PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Shaanxi Project Description
The Chinese gold mining sector is the world's largest national gold producer in addition to being the world's largest importer and consumer of gold. China produced 453.5 tons of gold from mining operations in 2016, according to the China Gold Association, keeping its position as the world's greatest gold producer for the tenth year in a row. Since then, gold production kept increasing. The majority of this gold is produced through direct gold mining, while roughly 10%-20% is produced as a byproduct of other non-ferrous mining.
Since 2007, China's yearly gold mining output has increased by 62%, first surpassing 300 tons in 2009 and then 400 tons in 2011. By 2014, it had produced a total of 478 tons of gold, a new high. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced in early 2017 that the country intends to increase its annual gold output to 500 tons by 2025. Over the years, gold production would increase by an average of 3% every year.
Shaanxi Project – is located approximately 1,000km South-West of Beijing. A high-grade gold discovery that covers an aggregate of 65km2.
Yan'an, Shaanxi, China
Shaanxi Project
Project localization
Plan view showing Project Open Pit, stockpile, trenches and drill hole locations.
OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE SHAANXI DEPOSIT
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENHANCING SIZE AND GRADE
Permit restrictions prevented step-out drilling in 2016 and 2017, severely limiting the capacity to expand the resource base. A new license allows step-out drilling in mineralization-rich areas immediately next to the Deposit, such as:
Due to undrilled gaps in the model and other factors, a considerable amount of unclassified mineralization sits outside of the pit.
Higher-grade mineralization was discovered in the sill and sedimentary units underlying the main Deposit in around 20 holes drilled in the last two years. Additional drilling stepping off these holes allows for improved grade and size.
The majority of the property, including around 5 kilometers of strike along the main governing fault, has yet to be drilled or tested.
SHAANXI: RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Drilling: Completed 8,000m, 27-hole drill program (25 exploration holes and 2 metallurgical test holes). Holes included 149.8m @ 1.68 g/t, 110m @ 0.90 g/t Au and 83.1m @ 1.10 g/t.
Regional Exploration: Soil and Stream Sediment Sampling. Completed program of over 2,500 soils, rock chips and stream sediment samples.
Geophysics: Completed a 434-line km ground magnetometer survey.
Expansion of Land Position: Regional exploration program resulted in the direct staking of 190 claims to cover the new target discovered within the main claim block where fine-grained crystalline gold has been discovered and include hits of 0.56 g/t Au and 0.16 g/t Au in stream sediment sampling.
2017 drill intercepts include 129.4m of 1.66 g/t Au including 24.4m of 3.45 g/t Au, 73.1m of 1.13 g/t Au, 110.6m of 0.90 g/t Au, 65.5m of 1.21 g/t Au and 62.5m of 1.11 g/t Au, 24.4m of 4.33 g/t Au and 53.3m of 1.23 g/t Au, 137.2m of 0.91 g/t Au, 118.9m of 1.41 g/t Au.
Shaanxi Deposit remains open to southeast (step-outs off 24.4m of 4.33 g/t Au) and northwest (step-outs off 85.4m of 2.5 g/t Au).