The ZPG Project – Nevada, USA 2
Property Description
The ZPG porphyry copper – gold project is located in Ladner County 30 kilometers southwest of the Town of Battle Mountain and consists of 96 mineral claims covering an area of 778 hectares. The Property is being examined for its potential to host a porphyry copper-gold mineralization.
Accessibility, Climate, Local Resources and Infrastructure
The property is accessed via Highway 305, which heads southwest from the junction with Interstate 80 at Battle Mountain. Secondary roads heading west-southwest from Highway 305 lead to the property. The Union Pacific Railway passes through Battle Mountain.
The climate is typical of this part of Nevada, in the elevated basin and range topography. Summers are warm and hot, winters are cold and it is always dry. Average temperature in winter is around 20 degrees for December and January during the day and 7-8 degrees at night. In the summer months daytime temperatures can average 100° F cooling to 55°F at night. Average annual precipitation is approximately 3 inches of rain and 1 inch of snow.
Battle Mountain is a small community of less than 3,000 people and can supply basic exploration needs. There has been considerable exploration activity in the area and it supports several operating mines so the general area is quite familiar with exploration and mining activity.
The physiography is typical of the basin and range topography, with broad alluvium filled valleys flanked by hills and mountains. On the property itself elevation ranges from approximately 4900 ft. (1450 meters) in the valleys to a high of 8,000 ft. on nearby mountain peaks.
General History
The Fortitude/ (Phoenix) copper gold Project, located in Lander County, Nevada, between 5.5 and 13 miles south of the town of Battle Mountain was a focus for early exploration in the area. The area has a long history of mining starting with the first recorded discovery of copper ore in the Copper Canyon area in 1864. Placer gold mining, the Natomas dredge operations, took place in the 1940’s and early 1950’s alongside open pit copper mining and flotation milling by the Duval Corporation that continued into the 1970’s.
Mining and milling of lode gold ore began in the late 1970’s, with the conversion of the Copper Canyon mill from copper concentrate production to a cyanide leach CIP adsorption facility in 1978, and was continued into the early 1990’s by Battle Mountain Gold Company when heap leaching of lower grade disseminated gold ore began (Reona Heap Leach Pad).
Mining and milling of ore from the Fortitude Pit commenced in September 1992 and continued until the open pit mine ceased production in early 1993; and the Fortitude Mill ceased operations in March 1993. In October 1993, the Reona Heap Leach Pad was constructed to expand open pit mining and include gold heap leaching operations. Extraction of leach-grade gold ore ceased during the first quarter of 2006, and leaching of the Reona Heap Leach Pad was discontinued in July 2006.
Property History
There has been a limited amount of work on the present day claims and the immediate surrounding area by various operators. The most comprehensive work program was by Hemlo Gold Mines, a Noranda subsidiary (later Battle Mountain Gold) on the Buffalo Valley Property, from 1992 to 1995. This work included ground mapping and sampling, geophysics (ground IP and airborne Mag) and diamond drilling. At the time Hemlo Gold Mines was exploring on the Central Magnetic Anomaly of which they held three-quarters of the circular magnetic feature
Historical Geophysical Studies
Limited geophysical programs have been conducted on the property by past operators under option agreement to the Vendors, Genesis Gold Corporation. In 1992 a quarter-mile station ground gravity survey was completed by Quantech Consulting Inc. on behalf of Hemlo Gold Mines that covers a portion of the present day claims. The survey was conducted to aid in determining depth to bedrock in areas of extensive pediment cover and subsequent confirmation by drilling revealed pediment depths ranging from 265 to 795 feet. A follow-up gravity survey on 300×600 foot centers was conducted in November 1995. Ground magnetic and IP surveys were undertaken but not on the present day claims.
Two IP surveys were completed by Kennecott in 2001 and 2002 covering what are referred to as the “Central Magnetic Anomaly” and the “Southern Magnetic Anomaly. In 2001 a pole-dipole survey was completed on two lines covering the Southern Magnetic Anomaly and in 2002 a 300 meters spaced dipole-dipole survey on three lines covered the Central Magnetic Anomaly. In 2002 the data from both surveys was modeled with three-dimensional (3D) inversion techniques. The 2001 survey comprised one east-west and one north-south trending line. The 2002 survey comprised one north-south line and two east-west lines spaced 1.3 kilometers apart totaling 4.8 line-kilometers centered over the central magnetic anomaly.
At the Central Magnetic Anomaly the results of the inversion modeling outlined a flat-lying tabular chargeability anomaly at a depth of approximately 500 meters below surface that is coincident with a circular airborne magnetic anomaly. Approximate measurements of the chargeability anomaly are 3.0 kilometers north-south by 1.5 kilometers east-west. The length of the anomaly may extend further north and south as it is based on one north-south trending line, though the line did cover the entire magnetic anomaly. The width is unlikely to change as the two lines cross the entire magnetic anomaly and the conductive body is constrained within the magnetic anomaly. The resistivity data shows high resistive rock overlying the chargeability anomaly and low resistivity rock associated with the conductor. A plot of the chargeability anomaly and outline of Central Magnetic Anomaly are shown on Figure 6.
The Southern Magnetic anomaly is smaller than and not as intense as the central target. There are only two lines of coverage as mentioned above. The east-west line outlines a chargeability at depth associated with low resistivity. The anomaly is not as intense as the Central Magnetic Anomaly and is considered a secondary target. It was noted in a memo to Kennecott that conductive overburden in the area hampered the survey depth of penetration.
Historical Rotary and Diamond Drilling
Some drilling has occurred on the property and immediate area with three programs from 1993 to 1995. Ten holes totaling 9,299 feet were drilled; most of the drilling was in overburden with 3,359 feet of core recovered and bedrock depths ranging from 265 to 795 feet.
2 The ZPG Project – Nevada, USA “Technical Report Project, ZPG Copper Property Lander County Cortez Area, Nevada USA. Dated April 15, 2011authored by BJ Price a “qualified person” for the purposes of NI 43-101.”
