(TheNewswire)
Vancouver, British Columbia – TheNewswire - February 12, 2024 - Headwater Gold Inc. (CSE:HWG) (OTC:HWAUF) (the"Company" or "Headwater") is pleased to announce assay results from the maiden drillprogram at its Midas North project, Nevada. Drilling was fullyfunded by a subsidiary of Newmont Corporation (“Newmont”) (NYSE:NEM, TSX: NGT, ASX: NEM, PNGX: NEM) pursuant to the option and earn-inagreement (the “Earn-In Agreement”) announced on August 16,2022.
Highlights:
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The Midas North project hosts a large, previouslyundrilled epithermal alteration cell in the northern Midas District,Nevada, located approximately 13 km north of Hecla Mining Company’s(“Hecla”, NYSE: HL) past-producing Midas Mine;
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Nine widely spaced scout drill holes were completed byHeadwater totaling 4,202 metres, designed to test six target areas. Epithermal veining and alteration were encountered in multipletarget areas across the property;
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Drill hole MN23-02 returned 47.0 g/t silver over 9.14 mbelow the Big Opal sinter and drill hole MN23-06,targeting the Jo Belle fault, intersected 0.51 g/t Au over 1.52metres;
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First-pass evaluation of initial target areas at MidasNorth was successful in identifying mineralized epithermal veining andfavorable alteration at depth, providing critical vectors to guidefuture drilling on the property targeting high-grade gold inmineralized structures; and
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The Company continues to review data in consultationwith earn-in partner Newmont to prioritize potential follow-up work onthe project.
Caleb Stroup, the President and CEO of the Company,states: “We are veryencouraged by the results of our initial scout drill program at MidasNorth, which constituted the first known drilling on the property. This first-pass program has confirmed that alteration and epithermalveining persist at depth below surface alteration and has identifiedanomalous precious metals at depth in multiple areas. The Big Opaland Jo Belle fault corridors exhibit the most consistent and intensealteration with several intersections of anomalous precious metals,including 47.0 g/t silver over 9.1 m below the Big Opal sinter indrill hole MN23-02. Our geologists are also highly encouraged by theinitial core intersection of the Big Opal fault target, where drillhole MN23-04 intercepted a fault-hosted epithermal quartz vein (Figure2) with abundant quartz after bladed calcite textures and weak bandingof chalcedonic quartz. These vein textures and associated alterationdemonstrate the presence of a structurally hosted epithermal cell thatexperienced epithermal boiling conditions favourable for high-gradeprecious metal mineralization. Despite the low tenor of the goldvalues, the Company considers the presence of epithermal quartz veinshighly significant. The wide-spaced pattern of holes (up to 1 kmspacing) has significantly increased our understanding of thesubsurface geology and provided clear vectors toward at least twopriority areas to focus follow-up work and continue to explore forhigh-grade gold mineralization.”
Figure 1: Map of the Midas high-grade veindistrict in northern Nevada. Headwater Gold’s Midas North projectadjoins Hecla MiningCompany’s past-producing MidasMine complex and encompasses another large epithermal alteration cellalong trend and directly north of the Midas Mine.
2023 DrillProgram:
The Company utilized a combination of diamond core andreverse circulation (“RC") drilling at Midas North to completenine wide spaced drill holes totaling 4,202 metres. Drillingintersected epithermal veining and alteration in multiple targetareas. This maiden drill program consisted of drill holes (Figure 3)designed to test the large epithermal alteration cell on the propertyand a variety of targets generated from initial geologic andgeophysical work (see news release dated April 20, 2023).
Figure 2: Core photograph offault-hosted epithermal quartz vein from drill hole MN23-04 exhibitingquartz-after-calcite lattice textures and weak banding of chalcedonicquartz indicative ofepithermal boiling. Depth on run block shown in feet.
Figure 3: Geologic map showing the location ofthe scout drill holes at Midas North with target areas as interpretedfrom anomalous pathfinder element geochemistry in surface sampling anddrill holes. Cross section A – A’corresponds to Figure 4 below.
