The Atlanta Gold Mine is a past-producing, open-pit gold mine, located 264km northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Discovered in the late 19th century and was the site of underground and small-scale surface mining (1905-1966).
Open pit production (1975-1985) recovered 110,000 oz Au and 800,000 oz Ag from 1.5M tons.
Over 40,000m of drilling was conducted by Gold Fields, Kinross, and Meadow Bay starting in the 1990s.
Nevada King purchased 100% of the Atlanta Gold Mine Project in 2018 and began exploratory drilling in 2021.
Infrastructure & Permitting
Deeded 15-mile electrical power line is operational to the site with private substation.
Private water well delivers ample water to project.
Modular crew quarters on-site for exploration and pre-development activity. Power Lines Core Shack Geology Office.
Historical Atlanta Pit located on private (patented) ground; remaining project area covered by a BLM-approved Plan of Operations.
2020 43-101 Resource, pit-constrained
$1,250/ounce gold price
Current NI 43-101 compliant gold resource by Gustavson (2020) using a 0.35 g/t cut-off and $1250/ounce gold price.
Atlanta Mineralised Zone, showing blocks above 0.40ppm Au, in both Si Breccia Zone (red) and Porphyry Zone (blue). Looking East.
|
Resource Category |
Tonnes |
Au Grade (ppm) |
Contained Au Oz |
Ag Grade (ppm) |
Contained Ag Oz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 4,130,000 | 1.51 | 200,000 | 14.0 | 1,860,000 |
| Indicated | 6,910,000 | 1.17 | 260,000 | 10.6 | 2,360,000 |
|
Measured + Indicated |
11,000,000 | 1.30 | 460,000 | 11.9 | 4,220,000 |
| Inferred | 5,310,000 | 0.83 | 142,000 | 7.3 | 1,240,000 |
Calculations taken from Gustavson's 2020 NI-43101 Atlanta Mine Report
Atlanta Discovery Timeline
History
Gold and silver were discovered at Atlanta in the late 19th century and was the site of underground and small-scale surface mining (1905-1966). Open pit production began in 1975 and recovered 110,000 oz Au and 800,000 oz Ag from 1.5M tons. Mining ceased at Atlanta in 1985 and from there, over 40,000m of drilling was conducted by Gold Fields, Kinross Gold, and Meadow Bay Gold, starting in the 1990s.
Nevada King purchased 100% of the Atlanta Gold Mine project in 2018 and began exploratory drilling. Phase I drilling in 2021 identified previously unrecognized high-grade gold starting at the bottom of the Atlanta pit, as well as high-grade gold 560m north of the pit, demonstrating a larger footprint for high-grade gold than previously recognized at Atlanta and paving the way for a new geological interpretation.
Nevada King launched a Phase II drill program (2022-2024) that included 75,000m of drilling, with a focus on expanding mineralization in all directions and to depth. This program identified a network of faults and cross-cutting faults that are responsible channeling high-grade mineralization up and into mineralized horizons. The Company intercepted high-grade gold mineralization throughout the resource zone and well outside of it. Gold mineralization is found in thick beds that can exceed 150m in true thickness. A list of highlight intervals from Phase II are shown below.
Highlight Intervals
The Phase II drill program consisted of ~400 drill holes. Below are 10 of the most significant intercepts.
Nevada King is now planning a district scale, regional exploration program set to launch later in 2024, following three notable discoveries made outside of the Atlanta Resource Zone – the East Ridge, the South Quartzite Ridge, and the Wild West Zone.
Geology & Mineralization
A Supervolcano Setting
- Atlanta is located within the Indian Peak-Caliente caldera complex, one of the world’s largest supervolcanoes.
- It is not active today, but 30 million years ago more than 5,500km3 of magma erupted during a one-week period near a place called Wah Wah Springs.
- The complex hosts 15 super-eruptions and 20 calderas, including Atlanta, but subsequent faulting and erosion largely erased this feature from the landscape.
- It is in this geologic setting that gold mineralization occurs at Atlanta.
The Atlanta District
- Gold mineralization at Atlanta is found along the rim of the 6km wide Atlanta resurgent caldera.
- The Atlanta open pit and resource zone are located on the eastern margin of the caldera along a complex series of mineralizing faults. Gold mineralization occurs within and adjacent to felsic intrusive rocks.
- Recently, the Company has made three new discoveries outside of the resource zone at the East Ridge Zone, South Quartzite Target, and Wild West Zone, all based on detailed geophysics.
- Nevada King has identified several similar targets throughout the district that will be drilled in 2024-2025.
Phase III - District-Scale Exploration
- In 2024, Nevada King plans to launch a Phase III regional exploration program with the goal of finding satellite deposits throughout the district.
- The Company is relying on powerful geophysical surveys and its deep understanding of the geology of Atlanta to unlock the district.
- A Phase I and II CSAMT survey has successfully outlined numerous district targets, most of which are obscured by overburden, that have seen zero prior drilling.
Favorable Metallurgy at Atlanta
- Phase I metallurgical testwork support strong recoveries utilizing conventional Nevada oxide processing methods. Testing used three surface bulk samples and 19 composites from drill core comprising the full range of rock types and gold and silver grades encountered across Atlanta.
- Silicified breccias are amenable to conventional milling for high-grade material and High-Pressure Grinding Roll (“HPGR“) crushing and heap leaching for the lower-grade material.
- Volcanics are amenable to conventional milling for high-grade material and Conventional Crush or Run-of-Mine (“ROM“) heap leaching for the lower-grade material.
- Milling - Gold extraction from fine milling at a 200-mesh grind (P80=75μm) show a weighted average extraction of 91.7% for gold hosted in volcanics and 85.9% for the high-grade silica breccias.
- Heap Leach - gold extraction from conventional crushing (P80=12.5 mm) shows a weighted average extraction of 87.1% for gold hosted in volcanics. Gold extraction from HPGR crushed composites (using medium press force) shows a weighted average 71.4% extraction from low-grade silica breccias.
- Phase II metallurgy is ongoing with an expected completion date of Q2 2025.
The Hallmarks of a Large Gold System
