Annual Report June 2020
Ballarat, Oct 1, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - White Rock Minerals Ltd (
ASX:WRM) is an Australian minerals exploration and development company with activities focussed on two projects: Red Mountain and Mt Carrington.
Red Mountain zinc - silver - gold Project
The 100% owned Red Mountain Project is located in the Bonnifield District of central Alaska. The Company is exploring for Intrusion Related Gold System (IRGS) mineralisation and high-grade zinc and precious metals volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits.
IRGS exploration is focussed on the Last Chance gold target located within the Tintina Gold Province, host to giant gold deposits including Donlin Creek (45 Moz Au), Fort Knox (13.5 Moz Au) and Pogo (10 Moz Au), which are all Cretaceous aged IRGS deposits.
VMS exploration is focussed in the East Bonnifield District within the Yukon-Tanana Terrane. There are already two high-grade zinc-silver rich deposits with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 9.1 million tonnes @ 12.9% ZnEq for 1.1Mt of contained zinc equivalent.
The Company has secured a significant land package (798km2) that incorporates regional-scale potential around the exciting Last Chance gold target and the majority of prospective VMS stratigraphy associated with the Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats deposits where there are many lookalike conductivity targets and numerous historic VMS prospects.
The 2019 field season focused on exploring the VMS potential. At the end of the field season drilling tested a 250 metre down-dip step out from known high-grade zinc - silver - lead - gold mineralisation of both the Fosters and Discovery lenses at the Dry Creek deposit. Mineralisation was successfully intersected with 1.4 metres including massive sulphide containing abundant sphalerite (zinc sulphide) located within stratigraphy equivalent to the Fosters lens. Assay results for this intersection returned 1.4m @ 13.9% zinc, 4.4% lead, 115g/t silver, 0.8g/t gold & 0.3% copper for 21.6% ZnEq from 524.6m. The drillhole was abandoned due to ground conditions prior to reaching the lower Discovery lens target. This deepest intersection in the Dry Creek deposit indicates a possible steeper dip to mineralisation than first interpreted, suggesting the deposit could be wide open down dip along its entire 1,200 metre strike length.
The 2020 field season has focused on the Last Chance gold target, discovered in late-2019 from regional stream sediment sampling1. The first on ground exploration commenced mid-June 2020. Systematic soil geochemistry indicates the presence of a large mineralizing system with considerable gold anomalism distributed over a 6km strike and 1.2km width. Geological reconnaissance has identified a series of hydrothermal silica breccia bodies and associated narrow quartz veins associated with gold, arsenic and antinomy anomalism. Surface sampling has returned assay results including 77.5g/t gold and 4,580g/t (147oz/t) silver in rock chip samples and up to 7.1g/t gold in soil samples.
Geological reconnaissance and surface geochemical results suggest that the Last Chance gold target lies within the upper brittle domain of a large orogenic and/or Intrusion Related Gold System. Hydrothermal silica breccia bodies with their associated gold-arsenic-antimony anomalism may represent upper leakage of hydrothermal fluids immediately above a zone of more favourable gold deposition.
A maiden program of diamond drilling commenced late-July 2020.
Mt. Carrington gold and silver Project
Mt Carrington is a 100% owned advanced gold-silver epithermal project located in the southern New England Fold Belt, northern NSW, Australia. A 2017 Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) into the "Gold First" development stage declared a Maiden Ore Reserve of 3.47 million tonnes at 1.4g/t gold for 159,000 ounces gold from within a Mineral Resource of 210,000 ounces gold. The gold pits are pre-stripped and there is considerable existing infrastructure including a tailings storage facility, freshwater dam, granted Mining Leases, access to State grid power and site office. The PFS financial metrics for this project are robust, especially in this strong gold price environment. An update to this PFS was done in August 2020 and using a conservative A$2,300 per ounce, the 2020 Gold First PFS financial metrics demonstrate a capital payback of just 14 months, an IRR greater than 80% and with free cash flow generated from the gold over its first 5 years of greater than A$120M.
In addition, the overall Mineral Resource includes 341,000 ounces of gold and 23 million ounces of silver. With successful implementation of the Stage One gold development the Company will investigate a Stage Two operation to develop the silver deposits and remaining gold deposits. The Mt Carrington Mining Leases are enveloped by an Exploration Licence (183km2) with demonstrated potential for epithermal and intrusion-related gold, silver and copper mineralisation. White Rock has generated and refined an extensive exploration target portfolio at Mt Carrington since 2010.
The Company undertook an update to the 2017 PFS during 2020 to reflect more recent gold price trends as well as current capital and operating cost projections to confirm the enhanced value proposition in advancing this asset through permitting and development. The updated financial and operating metrics allow the Company to complete a strategic review of Mt Carrington and select the best pathway forward to enhance shareholder value from this project in light of the very strong gold price environment. In addition, the large silver endowment will also be the focus of future development studies given the more recent strong silver price environment as well.
White Rock's Board and Management team comprise a small group of highly experienced mineral industry professionals with global proficiency in exploration, project development, mining, business, corporate development and management.
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About White Rock Minerals Ltd
White Rock Minerals Ltd (ASX:WRM) (OTCMKTS:WRMCF) is a diversified explorer and near-stage producer, headquartered in Ballarat, Victoria. The Company's flagship exploration project is Red Mountain in central Alaska. At Red Mountain, there are already two high grade zinc - silver - gold - lead VMS deposits, with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 9.1 million tonnes @ 609g/t AgEq / 13% ZnEq. The Company is also exploring its recently discovered large intrusion related gold anomaly at Last Chance, also located in the Tintina gold belt of Alaska, home to multi-million gold ounce deposits like Pogo, Fort Knox and the Donlin Project. The Company also has the Mt Carrington project, located near Drake, in Northern NSW, which is a near-production precious metals asset with a resource of 341,000 ounces of gold and 23.2 million ounces of silver on an approved mining lease, and with a Gold First PFS and JORC Reserve.
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