VANCOUVER, May 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Altan Nevada Minerals Ltd. (TSX.V: ANE) ("Altan Nevada" or the "Company") announces that Teck American Incorporated ("Teck") has withdrawn from North Star project ("North Star" or the "Property") located in Elko County, Nevada. Teck has transmitted a report and all pertinent data to the Company subsequent to the completion of the 2014 exploration program. A brief summary of the project and results follows.
Altan Nevada's management is strongly encouraged by the results of this first round of deep exploration drilling at North Star, which we believe reinforces our view that the entire southeastern half of the uplifted horst block is prospective for the discovery of a major Carlin-type ore body.
The Company is currently evaluating the data from drilling in detail. As a part of this effort, the Company is scheduling a third-party review of the core and data by an independent consultant with demonstrated expertise in Carlin Trend exploration geology.
Provisions for carrying the project forward will be formed subsequent to receipt of the results from the third-party review, which we expect before the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter.
Program Summary
During the autumn of 2104, Teck drilled a single vertical core hole at the project. A key objective of the drill program was to test for favorable Lower Plate strata at reasonable depths. The hole was collared in the Upper Plate Vinini Formation. At a depth of 559 meters, the hole passed through a 10 meter thick shear zone and into a distinctly different lithologic unit consisting of mudstone, siltstone, calcareous siltstone, chert, laminated siliceous mudstone, and dolomitic siltstone. Teck's geologic staff logged these strata as Devonian Rodeo Creek Formation, an important Lower Plate unit on the Carlin Trend, after recognizing similarities between rocks intersected below 559 meters and published descriptions of the unit on the Carlin Trend. Their logging of the core indicates that zones of silicification and decalcification are present in this rock package. This lower rock unit contains several zones strongly anomalous in mercury (+1 ppm), an important pathfinder element in Carlin-type gold systems. These anomalous zones included a continuous interval of 1 to 3.9 ppm mercury from 614.5 meters to 654.5 meters. The hole terminated at 902 meters in siliceous mudstone after passing through a 58.7 meter interval of breccia, calcareous siltstone and dolomitic siltstone.
Teck conducted a program of micropaleontology sampling in an effort to corroborate their preliminary stratigraphic interpretation, however it proved impossible to obtain fossils which would yield any conclusive information on the age of the lower rock package.
North Star
North Star is an underexplored gold project located at the northern extent of prospective Paleozoic rock exposures along the strike of the Carlin Trend. The project is 55 km north-northwest of Barrick's Goldstrike operation (52 Moz past production plus current reserves).
Gravity data compiled by Altan Nevada's geophysical consultant indicates that North Star occupies part of an upthrown block of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Previous explorers conducted important geochemical and geophysical surveys, including four lines of CSAMT profiling and a number of shallow reverse circulation holes which bottomed in Upper Plate strata of the Roberts Mountains Thrust projected to overlie favorable Carlin Trend host rocks (Lower Plate). Hydrothermal alteration at surface is characteristic of Carlin-type deposits, with local jasperoidal silicification and anomalous gold and other associated elements. Altered rocks carry up to 1059 ppb Au, 457 ppm As, 14 ppm Sb and 3.6 ppm Hg. Geochemical sampling and trenching delineated a 2 kilometer long NNE-striking Au-As-Sb anomaly associated with a major fault. These anomalies are typical of the geochemical signature of Carlin-type gold deposits.
The property consists of 163 lode mining claims, comprising 1276 hectares, 44 claims 100% owned by Altan Nevada with the balance held under option from Genesis Gold Corp, a private Utah Corporation.
About Altan Nevada
Altan Nevada is a leading exploration innovator focused on the discovery of large-scale ore systems in under-explored districts of Nevada, USA. The Company's holdings in Nevada currently total approximately 8,350 hectares. Projects include two potential district-scale extensions to the north Carlin Gold Trend, three Yerington District copper-gold targets and three large-scale gold alteration systems along the Walker Lane lineament in central Nevada.
Competent Person Statement
Altan Nevada's Exploration Director, Brion Theriault, a Certified Professional Geologist (AIPG) and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the preparation of the scientific and technical information in this press release in respect to the Property.
On behalf of Altan Nevada Minerals Limited,
"Evan Jones"
Evan Jones, President & CEO
This press release may contain forward looking statements including those describing Altan Nevada's future plans and the expectations of management that a stated result or condition will occur. Any statement addressing future events or conditions necessarily involves inherent risk and uncertainty. Actual results can differ materially from those anticipated by management at the time of writing due to many factors, the majority of which are beyond the control of Altan Nevada and its management.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Altan Nevada Minerals Limited
Image with caption: "Gravity anomaly map of the Carlin Trend, showing position of the North Star project relative to major producing gold mines. (CNW Group/Altan Nevada Minerals Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150522_C7834_PHOTO_EN_16921.jpg
Image with caption: "North Star Drillhole NST-14-01 Section Looking West (CNW Group/Altan Nevada Minerals Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150522_C7834_PHOTO_EN_16922.jpg
Evan Jones, Altan Nevada Minerals Limited, Tel: +1 604 495 8374, Email: [email protected], Web: www.altnev.com
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