There is no record of any significant modern precious metal exploration except at the Antone Canyon target, where Freeport-McMoran (1983-1985), Royal Standard Minerals with JV partner North Mining Corp. (1996–2000), and Golden Spike/Bullion River Gold/Antone Canyon Mining collectively took 1000 soil samples, completed 19 trenches totaling 5088 meters, and 63 drill holes for a total of 6430 meters (Figure 7) (DeMatties, 2003; Larsen, 1998; Margolis, 2004). The majority of this work focused on finding Carlin-style, sediment-hosted gold deposits in silty limestones (Freeport-McMoran); however subsequent junior companies targeted high grade veins but, facing low gold prices and lack of funding, were never able to expand on their successful trench and drill programs. New exploration results at the Antone Canyon target reveal a gold in soil anomaly over 1.5 kilometers long that will be the focus of the Company’s exploration efforts for this target. The Company intends to drill step out holes on the highest value intercepts.
The Company’s Phase 1 Exploration Results
For the first time in the history of this metal rich project, the Company has completed an extensive rock and soil survey across the entire the Spanish Moon District, which includes: 1) a >1 ppm Ag-in-soil (+/-Au) anomaly extending from west to east across the property and, 2) results from bedrock, small prospect pits, and the millsite returned values as high as 8520 g/t Ag and 10 g/t Au.
Results from the Phase I sampling and mapping program suggest that there are three distinct and strongly mineralized domains at Spanish Moon; the western Barcelona, the central Antone Canyon and the eastern Flower domain (see Figure 3). The western domain appears to be an intrusion related silver and gold system forming the Barcelona target (Figure 8, 9). The central domain may be a low sulfidation and sediment-hosted gold and silver system forming the Antone Canyon target. The newly identified eastern domain could be a low sulfidation epithermal gold system forming the Flower and Meadow Canyon targets (see Figure 2). These three domains combined make the entire Spanish Moon District prospective for precious metals. At each of these targets, the strike lengths of known or newly discovered precious metal occurrences have been extended by >1 km. The technical team continues to find high grade Ag and Au at the surface in the Barcelona mine and Antone Canyon target areas. Additionally, the Company identified the presence of Au mineralization in the Flower-Meadow Canyon target, a prospect with no known exploration or sampling for Ag or Au.
Results from an extensive soil survey suggest that silver is anomalous across nearly the entire length of the property where typical Ag background values are 0.2 to 0.3 ppm. This silver anomaly occurs within a prospective limestone unit that is capped by a regional thrust fault. The same prospective limestone is the primary host rock to the neighboring historic silver-gold districts of Belmont (>10 Moz Ag produced 1868-1887) and Manhattan (>135k oz Au and >50k oz Ag produced 1906-1921). Compartmentalization of the local thrust fault architecture defines the boundaries of the three mineralized domains from west to east.
Barcelona Target
The Barcelona Target is centered on a historical high-grade silver mine that produced approximately 200,000 ounces of silver between 1871 and 1922 at a reported grade ~25 oz/t Ag from quartz veins that overprint skarn mineralization (Hunt, 1936). Significant exposures of lower silver grade (15-20 opt), were reported to have been left in the ground due to the high cost of milling and transportation and low silver prices at the time of production (Fletcher, 1907; Hunt, 1909).
At the historic Barcelona mine area, soil and rock results extend the area of identified silver mineralization west, creating a high-grade silver domain in the western third of Spanish Moon. Samples from small mine dumps and prospect pits at Barcelona delivered assays up to 1590 and 1310 g/t Ag. Rocks from the mouth of a collapsed drainage tunnel and a former mill site at Barcelona delivered values of 884, 688, and 230 g/t Ag. Outcrops and decline rock samples in and surrounding the historic mine portals delivered silver values up to 235 g/t Ag over a 0.3 m width, 177 g/t over a 2.7 m width and 141 g/t Ag over a 1.2 m width.
Antone Canyon Target
The Antone Canyon Target is characterized by a weakly metamorphosed, silty limestone that hosts high grade epithermal style gold mineralization and has been encountered in drilling, trenching, and rock chip sampling programs (DeMatties, 2003).
Phase I results have tripled the strike length of Au mineralization identified at Antone Canyon; extending the occurrence by 1 km to the west of known mineralization. Rock samples from small prospect pits and outcrops delivered Au assays up to 10.2 g/t, 9.9 g/t, and 8.0 g/t. The newly identified western two thirds of the Antone Canyon gold anomaly has never before been drill tested and mapping suggests mineralization is focused immediately beneath the thrust fault contact. Reconnaissance mapping efforts further suggest subsidiary normal faults may influence smaller pods of mineralization internal to the three primary domains. For instance, follow up mapping and sampling outside known mineralization identified multiple outcrops and prospects where the rock characteristics are analogous to Antone Canyon mineralization, with features of both low sulfidation epithermal (eg. banded quartz veins) and sediment-hosted (eg. sulfides in sedimentary rocks) gold and silver mineralization. The greatest density of mineralized samples and highest gold concentrations occur where the north-south oriented Hooper fault intersects the Barcelona thrust fault. This area of intersecting structures is minimally drilled and represents a primary target area for the Company (Figure 10). The next step at Antone Canyon includes a geophysical survey to define new drill targets. In addition, relogging legacy core from Antone Canyon will offer insight as to whether mineralization has a structural or stratigraphic control.
