- Historical Drill Intercepts Indicate Potential For High-Grade, Copper-Silver Target
- New Results from Geophysical Survey Highlight Anomalies for Follow-Up Drilling
LAKEWOOD, Colo. , March 1, 2018 /CNW/ -- General Moly, Inc. (the "Company" or "General Moly") (NYSE American and TSX: GMO), the only western-exchange listed, pure play molybdenum development company, reports that based on a review of historic drill results, the Company has identified a potential high-grade, copper-silver exploration target along with a significant zinc mineralized area at the Mt. Hope Project site, southeast of the Mt. Hope's molybdenum deposit in central Nevada .
Given the presence of this copper-silver target ("Cu-Ag Target") and zinc mineralization, General Moly undertook a high-intensity, ground-based Induced Polarization ("IP") survey to determine if potential continuity and the size of the mineralization would justify additional exploration and evaluation. The IP survey was completed in February 2018 by Quantec Geoscience and indicates a fairly continuous group of high chargeability anomalies that appear aligned with the recently identified Cu-Ag Target.
These anomalies lie between 100 feet and 1,000-plus feet from the surface and trend northeast for over 1,000 feet. The IP survey indicates that the anomalies could continue further to the north-northeast and to the south where they appear to dip to the east. (Please refer to Appendix Illustration 1: Plan Map below.)
Historic Data Review & Historical Drill Results Reveal Copper-Silver-Zinc Potential
The evaluation of historic information by General Moly and the results of the IP survey form the basis to commence a robust geologic review and further evaluation via a new 2018 exploration program, focused primarily on a high-grade Cu‑Ag Target, subject to further financing.
From as early as 1886, and sporadically until circa 1975, the Mt. Hope area produced zinc as well as by-product lead, copper, silver, and cadmium from small-scale underground mines. With the strong recovery in zinc prices last year, General Moly staff conducted an evaluation of past exploration and drill data from the 1930s to 2008 from prior explorers, including Universal Exploration (a subsidiary of U.S. Steel), Callahan Mining Company, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Mount Hope Mines Inc. ("MHMI"), Phillips Petroleum, Asarco, Exxon, Cyprus Amax, and Phelps Dodge , as well as General Moly.
From this review, the General Moly staff defined an anomalous zinc mineralized area of interest, characterized by skarn mineralization of carbonate rock ("Skarn Area"), slightly overlapping the southeastern portion of the ultimate pit outline of the Mt. Hope molybdenum open pit mine plan. The Company examined and re-cataloged the historic drill holes, and prioritized the drill data for zinc intercepts at a 0.5% cutoff and within 400 feet of the surface as a potential surface mineable target.
The attached Appendix Illustration 1: Plan map shows the Company's interpretation of a halo of 2% zinc historic drill intercepts. The Skarn Area, measuring approximately 17 acres in size, covers past historic underground mining of mostly zinc.
In addition to examining the zinc mineralization, the Company keyed in on a high-grade Cu-Ag Target that was initially identified in the 1930s by one hole drilled by Universal Exploration, and followed up by MHMI's fan-pattern drilling of six holes in 1968 - 1969 from an underground platform at roughly the 6,540-foot elevation in the lower section of historic underground workings. MHMI's total program encompassed drilling a total of 1,905 feet. Phillips Petroleum also intersected this target area with 3 holes drilled in 1971 as part of a broad-based 18-hole, 16,270-foot program.
This Cu-Ag Target appears to be about 600 to 700 feet from the surface and, if it warrants ultimate development, it could be potentially accessed by a decline from either the surface or the ultimate Mt. Hope molybdenum pit. (Please refer to Appendix Illustration 1: Plan Map.)
Historic Drill Data Highlights
Historic drill intercept highlights at the Cu-Ag Target include:
- MHMI Jensen DDH-3:
- MHMI Jensen DDH-5:
- Phillips UPMH-2:
Holes DDH-3 and UPMH-2 are 347 feet apart. And, holes DDH-5 and UPMH-2 are 417 feet apart. Additional historic drill highlights are in Appendix Table 1.
To date, given this represents an early-stage copper-silver-zinc exploration program of the Skarn Area, most of the historic data discussed here comes from historic reports and cannot be independently confirmed and lacks the modern standards of quality assurance and controls for samples and assays. Such data may not be relied upon for any evidence or likelihood of a mineral resource, mineral reserve or mineral deposit. The Skarn Area does not contain any mineral resource estimate as defined by the Canada National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") or any proved or probable reserves as defined by the United States Securities and Exchange Industry Guide 7, nor is there any certainty that further exploration will result in any targets becoming part of a mineral resource or mineral reserve.
Ground IP Survey Results Highlights
The IP survey, which focused on the Cu-Ag Target, comprised six lines each of a 2,400-foot length with 2 lines running SW to NE (lines 1 and 6) and 4 lines (lines 4, 3, 2 and 5) running SE to NW and perpendicular to lines 1 and 6. (Please refer to Appendix Illustration 1: Plan Map.)
The survey found an anomalous high chargeability zone located at between 100 to 1,000 feet of depth with thicknesses between 200 and 800 feet, up to 1,000 feet of width and measuring over 1,000 feet trending north-northeast. (Please refer to the cross section of Line 3 shown below and to Appendix Illustration 2. High chargeability is indicated by the orange, red and pink colors.)
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