 The property encompasses a high-grade gold-bearing structural corridor over 10,000 feet long and is surrounded by extensive historic placer mines and occurrences. Varying levels of gold production occurred at a number of small underground mines that lie within the project area between 1862-1880 and throughout the early 20th century. The most productive mines covered by the existing claims were the Auld Lang Syne, Black Hole, and Monroe, producing between 50,000 - 75,000 ounces of gold. Placer operations produced over 200,000 ounces of gold, making the Sierra District one of the most productive placer districts in Nevada.
Great Neighborhood
The Dun Glen Project lies at the intersection of three separate structural trends whose extensions host several major gold deposits. In addition to the Florida Canyon Mine, the property is within 50 miles of numerous well-known gold deposits including Spring Valley, Sleeper, Twin Creeks, Adelaide Crown and the Phoenix Complex. The property sits approximately 8 miles east of Interstate 80 with direct access provided by two highway exits and existing dirt roads.
Geology
The stratigraphy of the Sierra District consists of lower Triassic Koipato and Natchez Pass strata which are cut locally by diabase dikes and sills which are vertical or dip southeastward. Quartz veins often occur in proximity to the intermediate intrusive rocks and usually also dip moderately eastward. At Dun Glen, the Koipato consists of low-grade metamorphic rocks. Mineralization in the area consists of white to orange-brown massive quartz veins which generally have a “mesothermal” appearance.
A characteristic of mesothermal systems is the tendency for homogeneity and down-dip continuity. Historical mining in the district never extended below the water table, which is near surface and less than 250 feet in any given area, so no empirical information on down-dip continuity is available. One of the goals of HuntMountain’s exploration program will be to test the nature and extent of this down-dip continuity.
Previous Exploration
Franco-Nevada geologists conducted the first modern exploration at Dun Glen. The initial 157 surface samples taken from the outcrops, dumps and prospects throughout the district returned values up to 2.24 oz/ton gold and 29.8 oz/ton silver.
Following Franco-Nevada’s merger with Newmont, six reverse circulation drill holes were planned at Dun Glen in 2002. Due to equipment-related logistical problems, only five of the holes were drilled with only one hole able to reach the edge of the targeted vein zone. Visible gold was noted by the project’s senior geologist in the sample interval from this hole, and further drilling was recommended but never executed.
On the Ground
HuntMountain Resources completed an initial exploration program at the Dun Glen Project in 2007 that included detailed geologic mapping, geochemical soil sampling, and four diamond core drill holes totaling approximately 3,600 feet. The drilling tested targets beneath the historic surface mine workings and other conceptual targets. Significant assay results included 5-foot intervals of 2.73 grams/tonne (g/t) gold and 20.1 g/t silver at depth of 160 feet and 3.18 g/t gold with 8 g/t silver at a depth of 245 feet. A complete table of assay results can be found in the Dun Glen Technical Report.
HuntMountain intends to perform an additional phase of offset drilling, follow up on intersected discoveries, and test several additional targets that were previously identified. |
