Other Projects
Copper Hill Project Nevada, U.S.A.
The Copper Hill property covers a large area in southwestern Nevada near the town of Searchlight. An area of historic gold and copper production, GWMG believes the area to have high potential for both porphyry-style copper deposits and epithermal gold deposits.
Location Map
The 100%-owned Copper Hill property is located immediately west of the town of Searchlight, Nevada. Approximately 80 km south of Las Vegas, the property consists of 233 claims straddling highway 164 between Searchlight, Nevada, and Nipton, California. The Copper Hill property is 60 km north of the Company's Chuckwalla Copper/Gold Project.
Background
GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION
Except for a small outcrop of Precambrian granite, the Searchlight area is underlain by igneous rocks of the Tertiary Age. The oldest of these is andesite, which is intruded by dikes and masses of andesite porphyry, later intruded by a considerable mass of quartz monzonite. Later still, the andesite was altered to hornfels near the quartz monzonite contact. Subsequent fracturing of the hornfels permitted the rise of vein-forming solutions and the emplacement of metalliferous veins in the andesite.
Most of the ore minerals in the area, other than gold, are largely oxidized lead, zinc, and copper minerals. Reported production from the Searchlight area between 1902 and 1962 totalled 250,000 ounces of gold, 350,000 ounces of silver, 756,000 pounds of copper, and 1,900,000 pounds of lead. There were likely many smaller producers that did not report their production.
EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
GWMG started work on the Copper Hill project in 2006, and the program so far has included:
- Establishing a ground grid;
- A Mobile Metal Ion survey;
- An orientation Bulk Leach Extractable Gold (BLEG) survey;
- A ground magnetic geophysical survey; and
- A satellite imagery study focusing on mineral alteration haloes.
The results of much of this work are still being processed and compiled.
Historical Results
Besides the historical gold and base metal production mentioned earlier, there have been more recent exploration activities in the Searchlight area and on the ground currently held by GWMG.
Previous work in the Copper Hill project area identified the potential for a porphyry-type system hosting copper, molybdenum and gold. While drilling for gold in the early 1980s, a drill hole intersected 405 feet (123.5 metres) of diatreme material, yielding significantly anomalous copper values. Values increased down the drill hole with the bottom 50 feet (15.2 metres) assaying 0.15% copper. The drill hole also contained anomalous molybdenum values. Geology reports from the drill program suggest that the diatreme may represent a dyke-like feature that extends out from a major porphyry body.
The Copper Hill property also covers several former producing gold mines. These were all mined near surface, and there is excellent potential for a significant bonanza gold target at depth. Drilling on the property, during the mid-1990s, intersected high-angle quartz veins with values as high as 0.23 opt (8 gpt) and 0.32 opt (11.0 gpt) gold over 9.8 feet (3.0 metres) in each intersection.
Current Work Reports
Most of the results from the 2006 work programs are still being compiled, but an initial geophysics report over the project area identifies what could be a potential porphyry system. The illustration below shows the total field magnetic signature over the claim area, with the drill hole that intersected diatreme material shown as a red dot. It appears to be on the periphery of a large magnetically anomalous body.
MMI (Mobile Metal Ion) results for Gold
MMI (Mobile Metal Ion) results for Copper / Molybdenum
Chuckwalla Copper/Gold Project California, U.S.A.
The Chuckwalla Copper/Gold Project, 100%-owned by Great Western Mineral Group Ltd. (GWMG), is located in southeastern California and covers an extensive area of surface gold and copper mineralization that has undergone little systematic exploration. The property has excellent potential to host a high-grade mining operation that would be compatible with California's stringent environmental requirements.
Location Map
The Chuckwalla property is located approximately 16 km northwest of Needles, California. It is accessed via Interstate 40 and paved highways. A railroad runs within 5 km of the property.
Background
GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION
The host rocks of the mineralization belong to the Upper Plate of the Sacramento Mountain Detachment Fault and show evidence of complex faulting and brittle fracturing.
Upper Plate Sequence
Lithologies in the Upper Plate Sequence include Tertiary-age fanglomerate and andesites. Two units of fanglomerate were noted:
- polymictic, volcanic clast dominated fanglomerate (hosts the bulk of the mineralization), and
- granitic clast dominated fanglomerate.
Lower Plate Sequence
The Lower Plate Sequence includes
- mylonite,
- muscovite schist, and
- quartz monzonite.
The detachment fault area is characterized by variably mylonitized rock.
Mineralization
Mineralization occupies faults and shears, cutting both Upper Plate lithologies as fracture veinlets and irregular pinch-and-swell veins ranging from 2.5 to 35 cm. Veins contain varying amounts of chrysocolla, malachite, hematite, chalcedonic quartz, calcite, barite, and chalcocite.
Visible gold is locally present. Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corp defined an area with the potential to contain 26 million tonnes grading +3% Cu with a 0.5% cutoff. In addition, a significant percentage of their surface sampling returned gold assays over 0.2 oz/t.
EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Exploration on the property occurred between the 1920s and 1970s. Major staking activity took place during the 1970s and 1980s, following the discovery of nearby Picacho, Castle Mountain, and Mesquite gold mines. In 1987-88, Echo Bay acquired the property and tested an area of anomalous gold/copper mineralization. Sante Fe Pacific Gold Corporation acquired the property in 1991 and targeted stockworks of high-grade copper/gold oxide mineralization. Drilling was recommended but never undertaken, due to the takeover of Sante Fe by Newmont Mining Corporation.
Great Western Minerals Group (GWMG) began work on the property in 2004 and since then has done the following work:
- Established a ground grid;
- Created detailed geological mapping;
- Created detailed surface sampling;
- Completed a soil geochemistry survey;
- Completed a Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) survey;
- Completed a ground geophysical survey; and
- Selected sites for drilling and made application for drill permits.
Historical Results
2004
In 2004, GWMG personnel resampled a small number of the old Santa Fe pits and trenches to verify the potential for significant copper/gold/silver mineralization.
The five chip samples collected returned the following results:
| Target Type | Copper (%) | Silver (ounces per ton) | Gold (ounces per ton) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fanglomerate | 4.13 | 40.15 | 0.002 |
| Fanglomerate | 3.72 | 13.49 | 0.003 |
| Andesite | 0.20 | 0.03 | 0.110 |
| Andesite | 10.30 | 17.14 | 0.267 |
| Andesite | 3.36 | 0.60 | 0.034 |
While this was a very limited sampling program, it did indicate the potential for the Santa Fe target areas to host high-grade copper mineralization with significant gold and silver credits.
2005
In 2005, soil geochemistry confirmed surface showings by outlining two main areas of anomalous copper values: Big Boy and Black Calcite. Detailed mapping and sampling discovered new surface showings within these areas with the following results:
I. A new zone, located 125 m west of the Big Boy Zone, consists of copper-oxide mineralization within a fanglomerate rock type. Grab samples from this occurrence returned the following:
| Sample | % Copper | Silver g/t (oz/ton) | Gold g/t (oz/ton) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #782194 | 3.7 | 345.00 (10.07) | 0.25 (0.007) |
| #782195 | 3.5 | 587.00 (17.14) | 0.21 (0.006) |
II. A second new copper-oxide zone, also in fanglomerate, was located 250 m southwest of Big Boy, returning the following assay results:
| Sample | % Copper | Silver g/t (oz/ton) | Gold g/t (oz/ton) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #782196 | 2.2 | 10.00 (0.29) | 10.85 (0.32) |
| #782197 | 2.1 | 10.00 (0.29) | 15.15 (0.44) |
| #782198 | 2.0 | 11.00 (0.32) | 15.40 (0.45) |
III. A third new fanglomerate-hosted copper-oxide zone, the 4500 Zone - 500 m east of Big Boy, was weakly mineralized and chip samples across a cliff face returned values of:
| Sample | Width (m) | % Copper | Silver g/t (oz/ton) | Gold g/t (oz/ton) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliff face chip | 5.5 | 0.21 | 2.72 (0.08) | 0.54 (0.02) |
IV. Two trenches in known showings at Big Boy were also sampled. Vertical and horizontal samples were taken at the Big Boy adit, and at a trench 140 m north of Big Boy, returning values of:
| Sample | Width (m) | % Copper | Silver g/t (oz/ton) | Gold g/t (oz/ton) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizontal | 3.5 | 0.95 | 2.43 (0.07) | 1.29 (0.040) |
| Vertical | 2.2 | 0.77 | 1.41 (0.04) | 0.77 (0.02) |
| N. Trench | 4.8 | 1.18 | 2.31 (0.07) | 0.34 (0.01) |
The soil geochemistry anomaly, from approximately 1,245 samples, outlines an area around the Big Boy showings, measuring approximately 450 m by 175 m, which is strongly anomalous in both copper and gold. The geochemistry anomaly is open to the north and south.
V. In the Black Calcite area, two trenches were chip sampled in known showings, with the following results:
| Sample | Width (m) | % Copper | Silver g/t (oz/ton) | Gold g/t (oz/ton) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trench 1 | 13.0 | 0.56 | 2.10 (0.06) | 0.20 (0.006) |
| including | 0.55 | 6.09 | 21.00 (0.61) | 0.18 (0.005) |
| Trench 2 | 2.0 | 0.32 | 2.10 (0.06) | 0.02 (0.005) |
Based on these results, drill locations in both the Big Boy area and the Black Calcite area were selected, and application was made to the Bureau of Land Management for drill permits.
Current Work Reports
The results from the soil geochemistry and the MMI surveys have been compiled and outlines a large zone of anomalous copper mineralization:
Soil geochemistry results for copper showing the Big Boy and Black Calcite anomalous areas.
MMI composite anomaly for copper and gold outling two areas of interest: one through the Big Boy and Black Calcite areas and one to the south in the andesite volcanics.
Outlook
There is excellent potential for a near-surface, large-tonnage, high-grade copper deposit with significant silver and gold credits. In addition, the recent success of American Bonanza Gold Mining Corp. at the nearby Copperstone Mine indicates the potential for underlying high-grade feeder veins beneath the broad zone of stockwork mineralization.