The primary objective of the program was to perform afirst-pass evaluation of six discrete target areas at multipleelevations to assess the strength of epithermal alteration at depthand ultimately guide future drilling on the property toward the mostfavourable structures. Drilling confirmed the presence of widespreadepithermal alteration and identified anomalous precious metals atdepth in multiple areas. Geologic logging has resulted in amuch-improved understanding of the subsurface stratigraphy andidentified the presence of the Esmeralda, Elko Prince and June Belleformations at depth, which are favourable hosts of mineralization atthe past-producing Midas Mine to the south. In addition, a number ofprospective structures identified through geologic mapping andgeophysical analysis (see news release dated April 21, 2022) wereintercepted as predicted from geologic modeling.
Scout RC drill hole MN23-02 was drilled below anoutcropping zone of opaline silica and sinter with fossilized geyservents, within the Big Opal fault corridor (Figure 3). This drillhole intersected 47.0 g/t silver over 9.14 m from 371.86 m to 381.00 min a structurally controlled high-resistivityfeature underlying the silica sinter exposure. The mineralizedinterval consists of quartz-calcite-sulfide veining hosted in agabbroic sill, which typically acts as a poor host for mineralizationwithin the Midas district. This intercept represents the mostsignificant precious metal anomaly identified on the property to dateand highlights the potential for epithermal vein-style goldmineralization within more favourable host units laterally alongstrike or at depth.
Drill hole MN23-04, located approximately 1 kilometresouth of hole MN23-02 along the Big Opal fault corridor (Figure 3)intersected a 3-metre-wide fault zone hosting a quartz vein withquartz-after-calcite lattice textures (Figure 2). Lattice-bladed andweakly banded quartz veining is consistent with epithermal boiling asthe product of a high-energy geothermal system and implies potentialfor mineralized feeder structures deeper into the boiling zone atdepth or laterally along strike. This vein returned highly anomalouspathfinder geochemistry with weakly anomalous gold and silver values. The significant strike length between low-grade mineralizationencountered in hole MN23-02 to the northwest and epithermal veining inhole MN23-04 to the southeast indicate over a kilometre of prospectiveand untested strike extent along the Big Opal fault corridor, ascorroborated by anomalous surface and drill hole pathfinder elementgeochemistry across the area (Figure 3).
The westernmost scout RC drill hole, MN23-06, targetedthe district-scale Jo Belle fault and intersected 0.51 g/t Au over1.52 metres from 225.55 m to 227.08 m within the fault zone (Figure4). This low-grade precious metal intercept, along with highlyanomalous mercury and arsenic values across a broad interval ofMN23-06, suggests alteration is strongly fault-controlled. Moredrilling is required to adequately test this structurally controlledalteration along strike across the western portion of theproperty.
Figure 4: Interpretive cross sectionA – A’ showing correlation of elevated mercury andarsenic values with interpreted structures from CSAMT geophysics. The Jo Belle fault corridor hosts anomalous mercury (samples up to75.37 ppm Hg) and arsenic values in an interpreted alteration halosurrounding the Jo Belle Fault, as well as the low-grade preciousmetal intercept encountered in MN23-06.
The 2023 drill program at Midas North also demonstratedthe utility of controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric(“CSAMT”) resistivity geophysical interpretation for targetgeneration at the property. Geologic mapping and modeling effortsare limited by relatively poor preservation of outcrop exposures and apervasive silica altered alteration cap. Interpretation of CSAMT hasassisted with mapping of large-scale structures and prospectivehigh-resistivity features at depth. Nearly all the 2023 drill holeswhich encountered fault zones and associated epithermal pathfinder element geochemistry were predicted bythe geophysics, demonstrating the efficacy of this approach at theproject. Stratigraphic and structural controls from the broadlyspaced drill holes will provide significantly improved constraints forthe Company’s evolving geologic model and will greatly aid futureexploration. Headwater geologists believe the fault-hostedepithermal alteration and veining encountered in multiple drill holessuggest the potential for high-grade mineralization within the refinedtarget areas remains.
About the Midas North Project:
Headwater’s 100% owned and royalty-free Midas Northproject adjoins Hecla Mining Company’s past producing Midas Minecomplex to the north and covers a large hydrothermal alteration cell,extending at least 4 kilometres in strike and 1 kilometre in width. Geologic mapping, surface sampling and geophysics completed by theCompany in the project area has highlighted several priority areas toexplore for high-grade epithermal veins at depth. Extensiveepithermal alteration exists on the project, including widespreadzones of high-level chalcedonic to opaline silica flooding, clayalteration and local sinter formation with fossilized geyser vents. The project has seen very limited historic exploration with nodocumented exploration drilling. Midas North is subject toNewmont’s option to acquire up to a 75% interest in the Projectfollowing expenditures totaling US$30,000,000 and the completion of aPre-Feasibility Study within a designated timeframe.
