The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
1,290 g/t gold rock sample collected from Estelle prospect North of 60 Mining News - November 21, 2023
Looking west to where the high-grade gold samples were collected from the Shoeshine prospect at Estelle.
During 2023, Nova geologists collected 674 soil samples, 446 rock samples, and 21 stream sediment samples across the Estelle property. Click on image for the full map of Estelle and samples collected there this year.
Nova Minerals Ltd. Nov. 20 announced that an extensive mapping and sampling program carried out across Estelle this year has turned up, by far, the highest-grade gold sample ever collected from this project about 100 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
While the 2023 drill program focused on expanding the 9.9-million-ounce gold resource outlined so far at Estelle, Nova geologists collected 674 soil samples, 446 rock samples, and 21 stream sediment samples from across the 198-square-mile (513 square kilometers) property.
"The field exploration sampling and mapping programs have covered a lot of ground, including known prospect areas as well as new areas not previously touched," said Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen.
The expansive 2023 sampling program turned up high-grade antimony and gold at the newly discovered Stibium and Styx prospects, as well as in the Train and Trumpet resource target area.
The latest round of surface sample results is from the Shoeshine and Shadow prospects about 1,000 meters east of Trumpet and Train.
Shoeshine and Shadow attracted the attention of both Millrock Resources Inc. and Teck Resources Ltd., which both carried out previous sampling and scout drilling in the area.
This year's exploration by Nova geologists turned up bonanza-grade gold alongside strong antimony, copper, and silver mineralization.
Highlights from the surface samples collected at Shoeshine and Shadow include:
• 1,290 grams per metric ton gold, 91 g/t silver, and 0.9% antimony (Shoeshine).
• 96.5 g/t gold and 0.1% antimony (Shoeshine).
• 57.7 g/t gold and 0.2% antimony (Shoeshine).
• 44.2 g/t gold and 1.8% copper (Shadow).
• 35.6 g/t gold and 1% copper (Shoeshine).
• 13.7 g/t gold and 1.8% copper (Shoeshine)
• 10.3 g/t gold and 1.7% copper (Shoeshine).
• 7.6 g/t gold and 3% antimony (Shadow).
"Following in the footsteps of previous explorers in the region, Nova geologists completed traverses through the steep outcrops of Shoeshine and Shadow, stumbling upon a property record (by nearly 1 kg/t!) 1,290 g/t gold sample," said Nova Minerals Head of Exploration Hans Hoffman. "All the right pieces to a discovery are here: consistent high-grade soils over 1-kilometer in strike length, tightly stacked sheeted veins, and high-grade bonanza zones."
Shoeshine and Shadow's proximity to Train and Trumpet indicate the potential for a larger high-grade gold system.
"Shoeshine and Shadow are situated just east of Train and Trumpet and are part of the same massive intrusive related gold system," said Gerteisen. "It's important to note that we have seen good antimony, silver, and copper results returned from this system as well."
Given the antimony-enriched gold mineralization identified this summer at Estelle, Nova says its technical team will target and include antimony analysis as part of its focus and assay protocol in ongoing exploration and resource work to determine the potential of incorporating this critical mineral in future economic studies.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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