Alderan Resources expands gold footprint at Detroit with tenement acquisition
Alderan Resources managing director Scott Caithness says Drum and Mizpah have the potential to be “significantly larger” than what has been firmed up in the past.
Alderan Resources (ASX: AL8) has expanded the footprint of its Detroit gold project in Utah with the acquisition of another tenement that lies between the Drum and Mizpah deposits.
The company executed the option with the State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration and is required to spend US$200,000 (A$289,000) on exploring the ground over three years.
Known as Drum North, the new tenement covers 230 acres of land north of the historical Drum gold mine.
The tenement hosts 750m of strike and has not had any modern exploration since 1994.
Drum North bridges the gap between its tenement that hosts Drum and one further north that covers Mizpah.
Alderan now holds 6.5km of uninterrupted strike in a highly prospective gold region.
Managing director Scott Caithness said acquiring Drum North was an “excellent pickup” for Alderan.
“The thickness and tenure of mineralisation at Drum and Mizpah and the gentle dip of the stratigraphy makes this a very exciting Great Basin gold play.“
He said prior to securing the new tenement, soil sampling identified a high priority gold anomaly 200m north of the Drum North boundary.
“Drum North is particularly prospective as it covers an unexplored section of stratigraphy, which hosts two oxide gold deposits and sits between a gold-in-soil anomaly and the historical Drum gold mine.”
Advancing Drum North
The company’s next steps at Drum North will comprise geological mapping, and soil and rock chip sampling.
A ground geophysical survey will also be completed to identify drill targets.
Alderan plans to begin the field work at Drum North in the September quarter, with results anticipated in the December period.
Detroit gold project
Located 175km southwest of Salt Lake City, Detroit hosts numerous historical copper, gold and manganese workings.
It is one of Alderan’s four projects in Utah and lies within the Detroit Mining District.
Majors such as Anaconda Copper, Rio Tinto’s (ASX: RIO) subsidiary Kennecott, Newmont (NYSE: NEM), BHP (ASX: BHP) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) all explored the region, but no single company was able to build a contiguous land position to enable district-wide modern exploration.
Alderan is the first company to consolidate a land position in the region.