's Golden Saddle deposit is 10 km to the southeast and Kaminak Gold's Coffee projects are 40 km to the south.