• Results from Phase 1 drilling at the Endowment mine have been returned
• Sierra Nevada says assays provide greater understanding of project potential
• Results will assist exploration plans over the next 12 months

Special Report: A newly discovered near-surface vein returning 3.66m at 93.85g/t silver from 13.4m has Sierra Nevada excited for the future of its Endowment mine – part of the Blackhawk project – in Nevada, US.

The Phase 1 RC drilling program hit a standout 481g/t silver, among other significant intercepts and historical workings in three of the 11 holes.

Drilling intersected the previously untested South Vein at shallow depths in holes BHRC010 through to BHRC017, situated about 40m in the hanging wall southeast of the Endowment Vein.

The program centred on testing remnant historic high-grade ore positions, vein extensions, near-surface mineralised breccias, and chargeability targets generated by SNX’s Induced Polarisation (IP) surveys.

Results returned from the near-surface South Vein include:

• 1.22m at 275g/t silver, 3.65% lead, 6.47% zinc, 0.40% copper and 0.21% antimony from 37.79m
• 6.10m at 66.04g/t silver, 1.77% lead, 4.04% zinc and 0.1% antimony from 41.45m; and
• 1.22m at 82.80g/t silver, 3.45% lead, 7.69% zinc and 0.21% antimony from 46.33m.

Exploration upside

Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX:SNX) executive chairman Peter Moore said the results were encouraging and demonstrate the viability of the work leading up to the program.

“We now have a greater understanding of the historic workings and the exploration upside for high grade silver and gold at the Endowment site,” he said.

“These initial results will assist to prioritise exploration plans for the next 12 months as we continue to focus on unlocking the potential the Endowment prospect and of the larger Blackhawk high grade epithermal vein system.”

SNX has identified a large and high-grade intermediate sulphidation epithermal (ISE) silver-gold-lead-zinc vein field, partially coincident with the Blackhawk porphyry system.

The Blackhawk ISE vein system covers about 5km2 and is open under cover both to the north and northeast.

Endowment mine history

The Blackhawk epithermal project hosts eight mining centres of note with main production coming from the historical Endowment, Silver Gulch, and Blackhawk mines.

The Endowment mine is the largest of these mines and was initially dug up in the 1860s with most mining completed by the 1880s.

Sporadic mining finally ceased in the 1920s due to the inability to process sulphide ores and prevailing depressed economic conditions; mineralisation remains within and within reach of the current infrastructure.

SNX says the area has seen little modern-day exploration. Prior to SNX, last exploration occurred in the mid-to-late 1980s by American Gold Resources with no recorded exploration drilling within 600m of the Endowment Mine due to previous ownership issues.

This article was developed in collaboration with Sierra Nevada Gold, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.