About Headwater Gold:
Headwater Gold Inc. (CSE: HWG, OTCQB: HWAUF) is atechnically-driven mineral exploration company focused on theexploration and discovery of high-grade precious metal deposits in theWestern USA. Headwater is aggressively exploring one of the mostwell-endowed and mining-friendly jurisdictions in the world with agoal of making world-class precious metal discoveries. Headwater hasa large portfolio of epithermal vein exploration projects and atechnical team comprised of experienced geologists with diversecapital markets, junior company and major mining company experience. The Company is systematically drill testing several projects inNevada and Idaho and in August 2022 and May 2023 announced significanttransactions with Newmont Corporation where Newmont acquired a 9.9%strategic equity interest in the Company and entered into severalearn-in agreements on Headwater’s projects.
Headwater is part of the NewQuest Capital group whichis a discovery-driven investment company that builds value through theincubation and financing of mineral projects and companies. Furtherinformation about NewQuest can be found on the company website at www.nqcapitalgroup.com .
For more information, please visit the Company'swebsite at www.headwatergold.com .
On Behalf of the Board ofDirectors
Caleb Stroup
President and CEO
+1 (775) 409-3197
For further information, please contact:
Brennan Zerb
Investor Relations Manager
+1 (778) 867-5016
Qualified Person:
The technical information contained in this newsrelease has been reviewed and approved by Scott Close, P.Geo (158157),a “Qualified Person” (“QP”) as defined in National Instrument43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Sampling Quality Control:
Drill core was transported from theProject to the Company’s logging facility in Sparks, Nevada. Corewas then logged in detail, split in half using an electric-poweredcore saw, sampled at specified intervals, bagged and delivered toBureau Veritas (“BV”) facilities in Sparks, Nevada. RC sampleswere bagged at the rig and transported directly from the Project toBV. Samples were prepared by crushing and grinding via BV methodPRP70-500 to obtain a 500g sub-sample. Geochemical analyses includingfire assay were carried out at ISO 17025:2017 accredited BureauVeritas laboratories in Vancouver, British Columbia. Pulps wereassayed for 59 elements via method MA250 using a 25g sample after afour acid near total digest with an ICP-MS finish. Gold was assayedby fire assay using BV method FA330 with a 30g sample charge andICP-ME finish. In addition to the laboratory's quality controlprogram, a rigorous quality assurance and quality control program isimplemented by the Company involving the insertion of blanks,standards and duplicates to ensure reliable assay results. Laboratory standards and QA-QC are monitored by the Company.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release includes certainforward-looking statements and forward-looking information(collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning ofapplicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other thanstatements of historical fact, included herein including, withoutlimitation, statements regarding future capital expenditures,exploration activities and the specifications, targets, results,analyses, interpretations, benefits, costs and timing of them,Newmont’s anticipated funding of the earn-in projects and the timingthereof, and the anticipated business plans and timing of futureactivities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Althoughthe Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can giveno assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often,but not always, forward looking information can be identified by wordssuch as “pro forma”, “plans”, “expects”, “may”,“should”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”,“forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”,“potential” or variations of such words including negativevariations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, eventsor results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken orachieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially fromany future results, performance or achievements expressed or impliedby the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factorsinclude, among others, risks related to the anticipated business plansand timing of future activities of the Company, including theCompany’s exploration plans and the proposed expenditures forexploration work thereon, the ability of the Company to obtainsufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, therisk that Newmont will not elect to obtain any additional interest inthe earn-in projects in excess of the minimum commitment, the abilityof the Company to obtain the required permits, changes in laws,regulations and policies affecting mining operations, the Company’slimited operating history, currency fluctuations, title disputes orclaims, environmental issues and liabilities, as well as those factorsdiscussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’sprospectus dated May 26, 2021 and other filings of the Company withthe Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be foundunder the Company’s profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.
Readers are cautioned not to placeundue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakesno obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements, exceptas otherwise required by law.
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