Flower – Meadow Canyon Target
At the eastern end of the district, the Flower target is characterized by a mercury and antimony occurrence may represent the higher levels of an epithermal system correlative with underlying precious metals. This target had never been explored for precious metals despite mercury and antimony being known distal indicators of epithermal gold mineralization at depth.
Results of the soil survey in the Flower domain identified a large As, Sb, Tl, Hg, La, and Pb anomaly covering approximately a 2 km2 (Figure 11). These soil anomalies are accompanied by surface rock samples containing up to 1.2 g/t Au. Reconnaissance mapping suggests the anomalous geochemistry may correspond with steeply dipping normal faults associated with a regional fault that forms the eastern margin of an adjacent caldera. Building on this reconnaissance mapping the Meadow Canyon conceptual target was developed by combining components of regional structural interpretations, regional USGS geochemistry (Shawe, 2003), and cohesive arsenic-antimony-mercury-thallium anomaly from Eminent’s Phase 1 rock and soil geochemistry programs. Most of the significant gold and silver mineral occurrences in the region are epithermal in nature and are associated with Tertiary-age volcano-magmatic activity and similar geochemical signatures. Additionally, the mineralization occurs where the following features are present:
1) within a >1,000 ppm As anomaly, 2) on or immediately adjacent to an Oligocene-age basin-bounding fault, 3) adjacent to a caldera.
The largest gold and silver system in the region is the world-class Round Mountain deposit (20 Moz of gold produced), which occurs on a subsidiary structures linking the main caldera bounding faults. A similar structural setting exists at the Meadow Canyon Target where the Jefferson Canyon fault links to the Meadow Canyon fault. Multiple known epithermal vein systems occur along the strike of the Jefferson Canyon fault (i.e. Kinross’ Gold Hill deposit and Gold79’s Jefferson Canyon deposit) before the fault is obscured by post mineral cover where it links to the Meadow Canyon fault. Eminent’s 2021 soil sampling identified a large body of strongly correlated pathfinder elements indicative of a low sulfidation epithermal system (As, Hg, Sb and Tl) that coincides with intense silicification of basement rocks. The anomalous pathfinder geochemistry and alteration is open to the north where it becomes obscured by thin veneer of younger volcanic rocks. This region north of the Flower Target area was added to the Spanish Moon land package.
A preliminary soil survey at Meadow Canyon consisted of several north-south and east-west oriented lines of soil samples spaced at 100 m, obliquely crossing the targeted structures to test if they were pathways for ascending geochemically anomalous groundwaters. Initial results vectored northward from Flower to the Meadow Canyon target where post-mineral volcanic cover up to 150 m thick obscures surface expression of the target. Volcanic cover consists of Late-Oligocene to Early-Miocene volcanic material that post-date or potentially overlap the timing of mineralization at Round Mountain and adjacent gold deposits (i.e., Gold Hill and Jefferson Canyon). Due to the volcanic cover, Eminent Gold did not anticipate any gold in soil values above 10 ppb (background is 0.01 to 1 ppb). Discovery of a suite of epithermal gold pathfinder elements that correlate within Meadow Canyon as well as some gold, through the post-mineral cover, is highly encouraging in this conceptual target. This initial soil survey returned multiple samples >10 ppb and up to 232 ppb which gives Eminent Gold reason to believe there is potential for a significant buried gold system. In addition, three out of five of the samples carrying gold occurred immediately adjacent to one of the two targeted feeder faults suggesting gold leakage occurred at a location where potential gold mineralization would be anticipated.
The structural block defining the Meadow Canyon target has never been tested. The Soldier Springs fault is the reactivated western margin of the Meadow Canyon caldera and has regularly ruptured up to present times. The ongoing fault ruptures are inferred to influence the vertical ascent of groundwater carrying pathfinder geochemistry upwards through post-mineral cover. Scavenging and transport of pathfinder elements to the surface from mineralized rocks at depth would have occurred along these faults, resulting in the anomalies presented here. Positive results of the preliminary soils demonstrate that correlative arsenic, antimony, mercury, thallium, and gold extends from the Flower target in the south to the northern limit of the Meadow Canyon target. Several rock samples with <1.2 g/t gold are interpreted to represent the distal expression of the low sulfidation epithermal target at Meadow Canyon.
