Nevada Projects
Ramelius Resources Limited entered a strategic alliance with Marmota Energy Ltd (ASX:MEU) to help reduce the risks associated with overseas grass roots exploration. Marmota is entitled to earn 40% of Ramelius’ earn-in equity by directly funding 40% of Ramelius’ expenditure in Nevada.
Ramelius’ strategy in Nevada is to explore for large plus 10 Moz Carlin style, bulk tonnage, low grade, sediment hosted gold deposits and plus 1 Moz high grade, low sulphidation, epithermal vein deposits. Ramelius currently has two joint ventures in Nevada.
Location of Big Blue and Angel Wing Projects – Nevada USA
Big Blue Joint Venture, Nevada USA
(Ramelius and Marmota earning 70%)
Ramelius and its partner Marmota Energy Ltd commenced field work over the Big Blue joint venture project in central Nevada USA looking for buried Carlin style deposits. A 100x50m infill soil sampling programme identified a coherent plus 9ppb gold in soil response manifesting along faults within Upper Plate siliciclastic rocks along the mapped trace of the Roberts Mountain Thrust.
The Roberts Mountain Thrust is recognized throughout the Carlin District in Nevada as a significant stratigraphic marker. Most gold deposits around Carlin lie within 100m of the thrust, where it acts as a regional aquitard to trap upward hydrothermal fluid flow.
Anomalous (plus 9ppb Au) soil geochemistry associated with leakage along the Roberts Mountain Thrust, Big Blue JV, Nevada USA
The anomalous gold in soil responses and coincident high grade surface rock chip assays (up to 56g/t Au) at the West Cottonwood anomaly are interpreted to reflect leakage from deeper buried gold mineralization within the prospective Lower Plate stratigraphy, below the denser, exposed Upper Plate rocks.
Residual gravity image over the Big Blue JV, Nevada USA
Reconnaissance RC drilling was completed over the West Cottonwood anomaly but the programme was hampered by intermittent snow drifts along with broken ground conditions. This caused excessive hole deviations and forced several holes to be abandoned. The drilling returned near surface anomalous gold mineralisation up to 9m @ 1.63 g/t Au from 3m in BBR11-01.
Angel Wing Joint Venture, Nevada USA
(Ramelius and Marmota earning 70%)
The Angel Wing joint venture project represents a largely unexplored low sulphidation epithermal gold vein field in northeastern Nevada. Classic lattice bladed quartz + carbonate plus subordinate colloform textured quartz veins up to 3m wide (true width) are mapped within the project. The epithermal veins are exposed in platform carbonate (bedded limestone) rocks plus in unconformably overlying delta fan conglomerate and volcanic rhyolite flows.
Interpreted geology over the Angel Wing Project, encompassing the 2km strike between the DaVinci Vein (south) and the Amax Vein (north)
The epithermal veins occupy an interpreted north-south directed dilational jog that can be traced over 2km strike within the available land package.
Surface channel sampling over the DaVinci Vein returned 3m @ 25.2 g/t gold and 89.2 g/t silver. Subsequent RC drilling was designed to scope coincident chargeable and resistive IP anomalies sitting below surface channel samples across the DaVinci Vein. The best drilling result were 4.57m @ 1.96 g/t gold from 32m and 3.05m @ 2.19 g/t gold, both in AW10-03 and separated by cavities. The anomalous interval in AW10-03 extends over 15.2m downhole to the end of hole. The hole was abandoned at 47m in mineralisation after losing the drill hammer. The results remain open down dip and along strike.