Silicon Gold 1.5% NSR Royalty, Nevada
The Silicon Project is located near Beatty in Nye County, southern Nevada. It was originated in 2014 under a generative exploration focused grubstake agreement between Renaissance Exploration (since merged to form Orogen Royalties) and Callinan Royalties (since merged with Altius) that resulted in the creation of a 1.5% NSR royalty.
On February 22, 2022 AGA published a 3.37 M ounce maiden inferred mineral resource estimate (120.44 million tonnes at 0.87 g/t gold) for the oxide portion of the Silicon (Central) deposit while also stating that exploration and infill drilling continues at Merlin together with a parallel concept study.
Backround and Summary
In June 2017, Renaissance signed an exploration option agreement with AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) for Silicon following an initial geological mapping and prospecting program that identified an extensive area of prospective mineral alteration. AGA proceeded to drill test the target area resulting in the discovery of gold mineralization in the Silicon (Central) area. It went on to meet its exploration spending and option payment commitments to earn a 100% interest in the project, subject to a 1% NSR royalty in favour of Orogen. Altius is also a major shareholder of Orogen.
AGA reported in a news release on September 13, 2021 (https://thevault.exchange/?get_group_doc=143/1631539183-SENS20210913S451...) that its ongoing work has resulted in the discovery of two gold deposits, referred to as Silicon (Central) and Merlin, commenting that “current exploration results indicate the potential for significant oxide ore bodies at Silicon and Merlin, as well as additional sulphide potential at Silicon at depth”.
Current Status (February 2022)
On February 22, 2022 (https://thevault.exchange/?get_group_doc=143/1645501304-YearEnd2021Resul...) AGA published a 3.37 M ounce maiden inferred mineral resource estimate (120.44 million tonnes at 0.87 g/t gold) for the oxide portion of the Silicon (Central) deposit while also stating that exploration and infill drilling continues at Merlin together with a parallel concept study.
At Merlin, AGA’s approximate drilling pattern (based on granted permits from the BLM in Nevada) covers an area of roughly 1.4 km wide (east-west) and extending out to at approximately five hundred meters north from mineralized drill holes reported by Corvus Gold (prior to its recently completed acquisition by AGA) at its Lynnda Strip property. See map for details. While AGA has not published drilling results for Merlin, Corvus described the near-surface oxidized mineralized zone along Lynnda Strip section as being more than 700 meters wide with published drilling results that include 204.5m at 1.36g/t gold and 37.3m at 5.39 g/t gold. Coeur Mining has reported the discovery of similar mineralization immediately to the south of Lynnda Strip at a prospect it refers to as C-Horst, with results such as 216m grading 0.9 g/t gold. Altius considers it most likely that Merlin, Lynnda Strip and C-Horst represent a single large mineralized zone.
Finally, AGA has recently noted that it is evaluating the new discoveries as part of a “Tier 1 production opportunity in Nevada” with the potential to produce more than 300,000 ounces of gold per year. AGA’s conceptual development plan for the district envisions the North Bullfrog deposit being developed with initial production expected in the next three years, to be followed by the Silicon deposit and then potentially the Merlin target.
The technical information presented herein has been reviewed and verified by Lawrence Winter, Ph.D., P.Geo., Vice‐President of Exploration for Altius, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Silicon "District"
map from AngloGold Ashanti investor presentation Feb 2022
Silicon Royalty Agreement