Sleeper
The Sleeper Gold Project is a 30 square mile gold district located in Humboldt County, Nevada.
The Sleeper Gold Property includes a historic open pit mine operated by AMAX Gold from 1986 until 1996.
A NI-43-101 resource for the property was established by X-Cal in September of 2008.
X-Cal has an extensive database for use in targeting ongoing development drilling and exploration at Sleeper.
Historic Photo of the Sleeper Mine Property looking SE. The property covers 30 square miles of the Battle Mountain Trend. Approximately 1/2 of the property is visible in the photo. Significant reclamation has occurred since this photo.
The current pit lake at Sleeper resulted when mining operations at the property ceased. A major exploration program has been recommended for the property.
The following illustrations show: plan view, a long-section and cross-sections of favorable horizons/strata at Sleeper.
Confirmation of strata, which preferentially localize mineralization at Sleeper has openedup substantial near-mine exploration potential.
Independent NI-43-101 resource figures for West Wood, the facilities area and the Heap Leach Pads demonstrate a substantial foundation resource.
We have known that there was a favorable horizon(s) at West Wood for some time. Now we can see that this is not a localized phenomenon. The layering is a form of debris-flow, related to the volcanic event(s) that contributed to formation of the Sleeper deposit(s).
A mineralized layer dips at approximately 30 degrees throughout the Facilities Area. The projection of this layer towards the pit and underneath the pit is towards areas with very limited drill data.
The potential for additional West Wood type mineralization is a near-mine target.
The following is a list of West Wood Assay Highlights. In combination with new evidence of favorable mineral horizons/strata these assays indicate that drill testing should occur at the same elevation as West Wood along the entire length of the pit from West Wood through the NW Target.
The West Wood assay composites are select drill hole intercepts. Readers are encouraged to refer to the NI-43-101 Technical Report on the property for more comprehensive information.
Infill drilling at West Wood to achieve the density required for an independent resource calculation is ongoing.
Sleeper Project Claim Map (30 square miles)
Current Goals are: Independent Resource Figures for “West Wood”, the “Facilities Area”, the “Heap Leach Pads” and new discovery through Exploration.
It is apparent that commercially viable mineral systems in Nevada result in multiple ore bodies, such as have occurred on the Carlin and Battle Mountain trends and elsewhere in the world.
The figure below compares our priority targets in the Sleeper District, next to the epithermal vein system at El Peñón in Chile.
Geologic analogies such as Midas in Nevada and El Peñón in Chile are mentioned in the Sillitoe paper on the Exploration Potential at Sleeper. The figure above shows Sleeper next to Meridian’s El Peñón gold property, at the same scale. The illustration shows how epithermal systems usually consist of more than one vein.
The potential of the Sleeper Gold District for new deposits is well described in papers dated January 2006 and August 2009 by Dr. Richard Sillitoe.
The work underway to develop resource figures for West Wood, Facilities and some of the above ground mineralized material at Sleeper is a foundation from which the larger potential of the Sleeper District can be pursued.
Production records indicate that less than half of the gold mined at Sleeper was recovered.
The very high grade veins at Sleeper were milled and allowed operations to be very profitable, without attempting to maximize recoveries from other gold bearing material such as the heap leach ore, or sulphide material.
A significant number of ounces are above ground on the site.
The 2008 resource figures quantified the ounces which are located in the Heap Leach Pads at Sleeper.
Approximately 49 million tons of above ground material exists in the heap leach pads at Sleeper. This gold bearing material is in part covering some exploration targets.
Independent verification of a foundation resources at Sleeper was a 2008 milestone.
All permits for the recommended drill testing of the priority targets at Sleeper are in place.
Shareholders are encouraged to review the NI-43-101_Technical_Report.
Drill Core from the North West (NW) Target at Sleeper:
The newly discovered silicified-sulphide-breccia at NW is anomalous in gold and resembles high grade material from West Wood. More drilling is recommended for the NW Target and for the area between NW and West Wood.
Approximately 49 million tons of above ground material exists in the heap leach pads at Sleeper. This gold bearing material is in part covering some exploration targets. The 2007 work program includes bulk sampling of some of the above ground material and will ask if this material could be blended with Facilities Area mineralization in a future heap leach operation.
Historic Photo shows where mining stopped in 1996 with the pit confined by infrastructure. The photo also shows a portion of the heap leach pads, waste dumps and tailings pond. 2007 Facilities Area Drilling returned high grade intercepts where the Mill building had been located.
View the Sleeper Project Photo Gallery.
