(TheNewswire)
Vancouver, British Columbia - TheNewswire - June 25, 2024 :Headwater Gold Inc. (CSE: HWG) (OTCQB: HWAUF) (the "Company"or "Headwater") is pleased to announce significantexpansions of its Spring Peak and Lodestar projects in Nevada, and theinitiation of a comprehensive district-scale exploration program. The land expansion and regional exploration programs are beingfunded through earn-in agreements (the “Earn-In Agreements” or“Agreements”) with Newmont Corporation (“Newmont”) (NYSE: NEM,TSX: NGT, ASX: NEM, PNGX: NEM) announced on August 16, 2022 and May 9,2023.
Highlights:
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97% Land PositionExpansion : Headwater has staked 583 new claims,expanding its combined Spring Peak and Lodestar land positions by 97%.This now secures approximately 15 km of strike extent along the Auroratrend which historically produced nearly 4 million ounces ofgold.
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District-Scale ExplorationProgram : A comprehensive exploration program isunderway in the district including gravity geophysics, CSAMTgeophysics, helicopter magnetics and radiometrics, stream sedimentsampling, rock sampling, and soil sampling utilizing Newmont’s DeepSensing Geochemistry (DSG) methodology.
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Drilling ProgramScheduled : A multi-rig drill program at SpringPeak, totaling up to approximately 7,000 metres over 20 to 25 holes,is scheduled to begin in the first half of July 2024. The primaryobjective of the drill program will be to test for extensions ofmineralization along the Bear Fault corridor, which hosts high-grademineralization at the Disco Zone discovery.
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New Doug Target Zone : Subcropping mineralized epithermal veins have beenidentified at the new Doug target area. Vein textures in the area arecharacteristic of the shallow portions of an epithermal vein system.Initial rock samples have yielded gold values up to 2.05 g/t Au, withadditional follow-up sampling underway.
Caleb Stroup, President and CEO of the Company, states: “We are thrilled with thestrategic expansion of our land position, which we believesignificantly increases our potential for discovering a Tier-Onehigh-grade gold deposit along the prolific Aurora trend. Thecommencement of our district-scale exploration program, together withthe identification of the new Doug target, underscores our commitmentto aggressive and systematic exploration in the district. We areparticularly excited about our ongoing application of advancedgeophysical and geochemical techniques, including Newmont’s DeepSensing Geochemistry to explore areas with thin post-mineral cover. We believe these tools will play a critical role in our efforts tounlock the full potential of this high-grade district.”
The Aurora Trend and Headwater’sClaim Expansion: The Aurora trend is a highlymineralized belt extending from Bodie, California, through the AuroraMining District in Nevada, and up to the Borealis project area (Figure1). Historically, this trend has seen significant high-grade gold andsilver production. The Aurora district alone has recorded pastproduction of 1.9 million ounces of gold and 25 million ounces ofsilver (Vikre and others, 2015). Recorded production from the Bodiedistrict was 1.5 million ounces of gold and 7.3 million ounces ofsilver between 1859 and 1955 at an average grade of 33 grams per tongold (Long and others, 1998). Despite the rich endowment of thedistrict, the area has seen relatively limited modern exploration,especially outside of the immediate areas surrounding the historicmines. Thin post-mineral cover has hindered previous surfaceexploration efforts, but the recognition of exposed mineralizedbedrock in the Doug area demonstrates the potential explorationopportunities under cover in the district.
Figure 1: Map of the expanded Spring Peak andLodestar land positions within the Aurora trend. [1] Vikre andothers (2015); [2] Borealis Mine 43-101 dated February 16,2024; [3] Long and others (1998).
Recognition of this opportunity coupled with recentsampling and geophysical programs led the Company to complete a largeclaim staking campaign along the northeastern margin of thepreexisting land package in 2024 (Figure 1). The addition of 583 newclaims in this area, split between the Company’s Spring Peak (~7,835hectares) and Lodestar (~1,620 hectares) projects, makes Headwater thelargest land holder in the district.
Figure 2: Simplified geologic map of Doug target areashowing the historically mined Ann veins and select results fromHeadwater’s initial rock chip sampling program.
Doug Target and Bear FaultCorridor: The newly identified Doug targetoccurs in an exposed window of altered andesite, granite, andepithermal vein subcrop, in an area measuring approximately 250 m by750 m (Figure 1). The Doug target is located along the northern trendof the Bear Fault approximately 9 km from the Disco Zone where thefault hosts high-grade epithermal veins discovered by Headwater in2022. Headwater geologists interpret this fault as an importantcontrol on mineralization in the region. The greater Doug area islargely covered by thin young basalt flows, but newly discovered veinexposures at Doug may represent the extension of the historicallymined Ann veins immediately to the southwest within Hecla’s AuroraProject (Figure 2). Initial rock sampling at Doug has returned goldvalues up to 2.05 g/t Au. Vein textures in the area are characteristic of the shallow,high-level portions of an epithermal vein system , including fine-grained chalcedonic banded veins (Figure 3)and vein sediments. The Doug area has seen little to no historicexploration, making it a high-priority target for follow-upexploration.
