Golden Predator Mining Corp. (TSXV:GPY) (the “Company” or “Golden Predator”) announced today that diamond drilling will begin in early July at the high grade gold, 100% owned Sprogge Area of its 3 Aces project in southeastern Yukon, Canada (Figure 1). The Sprogge program will follow the model tested and confirmed by this winter’s drilling in the Central Core Area in which 12 of 15 holes successfully hit the quartz-rich target structure and confirmed the model for gold deposition at 3 Aces.
Sprogge Area Drill Plans
The geology of the high grade Central Core Area extends approximately 8 km southeast through the Sprogge Area. Approximately 2,500 m of diamond drilling will target the primary structural control based on the updated exploration model. In this updated model, the primary structural control for gold is a shattered and deformed stratigraphic zone between coarse sandstone/conglomerate and impermeable shale/phyllite which contains and controls gold-bearing quartz veins.
Historical surface sampling of this primary structural zone at Sprogge returned 25 quartz outcrop samples ranging from 5.73 g/t to 46.49 g/t gold along an exposed 2 km of strike. The exposed primary structural control lies along the eastern edge of an extensive gold-in-soil anomaly (Figure 2). Drilling will test the identified 2 km of strike at various depths ranging from near surface to ~200 m.
To view 3 Aces Project maps including the Sprogge Area please visit:
http://www.goldenpredator.com/_resources/news/GPY-NR18-11-3-Aces-Maps.pdf
Winter Drilling at Central Core Area
A total of 3,682 m of HQ core was drilled in 15 holes between March and May 2018 to test the Company’s exploration model for continuity of the primary structural control under surface cover. This key structural feature, which is now known to control the occurrence of gold mineralization at 3 Aces, was intercepted in widely spaced holes extending east from the Spades zone for more than 1.2 km. These results now show that mineralization in the Central Core Area is controlled by this primary feature over a strike of at least 4 km (Figure 3).
Extensive quartz veining was encountered in 12 of the 15 holes with significant gold reported in 7 of these. The best assay interval was in drill hole 3A18-309 which intersected 13.93 g/t gold over 2.5 m at a depth of 87.5 m. Three holes (298, 300, and 302) did not hit the target zone, likely because the collars were located in the footwall or the dip had changed locally. Higher grades within the primary structural control appear to be related to specific patterns of deformation that are found elsewhere in the Central Core Area and in the Sprogge Area.
Some of the previous drilling at 3 Aces has been re-interpreted given the success of the winter drill program in confirming the comprehensive stratigraphic structural model of gold mineralization. The Company’s review of 600 m of historical drilling by others at Sprogge and its own 2017 drilling in the western part of the Central Core Area indicates that the well-developed gold-in-soil anomalies were targeted in the absence of a structural model. These holes appear to have been oriented away from, or into the footwall of, the primary structural control and therefore may have likely missed the best gold mineralization.
The Company’s initial drilling of Sprogge this summer, based on field confirmation of the structural model, will be the first program to target the 2 km strike extent of the controlling structure along which numerous rock samples have been taken. The areas that the Company drilled in 2017 in the western part of the Central Core Area will be followed up with additional drilling later in the year now that the structural model is better understood providing for proper drilling locations and orientations.
Results of the winter drilling are listed below:
| Hole ID1 | Sample Type2 | From (m) | To (m) | Drilled Width (m)3 | Au g/t4 |
| 3A18-295 | DD | 58.50 | 60.70 | 2.20 | 1.33 |
| 3A18-296 | DD | 91.00 | 92.00 | 1.00 | 1.01 |
| 3A18-303 | DD | 153.50 | 156.00 | 2.50 | 2.08 |
| 3A18-304 | DD | 63.60 | 64.60 | 1.00 | 1.19 |
| 3A18-307 | DD | 80.90 | 81.50 | 0.60 | 2.85 |
| 3A18-308 | DD | 105.00 | 106.00 | 1.00 | 1.46 |
| 3A18-309 | DD | 42.00 | 43.00 | 1.00 | 2.73 |
| and | DD | 50.00 | 51.00 | 1.00 | 2.16 |
| and | DD | 82.00 | 84.00 | 2.00 | 1.87 |
| and | DD | 87.50 | 90.00 | 2.50 | 13.93 |
| including | DD | 88.00 | 89.00 | 1.00 | 30.10 |
1Significant intervals are chosen based on continuity of mineralization and gold grade; all drilled samples assaying ≥1.0 g/t gold as well as select lower-grade intervals are included.
- Holes 3A18-297 to 3A18-302, 3A18-305 and 3A18-306 returned no mineralization of 1.0 g/t gold or higher, three of these holes were barren.
2Sample Type ‘DD’ represent ½ sawn, or ¼ sawn for duplicate, 2.5” (63.5mm) HQ core.
3All intervals are reported as drilled thicknesses; true thicknesses are estimated to be 50-100% of drilled thicknesses.
4Reported Au assay grade sourced from SGS using SGS_GE_FAA515 or SGS_GO_FAA505 method.
Model of Mineralization
The primary structural control on the gold occurrences identified at 3 Aces is a stratigraphic feature characterized by coarse sandstone and conglomerate in contact with shale and phyllite. A persistent shattering, deformation and quartz vein development at this stratigraphic contact shows faulting and shearing at this position in the stratigraphic sequence. The geological history of this area indicates that this structural feature was likely a low angle fault that developed between brittle sandstones and conglomerates and easily deformed shale and phyllite. This feature is regionally extensive, contains anomalous gold concentrations wherever it is encountered and represents the primary controlling feature for distributing gold-bearing fluids and gold occurrences throughout the 3 Aces project. A second such structure occurs further up section where the shale and phyllite transition back into another sandstone and conglomerate unit. The preferred lower structural feature has demonstrated consistently higher grade gold as the shale and phyllite acted as a cap or trap, concentrating the gold bearing fluids to a much greater extent than where the brittle sandstone and conglomerate overlie the more flexible shale and phyllite.
In addition to the primary structural control, several subordinate features have been recognized as secondary controls governing the occurrence of high-grade gold:
- Intersection of the primary stratigraphic structural feature with steeply dipping faults
- Shattered and quartz veined zones associated with anticlinal folding of the primary stratigraphic structural feature
- Parasitic folds on the limbs of larger scale anticlinal folding
- Folded hinge deflections of the favorable stratigraphic structural feature
All of these features are recognized in the …read more
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