Last Chance Gold Target, Tintina Gold Province, Alaska
Stream sediment sampling conducted in late-2019 identified a large, robust gold anomaly named Last Chance, measuring 15km2 in area and located in the Tintina Gold Province.
The Tintina Gold Province is host to giant gold deposits including Donlin Creek (45 Moz Au), Pogo (10 Moz Au) and Fort Knox (13.5 Moz Au) – see Figure 1.
The Last Chance gold anomaly is located in the headwaters of Last Chance Creek in the northern section of the Alaska Range. Known placer gold workings occur 12km downstream where Last Chance Creek extends through the foothills of the Alaska Range.
Within the greater gold anomaly, a highly anomalous core area with over 3.5km of east-west strike length has been defined by four first order stream catchments at >100ppb (0.1g/t) gold with a peak value >0.4g/t gold.
Regional geology suggests the gold anomaly could be a response from a Cretaceous granite related gold system of the Intrusion-Related Gold System (IRGS) style of mineralisation.
Gold anomalism at Last Chance is accompanied by associated As-Sb (arsenic and antimony) pathfinder element anomalism, as seen at other IRGS deposits.
The robust nature of the anomaly provides a focused area for follow-up field work to discover whether the source of anomalism is significant mineralisation.
White Rock plans to complete on ground reconnaissance and detailed surface sampling early during the 2020 field season, with follow-up drill testing anticipated during the second half of the 2020 field season.
Last Chance Prospect
The Last Chance Prospect is a large (15km²), strong (up to 418ppb gold) and robust gold anomaly defined by 27 stream sediment sample points (Figure 2). The gold anomaly has a highly anomalous core >100ppb gold in first order stream catchments over 3.5km of strike east-west, and at >75ppb gold extends over 6km of strike. The gold anomaly is located in the headwaters of Last Chance Creek. Downstream from this Prospect significant placer workings commence 12km to the north and extend further north downstream through the foothills of the Alaska Range.
The Last Chance gold anomaly is located along a regional gold-arsenic-antimony trend that extends to the east and is spatially associated with a suite of exposed Cretaceous granites, the same age as those associated with the major gold deposits distributed throughout the Tintina Gold Province.
A historic search of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources website indicates that the Last Chance gold anomaly has never had any historic mining claims staked, suggesting that the area is unexplored. Together with the size and strength of the gold anomaly, White Rock is excited by the exploration potential for the Last Chance Prospect to yield a significant new gold discovery. The detailed definition of stream sediment sampling provides a clear area for focused on ground follow-up activities. White Rock expects to be able to commence geological reconnaissance and detailed surface soil and rock chip geochemistry during June 2020, prior to drill testing targets during Q3 2020.
Figure 1: Location of the Red Mountain Project (including the Last Chance) within the Tintina Gold Province and its major gold deposits including Donlin Creek (45Moz Au; NovaGold & Barrick), Pogo (10 Moz Au; Northern Star) and Fort Knox (13.5Moz Au; Kinross).Figure 2: Last Chance gold anomaly showing stream sediment sample locations and anomalous gold assays >30ppb, the outline of the 15km² anomalous catchment in green, the strong gold anomalism >100ppb gold in contiguous first order stream catchments over 3.5km of strike in pink and the proximity of Cretaceous granites (Kg).
Figure 2: Last Chance gold anomaly showing stream sediment sample locations and anomalous gold assays >30ppb, the outline of the 15km² anomalous catchment in green, the strong gold anomalism >100ppb gold in contiguous first order stream catchments over 3.5km of strike in pink and the proximity of Cretaceous granites (Kg).