James Bay Minerals finds 31.7g/t outside resource at new Nevada gold project

James Bay Minerals reports 31.7g/t gold from rock chips at Independence project
Company in the midst of acquiring Battle Mountain Resources, and the asset
A 3,000m drilling program is being planned

Special Report: James Bay Minerals has reported rock chip samples grading up to a whopping 31.7g/t gold at its Independence project in Nevada, USA, which highlight the growth potential outside the existing resource estimate.

Proposed future earn-in partner, Americas Gold Exploration Inc, completed a small program of data compilation, mapping and rock chip sampling with the aim of accelerating the generation of targets to drill once James Bay Minerals’ (ASX:JBY) acquisition of Battle Mountain Resources – which currently holds the project – is completed (pending shareholder approval).

The project, which consists of 14 unpatented mining claims and 84 unpatented mill sites, is adjacent to the Nevada Gold Mine’s Phoenix project and about 16km south of Battle Mountain.

It also contains a combined resource estimate 1.22Moz gold equivalent across near-surface oxide (430,600 oz gold equivalent) and skarn (796,200oz gold equivalent) mineralisation.

These latest results have identified extensive new gold trends outside of the estimate that haven’t been drilled, with 14 samples grading above 1g/t, including the peak result of 31.7g/t.

In addition, a compilation of current and historic data shows eight rock chips exceeding 11.7g/t gold.

The company says all this indicates that from-surface gold mineralisation spans the entire length of the project.

Potential for a large-scale project

With the current gold price sitting around US$2,635 – close to record highs of around US$2,800 – the company is keen to get boots on the ground to explore.

On completion of the acquisition, JBY plans to conduct around 3,000m of drilling focusing on expanding near-surface oxide mineralisation across the poorly tested Yukon Hill, before moving to test high-grade mineralisation related to the northwest-trending faults.

“Exciting gold results from the first batch of rock chips, with grades of up to 31.7g/t gold, show the huge potential for new discoveries beyond the current resource,” JBY executive director Andrew Dornan said.

“While past exploration focused on the south, recent findings of strong mineralisation across multiple areas show the project’s massive scale.

“We’re eager to obtain further results, which will help unlock the full potential of high-priority targets like Yukon Hill and Rebel Peak – locations for future drilling.

“With the gold price at an all-time high, we are well positioned to capitalise on this momentum as we look to expand the mineral resource and drive value at the Independence gold project.”

Remaining rock chip gold assay results are expected next month, with all multi-element data outstanding.

Plus, detailed mapping has also revealed multiple cross-cutting mineralised events across the project area, which provides scope for additional shallow gold oxide, skarn and porphyry discoveries.

Continued mapping will focus on defining additional north-west faults that are likely to have resulted in the historic high-grade rock chip results south of the Moonlight fault, including 17.1g/t, 13.8g/t, and 13.5g/t gold.

This article was developed in collaboration with James Bay Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.