Oakdale Resources (ASX: OAR) is gearing up to drill the Tonopah North gold project in Nevada’s south after it secured the drilling permit.
According to Oakdale, Nevada is the world’s sixth largest gold producing region and accounts for almost 75% of all US gold production.
The region is also ranked the third best gold mining jurisdiction in the world.
In 2018, 5.6 million ounces of gold was produced from Nevada, which also hosts Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold’s Carlin and Battle Mountain joint venture operations.
Tonopah North
Oakdale has now been granted approval to drill Tonopah North which is 3 miles from the historic mining town of Tonopah.
The company has has two primary target zones at the project.
The southern zone target is believed to have potential for bulk tonnage-style gold mineralisation, whereas the northern zone target will test for favourable mineralised structures.
All up, Oakdale has been granted approval to drill nine holes at Tonopah North and aims to firm up an initial resource.
To develop a resource Oakdale has procured $600,000 in additional funds to enable a more comprehensive drilling program.
A drill contractor has confirmed its availability with the campaign expected to begin this month.
Alpine Resources (USA) acquisition
In June this year, Oakdale inked a binding option agreement to acquire Alpine Resources and its three gold projects in Nevada including Tonopah North, Douglas Canyon and Lambarson Canyon.
To lock-in its option, Oakdale made a non-refundable US$15,000 payment and a further option payment of US$200,000.
Additionally, Oakdale funded the initial due diligence exploration program and will also fund the upcoming diamond campaign.
Once the upcoming program has been completed, Oakdale can acquire Alpine and its assets for 30 million Oakdale shares.
Further Oakdale shares amounting to 50 million will be issued in stages once certain milestones have been reached.
Oakdale is targeting more than 2Moz in contained gold across the projects.
Meanwhile, permitting is underway for the Douglas Canyon project with three holes planned to start at this asset once drilling at Tonopah North has been completed.
