Lion Copper and Gold Corp recently shared the assay results from its 2023 exploration program in the Yerington District.
The initiative, backed by an early advance from the Rio Tinto venture Nuton LLC, targeted five specific areas. The most noteworthy findings emerged from the Bear deposit, signifying the potential for significant new zones of high-grade copper mineralization and an expansion of the known deposit.
The Bear deposit, located on private lands, represents a substantial porphyry copper exploration target positioned three miles north of the Anaconda open pit mine. Despite historical drilling by companies like Phelps Dodge and Anaconda, alongside Lion CG’s consolidation of private lands, the deposit remains significantly underexplored for a project of such historical significance.
Future exploration will concentrate on mineralized quartz porphyry dikes as there is potential for higher-grade zones within well-developed felsic skarns or closely spaced quartz porphyry dikes. The deposit, characterized by first and second pulses of mineralization, showcases notable sulfide mineralization percentages.
Anaconda identified the Bear deposit in 1961. Covering an extensive area, it extends over three square miles. Lion CG, through its subsidiary Singatse Peak Services, has secured control of approximately 2,330 acres in the area.
Historical estimates provided by Anaconda and Phelps Dodge do not adhere to current NI 43-101 standards. While used for planning purposes, they are not solely relied on. Further drilling and analysis are required to verify these historical estimates and classify them as current mineral resources.
The exploration program extended beyond the Bear deposit. Evaluation at MacArthur East, MacArthur Wedge, Mason Pass Prospect, Reno Prospect, and Singatse Target yielded zones of oxide and sulfide mineralization, with grades up to .38 percent copper recovered by floatation. Drilling at Mason Pass Prospect and Reno Prospect sought to test for mineralization below and adjacent to previously discovered oxide copper grades.
Additionally, the program included a surface geochemical sampling and testing grid across the MacArthur-Mason Pass area with multi-element analyses using aqua regia digestion, a partial extraction using nitric and hydrochloric acids at a 1:3 ratio, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, which atomizes the sample to detect metals.
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