Figure 3: Examples of typical vein textures presentin the Doug target area. A) chalcedonic banded vein withquartz-after-calcite boiling textures and iron oxides B) chalcedonicvein with vein sediment infill.
District-Scale ExplorationProgram:
Geophysics: The 2024 Spring Peakand Lodestar exploration programs include gravity, CSAMT, andhelicopter magnetics and radiometrics. These methods will help mapsubsurface structures at a district and prospect scale and identifypotential mineralized zones. Gravity and CSAMT surveys areparticularly useful for detecting changes in density and resistivity,respectively, which can aid in detecting the presence of largestructures and potential mineralized bodies at depth and beneathshallow post-mineral cover.
Surface Geochemistry: Headwateris also employing a comprehensive surface geochemistry program over alarge portion of the newly expanded land package, including streamsediment sampling, rock sampling, and soil sampling. The soil samplingwill utilize Newmont’s Deep Sensing Geochemistry (DSG) methodology.DSG is a proprietary technique developed by Newmont to detectultra-low concentrations of gold and associated metals throughchallenging surface conditions, such as unmineralized cover or complexgeochemical environments. This method has beensuccessful in identifying blind mineralization at depths of over 500metres and has been designed to provide a competitive advantage indeep cover exploration when compared to traditional surfacegeochemistry.?
About the Spring PeakProject: The Spring Peak project is located inthe Aurora Mining District in the Walker Lane belt, west-centralNevada, approximately 50 km southwest of the town of Hawthorne. Theproject adjoins Hecla Mining Company’s past-producing Aurora Minecomplex, where existing infrastructure includes a 350 ton per daymill, several production water wells, and high-voltage three-phasepower. Recent drilling at the Disco Zone has confirmed the presence ofhigh-grade gold mineralization, including significant intersectionssuch as 15.92 g/t Au over 2.38 m and 10.43 g/t Au over 2.01 m within abroader zone of 2.73 g/t Au over 34.72 m. A multi-rig drill programtotaling up to approximately 7,000 metres over 20 to 25 holes isscheduled to begin in summer 2024. The primary objective of the drillprogram will be to test for extensions of mineralization along theBear Fault corridor, which hosts high-grade mineralization at theDisco Zone discovery. Additionally, multiple new targets across thebroader land package will be tested with initial scout drilling,including targets on newly acquired private lands which have no priordrilling. Headwater holds an option to acquire a 100% undividedinterest in the Spring Peak project from Orogen Royalties (TSXV: OGN),subject to retained royalties and subject to Newmont’s option toacquire up to 75% of the project following certain expenditures andpreparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study within a designated timeframe.
About the LodestarProject: Located approximately 10 km north ofthe Spring Peak project, the Lodestar project also adjoins Hecla’spast-producing Aurora Mine complex (Figure 1). The strategic expansionthrough new claim staking enhances the exploration potential of theLodestar project, building on the success of ongoing explorationefforts. A multi-rig drill program totaling up to approximately 3,500metres over 10 to 15 holes is currently scheduled to begin in the fallof 2024 pending the receipt of a drill permit which has been submittedto the United States Forest Service. The primary objective of thedrill program will be to test for high-grade precious metal depositsin steeply dipping feeder structures under the Zodiac sinter target.Additional scout drill holes are planned to test under-covergeophysical targets adjacent to the Zodiac target, beneath a thinveneer of post-mineral basalt. Headwater holds an option to acquire a100% undivided interest in the Lodestar project from a private vendor,subject to retained royalties and Newmont’s option to acquire up to75% of the project following certain expenditures and preparation of aPre-Feasibility Study within a designated time frame.
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 of experienced geologists with diverse capital markets,junior and major mining company backgrounds. The Company is systematically drilltesting several projects in Nevada and in August 2022 and May 2023announced significant transactions with Newmont where it acquired a9.9% strategic equity interest in the Company and entered into earn-inagreements on several of Headwater’s projects.
Headwater is part of the NewQuest Capital Group whichis a discovery-driven investment enterprise that builds value throughthe incubation and financing of mineral projects and companies. Further information about NewQuest can be found on the companywebsite 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
References:
1 Vikre,P.G., John, D.A., du Bray, E.A., and Fleck, R.J., 2015, Gold-silvermining districts, alteration zones, and paleolandforms in the MioceneBodie Hills volcanic field, California and Nevada: U.S. GeologicalSurvey Scientific Investigations Report 2015–5012, 160 p.
2 BorealisMining Company Limited, 2024, NI 43-101 Technical Report, ProjectStatus Report Borealis Mine Nevada USA: Prepared by Douglas Reid.Effective Date: October 10, 2023; Report Date: February 16,2024.
3 Long,K.R., DeYoung, J.H., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Database ofsignificant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in theUnited States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-206 A, B, 33p.
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.
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 SecuritiesAuthorities, copies of which can be found under the Company’sprofile 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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