VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viva Gold Corp. (TSX-Venture:VAU) (the “Company” or “Viva”) has submitted a Work Plan for approval by the Bureau of Land Management to drill 28 core or reverse circulation drill holes at its Tonopah Project. The project is located on the prolific Walker Lane trend of western Nevada near the town of Tonopah. The Work Plan submittal is required under Viva’s existing exploration Plan of Operations and under its approved Programmatic Agreement for the project.
“We believe that the Tonopah project can be substantially expanded with additional drilling. Our goal for this program is to further expand inferred resources at the project and to drill in locations where known inferred resource can be upgraded to the indicated category. Our target for the Tonopah Gold Project is to develop one million ounces of contained gold resource in all categories,” states James Hesketh, President & CEO.
The purpose of this program is to follow up on drill targets identified while completing the recent Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Tonopah Project, dated March 28, 2018. Identified targets fall into three categories:
- Drill holes required to confirm the location of major structural features and geologic contacts, particularly where strong mineralizing had previously been identified, but where gaps in drill-hole information exist.
- Infill drilling between zones of measured and indicated resources contained within the $1,250 resource pit shell, but where only limited or no drilling has been conducted in the past.
- Step-out drilling in areas of limited drill information both within the existing mineral resource pit shell and outside of the pit shell on known structures as well as along the volcanic/argillite contact zone and where isolated previous drill hole intercepts need follow-up.
The prior operator at the Tonopah Gold Project focused primarily on drilling a number of structurally controlled high-grade zones, including Dauntless and Discovery Zones. Viva is expanding that focus. During acquisition, Viva was able to renegotiate the royalties on the Tonopah project reducing the royalty from a 7% Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) at $700 gold price to a flat 2% NSR structure with a 1% buyout option. This has allowed Viva to look at the project using a new set of economic parameters resulting in a lower potential cutoff grade than previously used. Viva’s work has demonstrated that significantly improved continuity of gold mineralization can be developed at lower cutoff grades. This work has resulted in the identification of a number of locations where gaps in drilling exist and where extensions to mineralization may be proven with additional drilling.
The Tonopah property contains a low-sulfidation epithermal gold system which includes near vertical quartz-adularia-gold veins hosted by the Palmetto Formation argillite and the overlying Tertiary rhyolitic volcanics and a low-angle zone of mineralization which includes and often parallels an erosion surface discontinuity at the top of the Palmetto. These two types of mineralization have been identified in a series of north-striking extensional structural zones within an overall mineralized trend along the north-northwest Walker Lane trend, covering an area over 2,000 meters long and 300 meters wide.
All technical information which is included in this statement has been reviewed and approved by Thomas C. Matthews of Gustavson Associates LLC. Mr. Matthews is independent of the Company and a qualified person, pursuant to the meaning of such terms in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Viva Gold is a gold exploration and development company with a focus on Nevada. For additional information on Viva Gold and the Tonopah Gold Project, please visit our website: www.vivagoldcorp.com.
Forward-Looking Information:
This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, “forward-looking information”), including but not limited to drilling and mineral resources at the Tonopah Gold Project. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with mining operations; and the ability of Viva to fund its capital requirements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company’s business are more fully discussed in the Company’s disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada available at www.sedar.com. Readers are urged to read these materials. Viva assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors --- The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this report, such as "measured," "indicated," "inferred," and "resources," that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.