VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (“Novo” or the “Company”) (TSX-V:NVO) (OTCQX:NSRPF) is pleased to announce that the upper gold-bearing unit at Comet Well displays strong continuity in outcrop and drilling.
- Approximately one month ago, Novo confirmed the discovery of an upper gold-bearing conglomerate at Comet Well. Recent mapping along the outcropping upper gold-bearing conglomerate has confirmed a very close spatial association between nugget occurrences and a conspicuous thin mafic tuff bed (Figure 1).
- The tuff marker bed is distinct in outcrop (Figure 2) and in diamond drill core (Figure 3) thus making it invaluable for guiding exploration and helping establish continuity of the upper gold-bearing conglomerate across the Comet Well area.
- Historic prospector digging sites support the interpretation of a continuous upper gold-bearing conglomerate bed extending for +2.5 km from Cannonball Gully in the southwest through Purdy’s Reward in the northeast. Gold nuggets have been found in a corridor of similar strata extending approximately 5 km further southwest from Cannonball Gully. With the benefit of new understanding of the tuff marker bed and spatial association with nugget occurrences, Novo plans to pursue exploration in this direction over the coming months.
- As the upper gold-bearing conglomerate bed projects northeastward to Purdy’s Reward, thickness of underlying strata diminishes. Novo believes the gold-bearing conglomerate at Purdy’s Reward, which rests directly atop basement rock, is likely the same bed as the upper gold-bearing conglomerate at Comet Well.
- Nuggets from the upper gold-bearing conglomerate bed at Comet Well range in size from a few tenths of a gram to as large as 8 grams, similar to the range in size among nuggets found at Purdy’s Reward (Figure 4). Like those at Purdy’s Reward, they display a halo of secondary fine-grained gold intergrown with chlorite.
- At Comet Well, Novo has now confirmed two gold bearing conglomerate beds, the upper of which is spatially associated with the tuff marker bed and the lower bed resting on the basal contact (refer to the Company’s news release dated May 31, 2018). Although gold nuggets are typically concentrated in these two conglomerate beds, occasional nuggets have also been reported from adjacent conglomerates.
Recognizing the importance of this discovery, Novo has recently pursued aggressive bulk sampling of the upper gold-bearing conglomerate bed from sites at Cannonball Gully, 150S, 250E and 420E, to help establish continuity of mineralization (refer to Figure 1 for site locations). Confirmed in situ nugget occurrences and additional detector strikes have been encountered at all four sample sites. As more is learned about the position of the upper gold-bearing conglomerate bed, additional step-out bulk sampling sites will be prepared further east where it trends towards Purdy’s Reward. Areas to the west will also be pursued over the coming months.
Novo’s exploration program at Comet Well and adjacent Purdy’s Reward is focused on gathering sufficient geological information to generate a mineralization report for the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, one of several items needed to convert an exploration license to a mining lease. Novo thinks that the best way to advance the Karratha gold project is to ultimately move it toward large-scale bulk sampling for which a mining lease will be required. Recent recognition of this upper gold-bearing conglomerate is important for the following reasons:
- Its continuity can be established with help from the associated tuff marker bed. Recent detailed mapping and diamond drilling has found this bed to be continuous over most of the Comet Well area, and Novo will be developing a 3D model of it with high confidence, a critical element for any future mineralization report.
- It appears accessible to bulk sampling in multiple areas. Novo is currently collecting 5-10 tonne bulk samples from which defendable grade estimates can be made, another key element for any future mineralization report.
- The unit appears to underlie a broad area at shallow depth making it ideally suited for large-scale bulk sampling (Figure 5), Novo’s ultimate goal to demonstrate potential viability of the Karratha Gold Project.
- Favorable topography and drainage channels have exposed this conglomerate bed to the south of the line of outcrop, thereby adding a degree of three-dimensionality to the bulk sampling results.
In addition to bulk sampling discussed above, Novo continues to diamond drill at Comet Well. As announced in a recent news release, an exploration budget has been approved for the Purdy’s Reward joint venture. Novo plans to extend the mode of exploration detailed above northeastward onto the Purdy’s Reward tenement in the near future. Novo’s aim is to move Comet Well and Purdy’s Reward forward toward large-scale bulk sampling.
Bulk Sample Reporting
The Karratha gold project is unique in many ways. Extremely nuggety gold mineralization requires numerous bulk samples and the associated sample processing and analysis requirements of such large samples are uncommon to the gold mining industry. As discussed above, Novo has a strategic aim of collecting sufficient information to present a mineralization report acceptable to the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety to convert existing tenure to mining leases. Novo is working closely with SGS Minerals, Perth to process 5 to 10 tonne bulk samples to generate defendable grades suitable for such reporting.
Fieldwork is generating a rapid evolution in Novo’s understanding of the geology of the deposit. The recently recognized continuity of the upper gold-bearing conglomerate is important to the ultimate trajectory of the Karratha gold project. Samples collected from the upper gold-bearing conglomerate have recently been prioritized. As further exploration updates are provided by Novo, the Company will give guidance as to when these results should be expected.
Dr. Quinton Hennigh, the Company’s, President and Chairman and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has approved the technical contents of this news release.
About Novo Resources Corp.
Novo’s focus is to explore and develop gold projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and Novo has built up a significant land package covering approximately 12,000 sq km. For more information, please contact Leo Karabelas at (416) 543-3120 or e-mail leo@novoresources.com
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
Novo Resources Corp.
“Quinton Hennigh”
Quinton Hennigh
President and Chairman
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 news release.
Forward-looking information
Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) including, without limitation, statements as to planned exploration activities. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, customary risks of the mineral resource industry as well as the performance of services by third parties.
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