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Tempus Resources pinpoints exploration potential at Blackdome Gold Mine following alteration study

Published: 22:07 22 Aug 2021 EDT

Tempus Resources Ltd - Tempus Resources pinpoints exploration potential at Blackdome Gold Mine following alteration study

Tempus Resources Ltd (ASX:TMR, TSX-V:TMRR) has uncovered further exploration potential at its Blackdome Gold Project in southern British Columbia, Canada, thanks to an alteration study.

The data review was undertaken by Dr Jeffrey Hedenquist, one of the world’s pre-eminent experts on epithermal style gold mineralisation, and indicates the Canadian gold project has the scope to host further gold mineralisation.

Specifically, studies suggest there is potential to discover new gold-silver epithermal veins near the existing, permitted Blackdome mine plant.

In addition, the Blackdome mineralisation likely extends deeper than previously thought, with multiple, high-grade assays reported under the mined stopes.

“Strong potential” for further discovery

Tempus president and CEO Jason Bahnsen said: “The Blackdome Gold Mine produced approximately 230,000 ounces of gold between 1985 and 1991 at an average mill head grade of almost 22 g/t.

“The alteration study shows that the previous drilling and mining was high up in the epithermal system, indicating there is strong potential for significant discovery of additional mineralisation directly below previously mined areas and also for new vein discoveries to the west.”

Extensive review

The alteration study was founded on a review of drill core photographs and data from Blackdome conducted by Dr Hedenquist.

Last year, Tempus collected infrared samples from more than 1,000 diamond drill core pump samples and 50 mine coarse reject samples to analyse at a specialist facility in Reno, Nevada.

This type of evaluation improves the geologist’s ability to detect hydrous alteration minerals and parameters not visible to the eye, particularly in a low-sulfidation epithermal environment like the main gold mineralising event at Blackdome.

Giant Vein shows promise

Drilling over the 2020 season targeted four veins at the gold mine, indicating textures above Blackdome’s ‘boiling zone’ — a structure that typically forms the main bonanza high-grade zone of an epithermal gold system.

Another point of interest was the wide, low-temperature mineral intersections in three drill holes, followed by several metres of higher-temperature minerals at end-of-hole.

These holes were drilled well beyond the Giant Vein toward the west and are seemingly entering a new zone, where epithermal fluids may have been at the right conditions for gold-silver mineralisation north and west of the Giant vein.

Interestingly, regions to the north and west of this vein have never been drill tested, although soil sampling in 2018 identified two silver and gold trends at the southern extent of the soil grid that coincide with airborne magnetic trends.

Tempus now considers these highly prospective targets that warrant further exploration.

High-grade gold hits linked to Blackdome veins

Meanwhile, historical drilling at the No.3 Vein intersected wide zones of mineralisation with narrow high-grade gold veins, hitting up to 28 g/t gold.

Quartz vein textures, along with the presence of smectite, also places these gold intercepts at shallow paleo-depths over the top of an epithermal gold-silver system.

Another data review of the No.1 and No.2 veins suggest these structures continue down plunge deeper than previously thought.

In fact, several drill hole intervals below 150 metres boast double-digit and even triple-digit gold grades.

Drilling below the mined stopes at Blackdome is minimal, so continued drilling would likely define additional gold ounces.

Similar epithermal gold deposits in New Zealand typically have a vertical extent of approximately 170 to 300 metres, which proves favourable for Blackdome.

That’s because the vast majority of the historically produced 230,000 gold ounces was mined over a vertical interval of around 100 metres, based on the outline of the existing stopes.

Drilling continues at Elizabeth

Meanwhile, over at the Elizabeth Gold Project, Tempus has completed 4,500 metres of drilling since an exploration program kicked off in early June.

Drill hole EZ-21-17 is underway, while samples from holes five to 14 are in the lab.

Tempus vows to disclose further results as they come through, with visible gold and bonanza grades already reported to the market.

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on 2/10/23