High-grade gold discovered at Mineral Ridge - Analyst Blog

High-grade gold discovered at Mineral Ridge

Steven Ralston, CFA

Golden Phoenix Minerals (GPXM) maintains a 30% interest in the Mineral Ridge property, which is being operated and explored by joint venture partner Scorpio Gold (SGN: TSX-V). In the course of Scorpio's exploration program, the Solberry Zone at the Mineral Ridge project was drilled to follow up on historical drill results that previously had intersected 1.5 to 3.0 meters of gold grading between 3.06 and 4.56 g/t.

Scorpio Gold announced initial drill results earlier this week that the reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Solberry Zone intersected a high-grade zone grading 15.85 g/t gold over 3.05 meters. The extent of this zone of enrichment is currently unknown, but obviously, Scorpio is planning a follow-up program to conduct in-fill and step-out drilling to better define this high-grade zone. To our knowledge, this is the highest grade discovered on this property known for low-grade bulk tonnage that is currently producing gold though heap leaching.

The Mineral Ridge mine project hosts multiple gold bearing structures, veins and bodies. Scorpio Gold has been conducting an aggressive reverse-circulation drilling exploration program to better delineate and identify the mineral deposits in and around the vicinity of the existing pits at Mineral Ridge in order to enhance the resource base. Initial exploratory drilling this year expanded the known mineralization areas up to 305 meters beyond the existing pit walls. Scorpio is also performing a property-wide exploration program targeting numerous gold-bearing mineralized zones and especially targeting known satellite deposits within the property. Golden Phoenix' partner is continuing with its planned exploration plan with the drill having been moved to the Brodie Zone to follow up on historical drill results in that area.

Not only does Golden Phoenix own a 30% interest in the Mineral Ridge, but also has option agreements to earn an 80% interest in the Vanderbilt mine and the Coyote Fault properties, both of which are contiguous to the Mineral Ridge property. We maintain our Outperform rating on Golden Phoenix.
 

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