Rockridge Hires Missinaibi Drilling Services Ltd. for 3,000-metre drilling at Raney Gold Project southwest of Timmins
Rockridge Resources Ltd. has announced the drill rig and other equipment are being assembled for Rockridge Resources’ fully funded and permitted 3,000 metre minimum drill program on the Raney Gold Project near Timmins.
Missinaibi Drilling Services Ltd. is a 100% Aboriginally owned and operated independent drilling contractor company. Their management has over 30 years of combined experience including substantial expertise in the Timmons district, where they work with Newmont at the Borden Mine Project adjacent to the Raney Project.
Raney Gold Project Location Map:
http://www.rockridgeresourcesltd.com/_resources/maps/location_map_may2020a.jpg
The 3,000-metre minimum drill program is expected to begin shortly and will include approximately 10 drill holes. The holes will range in depth between 200 and 300 metres each to test the strike and down-plunge extent of the high-grade intercepts identified during the previous drill program.
Primary Drill Targets:
The diamond drill holes are designed to test priority targets along the prospective structural corridor and down-plunge of known high-grade gold zones. A primary drill target will be the down-plunge extension of the previously reported high-grade zone which returned 28.0 g/t Au over 6.0 metres (uncut) from 125.0 metres to 131.0 metres in hole RN 20-06.
Cross Section of High-Grade Gold Mineralization in Hole RN 20-06:
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Secondary Drill Targets:
The results of the recently completed drone magnetometer survey completed during the first phase summer field program suggest strong continuity of the structural corridor along strike and identified other potential targets on the property. Based on the magnetic survey data, the structural corridor potentially extends hundreds of metres west toward an area where a nose fold structure may exist.
Magnetometer Survey Plan Map Showing Exploration Potential Along Extensive Structural Corridor:
http://www.rockridgeresourcesltd.com/_resources/images/Raney-Gold-Project-Summer-2020-Drill-Targets.jpg
Raney Gold Project Location:
The Raney Gold Project is located within the highly prospective west extension of the Abitibi Greenstone belt, proximal to several regional deposits. Newmont’s operating Borden Gold Mine (reserves of 4.17 MT @ 6.38 g/t Au for ~860k oz. Au reported in 2015) is located 35 km west of Raney. IAMGOLD and JV partner Sumitomo Metals Mining recently decided to proceed with construction of their Cote gold project located 75 km southeast of Raney. The Cote project, estimated to contain gold reserves of ~7 million ounces (~236MT @ 0.96 g/t Au), is noted as a “world-class” deposit by IAMGOLD. GFG Resources is a close neighbour that has acquired a large land package in the area including its Pen and Dore Gold Projects.
Raney Gold Project Geology and History:
A total of 2,070 metres in nine diamond drill holes were completed during the recent winter diamond drilling program. The drill program focused on the main zone over a strike extent of approximately 225 metres that produced the best historic intercept of 6.5 g/t gold over 8.0 metres back in 2010. Silicification and minor carbonate alteration were recognized, however gold mineralization appears to be closely related to intervals of high quartz vein density. The quartz veins are hosted in a steeply dipping alteration zone dominated by intermediate volcanic rocks consisting of lapilli tuffs and bedded argillites, with lamprophyre dikes. The quartz veins crosscut and run parallel to a weak fabric, and range in thickness from 0.5 cm to 20 cm in width.
A zone of increased vein density has been noted where the historic visible gold intercepts occur. The recently drilled high-grade intercept of 28.0 g/t over 6.0 metres (uncut) from the 2020 winter program was the fourth drill hole on the Property to intercept visible gold, and all these occurrences were in the main zone near the 100-metre level. The broad structural corridor that hosts the mineralization is up to 125 metres wide and extends well beyond the area tested by drilling. No drilling has been conducted along this corridor except for the ~225-metre-long main zone.
Historical drilling at the Raney Gold Project focused on identifying near-surface gold mineralization. Previous exploration on the Property from 1972 to 1991 consisted of prospecting, mapping, sampling, trenching, winkie drilling, ground geophysics, stripping, and some limited diamond drilling. This was followed by exploration work during the 2009 to 2010 period. The best intercept returned from historical drilling was 6.5 g/t gold over 8.0 metres. The property is underlain by mafic volcanics to the north, and felsic to intermediate volcaniclastics to the south. The felsic volcaniclastics are host to the gold zones. Quartz feldspar porphyry dykes and sills and minor mafic intrusives occur throughout the Property. The porphyries are generally massive but may be sheared and hydrothermally altered and veined in places.
A 100 metre-wide intensely sheared and altered quartz-feldspar porphyry body is located just to the south of the main Raney gold showing. Gold mineralization exposed on the surface and intersected in drill holes on the property is typical of the lode gold class of gold deposit which is the dominant gold deposit type in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. Gold mineralization on the property is associated with the intensely sheared and altered zones within the felsic tuffs, and higher grades tend to occur where quartz veining is present.
The Property is in the Archean Swayze Greenstone Belt, considered to be the southeast extension of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, which hosts the world-class Timmins and Kirkland Lake gold districts. Numerous gold occurrences occur throughout the district and several world-class mines have been developed. These deposits are responsible for a significant portion of the world’s cumulative gold production and are often characterized by gold enriched quartz vein systems associated with supracrustal belts in low to medium grade metamorphic terranes. Gold mineralization at the Property is typical of the mesothermal lode gold deposit model. Rockridge holds an option to earn a 100% interest in the Raney Gold Project.
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