Kore Mining Ltd (TSXV: KORE) (OTCQX: KOREF) has completed a highly productive 2021-2022 winter exploration field season and provides a summary of the western drill targets of the Imperial Gold Project, USA.
This company has identified the geologic context for the five western targets: Ogilby, Powerline Discovery Outcrop, Ironwood, Smoketree, and East Mesquite, which are in the western exploration target area between the Imperial deposit and the Mesquite gold mine (operated by Equinox Gold). The western target areas include five targets covering over 2,400 acres across 8.3 km of strike length.
There are a total of nine drill target areas identified in the overall Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho District that captures a 28 km trend.
“Kore had a great field season on the Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho trend. While the area is still not fully covered with field mapping and sampling, KORE field tested all satellite alteration and historic known gold anomalies and outcrops aligned with the regional geophysical trend from the Mesquite mine through Imperial towards the closed Picacho mine,” Executive Chairman, James Hynes, said.
“We have a large number of drill targets in inventory and must now prioritise for additional drill permit applications.”
Over 100 additional rock chip and stream sediment assays are pending from the winter exploration program and any significant results will be released.
Kore is committed to operating within the stringent environmental and labour standards of California. Exploration drilling is designed to avoid any sensitive areas and all land disturbances will be rehabilitated.
Ogilby Target Area
Ground resistivity and induced polarisation (IP) surveys provide strong evidence that the primary mineralizing structure at the Imperial deposit is continuous across the three km of strike length to the Ogilby target area.
This data indicates two anomalous trends which completed reconnaissance scale mapping and sampling in February 2022.
Assay results have confirmed the presence of gold near the surface trace of these anomalies, including highlights of 1.4 g/t gold (Au) and 0.8 g/t Au stream sediment samples, to date, a total of 19 strongly anomalous samples have been collected along the two km strike length of this WNW-ESE structural corridor.
The Ogilby target area is covered by a thin veneer of young volcanic flows, which are steeply incised by seasonal stream channels (arroyos) that expose the underlying Bear Canyon conglomerate. This unit is a significant alluvial sandstone conglomerate that covers the majority of the property. Proximal to known gold occurrences, the Bear Canyon often displays iron oxide alteration and quartz + calcite veining.
Over nine acres of this type of altered bear canyon has been documented in the Ogilby target area, which yielded strongly anomalous assays and suggests that the mineralising system is strong and near surface.
Powerline Target Area
The Powerline target area contains the largest and highest-grade surface expression of gold mineralisation west of the Imperial Deposit. The Powerline area spans over 1300 acres and contains the highest-grade assay on the property at 9.98 g/t Au. Powerline also contains all known gneiss exposures west of the Imperial deposit.
The mineralised trend of Powerline remains open and untested along strike for three km to the east, towards the Ogilby target area.
Ground IP and resistivity survey data indicate two distinct anomalous structural trends that persist across the strike length of the Powerline target area. Along these trends, ground observations have confirmed the presence of these structural corridors which have assayed strongly anomalous for gold.
Powerline currently contains three named prospect areas: the Powerline Discovery Outcrop, the Ironwood Prospect, and the Smoketree Prospect.
The Powerline Discovery outcrop consists of two distinct, strongly brecciated and altered gneiss exposures that are interpreted as stacked thrust sheets. These regional scale faults bring crystalline basement host rock closer to surface. In 2021, Kore commissioned a multispectral satellite alteration survey, which highlighted the Powerline discovery area as being strongly anomalous for chlorite alteration. Other types of alteration observed at the outcrop include sericite, local silicification and quartz veining, and strong iron oxide staining. This is consistent with the alteration assemblage of the Imperial deposit, which was used to “tune” or fingerprint the signature associated with gold mineralisation.
Similar to the Powerline Discovery Outcrop, the Ironwood Prospect contains two structurally dismembered gneiss outcrops which are strongly folded, brecciated, and altered (Figure 4). Ironwood was first identified as an area of interest by the multispectral satellite data. The Ironwood outcrop is the largest gneiss exposure west of the Imperial deposit and forms a cliff approximately 25 feet tall. Ironwood is interpreted to have been formed via the same thrust fault architecture which causes the exposure of the Powerline discovery outcrops 2.5 km to the northwest.
The Smoketree Prospect is a low grade subcrop of gneiss with an associated anomalous gold trend detected downstream. Smoketree is overlain by a thin veneer of Bear Canyon conglomerate that appears to be moderately altered and veined. The poor exposure of Smoketree makes it a priority target for the fully permitted person-portable drilling system, which produces BQ sized core at depths up to 30 feet.
East Mesquite Target Area
The East Mesquite segment boundary is located only two km to the southeast from the operating Mesquite Mine’s Vista pit. Geophysical survey data indicates a strong anomaly that is directly on strike with the mineralized trend of the Vista pit. A small gneiss exposure referred to as the “Predator Hill outcrop” has been observed along this trend and provides strong evidence of structural continuity.
Adjacent to the segment boundary in the southeast is a turtleback feature similar in character to the Powerline target area, which contains the highest-grade gold assays on site. Follow up reconnaissance sampling is ongoing in this area.
About the Imperial Gold Project
Kore owns 100% of the Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho District which consists approximately 31,000 acres of claims capturing the entire 28-km trend from the operating Mesquite mine to the closed Picacho mine and including KORE’s Imperial project. In the District, gold is hosted in local fault structures related to a series of regional faults connecting the known District deposits. Those three District deposits (Mesquite, Imperial and Picacho) were discovered in exposed outcrops and from placer workings. The rest of the District is covered by alluvium and has never been systematically explored.
The Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho District centres on Kore’s Imperial project. Imperial is a structurally controlled orogenic gold deposit. The 100% oxide gold deposit is currently defined at 2.44 km long and up to 0.75 km wide and is open both along strike and down dip. It is hosted in a shallowly southwest dipping, amphibolite grade metamorphic rock suite along a west- northwest trending low-angle regional thrust fault system which controls the regional geometry of mineralisation. East-west striking, post-mineralisation normal faults control the property scale geometry of mineralisation. Geophysical characterisation of the deposit and regional controlling structures is an essential component of exploration for additional resources.
Imperial has a mineral resource estimate and a positive preliminary economic assessment with the following highlights:
- Robust economics: US$ 343 million NPV5% post-tax with 44% IRR at US$ 1,450 per ounce gold
- Low capital intensity project with only US$ 143 million pre-production capital cost
- Average 146,000 ounces gold per year over 8 years for 1.2 million ounces total production
- Technically simple project: shallow open pit, run-of-mine heap leach with existing infrastructure
- Value enhancement through Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho District exploration and resource expansion
For further information please visit: https://koremining.com/