The Company’s Phase 2 Plans
The Company is collaborating with an industry leading permitting agency to advance the project’s Plan of Operations permit with the US Forest Service. Permitting steps are being taken while also planning a project wide geophysics program for the 2022 field season. Positive results from this preliminary soil survey validate the team’s conceptual model and the need to complete a soil grid across the entire Meadow Canyon claim block in concert with a geophysical survey. An isometric soil grid will provide clarity as to where the most reasonable buried target exists in the Meadow Canyon area (Figure 12). A geophysical survey will define the thickness of the volcanic cover sequence as well as the architecture of the inferred linkage faults. The geophysics program will be designed to image the multiple styles of mineralization in all three target areas of Spanish Moon; 1) intrusion related silver and gold at the Barcelona Target,
2) epithermal/sediment-hosted gold and silver at the Antone Canyon Target, 3) epithermal gold and silver at the Flower-Meadow Canyon Target. Geophysics will enable our technical team to refine drill targets for each Target Area to be tested in the fall of 2022.
Communities and the Environment
The pursuit of environmentally friendly and socially responsible mineral exploration and potential development guides the efforts and activities of Eminent Gold. Eminent Gold and our partners understand that the broad societal benefits exploration and mining can bring, but only when the risks and hazards of disturbing the environment are managed through careful and thoughtful implementation of sustainable practices. Eminent Gold Corp. strives to maintain the highest industry standards of environmental protection and community engagement at all of its projects.
Eminent Gold Corp. believes that sustainability includes pursuit of three mutually reinforcing pillars: environmental and cultural heritage protection; social and community development; and economic growth and opportunity. Eminent Gold Corp. assesses the environmental, social and financial benefits and risks of all our business decisions and believes this commitment to sustainability generates value and benefits for local communities and shareholders alike.
Ownership and Agreements
Eminent Gold Corp. has entered into an option agreement (the “Agreement”) with Nevada Select Royalty Inc (“Nevada Select”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ely Gold Royalties Inc. (TSX-V: ELY, OTC-QX: ELYGF) (“Ely Gold”), whereby the Company will have the option to purchase 100% of Spanish Moon. It has also entered into a lease-option agreement with patent holders who own 87.25% of the contiguous Barcelona. The Company has up to five years to acquire a 100% interest in the Property, totaling approximately 730 hectares, consisting of 70 unpatented claims at Spanish Moon and 2 patented claims at Barcelona, by making cumulative cash payments of USD $1,395,000 and cumulative share payments of 1,250,000 common shares in the capital of the Company.
The Agreement
The Company will have the option to purchase 100% in the following:
- The seventy (70) unpatented claims known as the “Spanish Moon Claims”;
- 87.25% of 2 patented claims known as the “Barcelona Property”; and certain data in the possession of Ely Gold and Nevada Select on the Closing (the “Existing Data”). There is a Net Smelter Royalty (NSR) of 3% on the Property (includes a total of 134 unpatented claims of which 70 are owned by Ely and the balance were staked by the Company). The Company may make cumulative payments of US$1.0 million to reduce the royalties payable on the entirety of the Property to 2%. The Company is responsible for Property holding costs during the duration of the Agreement.
For the Ely Agreement, the total purchase price of USD $750,000 and 750,000 Navy Shares are payable as follows:
- USD$50,000 Cash Payment upon entering into the Ely Agreement (for the purposes of this paragraph, the “Effective Date”);
- The issue of 150,000 Navy Shares within 5 business days of the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”) approval for the agreement.
- USD$75,000 Cash Payment and 150,000 Navy Shares on or before the first anniversary of the Effective Date;
- USD$125,000 Cash Payment and 200,000 Navy Shares on or before the second anniversary of the Effective Date;
- USD$250,000 Cash Payment and 250,000 Navy Shares on or before the third anniversary of the Effective Date; and
- USD$250,000 Cash Payment on or before the fourth anniversary of the Effective Date, upon which the Option Exercise will be complete.
For the Barcelona Agreement, the total purchase price of USD $645,000 and 500,000 Navy Shares are payable as follows:
- USD$20,000 Cash Payment upon entering into the Barcelona Agreement (for the purpose of this paragraph, the “Effective Date”);
- The issue of 50,000 Navy Shares within 5 business days of the receipt of TSXV approval for the Barcelona Agreement.
- USD$25,000 Cash Payment and 50,000 Navy Shares on or before the first anniversary of the Effective Date;
- USD$25,000 Cash Payment and 100,000 Navy Shares on or before the second anniversary of the Effective Date;
- USD$25,000 Cash Payment and 100,000 Navy Shares on or before the third anniversary of the Effective Date; and
- USD$25,000 Cash Payment and 200,000 Navy Shares on or before the fourth anniversary of the Effective Date;
- USD$25,000 Cash Payment on or before the fifth anniversary of the Effective Date;
- USD$500,000 Cash Payment on or before the fifth anniversary of the Effective Date, upon which the Option Exercise will be complete.