Warrior
Warrior Project – High Grade Epithermal Gold
The Warrior Project is accessed directly via gravel state route 89 (Poleline Road) being some 25km southeast of State Hwy 361. The nearest town is Gabbs, located 32km to the northwest, with the regional centre of Tonopah being 80km NW of the Warrior Project also accessed via state route 89. The Warrior Project consists of 260, 20 acre claims and covers an area of 21km2.
Sierra Nevada’s Warrior Project is a large historic mining centre contained within a substantial alteration system that is prospective for high-grade vein and disseminated Au-Ag epithermal, skarn breccia and carlin style deposits. The Warrior Project exhibits many similarities to and is located just 15km’s from the world class Paradise Peak high sulphidation epithermal mine (2Moz Au & 40Moz Ag). The Warrior Project hosts a large mining camp with four main historic mining centres each of which exploited high grade epithermal mineralisation. Those mines Warrior, Hillside, Cute Maid and Lou Mines are situated along a distinct northeast alignment. The largest of the historic mining centres is Warrior where historical records from the 1920’s reveal bonanza grade veins were the focus of mining.
The Warrior Project is located within the Walker Lane Trend of southern Nevada. The Walker Lane Trend is a world class mineral province that host numerous world class mineral deposits including the giant Round Mountain deposit (20Moz Au), Comstock (8.5Moz Au, 200Moz Ag), Yerington Porphyry (4Mt Cu) and Candelaria (230Moz Ag). The Walker Lane Trend has recorded production and reserves of 50Moz Au, 700Moz Ag and 4Mt of Cu.
The Warrior Mine was discovered via a small outcropping Gossan in 1904. Mining at the Warrior Mine commenced in 1915 by early prospectors before acquisition by Olympic Mines Co. in 1921. Mining activities focused on near-surface NW orientated quartz veins which produced Au, Ag and Hg. Ore from these mines averaged approximately 31g/t Au and production ceased prior to the 1940’s. Records of mapping and sampling during this early mining phase has been used by Sierra Nevada to create a 3D model of the historic workings, veins, and structure at the Warrior Mine. The historic sampling demonstrates the very high-grade nature of the veins mined at the Warrior Mine.
Placid Oil and AMOCO acquired the exploration rights to the Warrior Project in the early 1980’s and completed 25 drillholes (2,680m) exploring for shallow deposits based on the Paradise Peak model. Better results reported from these holes include 3.05m @ 1.53g/t Au from Warrior NW (WAR 10), 1.52m @ 1.75g/t Au from Hillside (WAR 9-85), 3.05m @ 2.62g/t Au from Cute Maid (WAR 4-85), 1.52m @ 2.90g/t Au from Lou Mine Area (WAR 1-85). No further exploration has been undertaken within the project until Sierra Nevada took control of the project in 2014.
Since 2014 Sierra Nevada has explored the project in detail and acquired several datasets that define large scale and fertile hydrothermal systems synonymous with epithermal, skarn related and carlin style deposits. The company has conducted successful RC drilling, detailed mineral system mapping and targeting which has resulted in a suite of advanced high priority targets ready for further exploration and drill testing.
During 2022 SNX completed six reverse circulation (RC) holes for 1,329m at Warrior. Initial drilling having focused on testing the Warrior Mine Trend in both Gold Coin and Discovery Shaft areas and in prospective northwest zones, where mineralisation appears to underlie a sequence of post-mineralisation cover rocks.
Drill hole WARC007 successfully intercepted high-grade Au-Ag mineralisation close to historic underground workings returning 17.07m at 1.57g/t Au & 3.43g/t Ag, including 2.44m at 7.76g/t Au & 6.25g/t Ag. Scout hole WARC012, collared to investigate a blind target 1.5kms to the northwest, returned highly anomalous gold and silver of 143.86m at 0.24g/t Au & 1.31g/t Ag, from beneath the post mineral cover rocks to the end of hole (at 353.55m). Importantly Au and Ag grades are increasing towards the end of hole.
Exploration work continues at Warrior with recent vein characterisation sampling from historic mine dumps returning exceptional results confirming the high-grade nature of the large epithermal gold system. Historic mine dumps were selectively sampled on the basis of vein type to characterise the gold content of the various texturally different veins mined by historic miners across the camp. Significantly, four vein styles were selectively sampled and all recorded ore grade intercepts, indicating multiple phases of mineralisation are present with a peak result of 74g/t Au (sample W119) returned from the Warrior Mine.
Exploration work has focused on the continued sampling of veins, further vein style grade characterisation sampling, geological mapping and drill hole planning. This work has culminated in a proposed drilling program of up to 2,500m targeting the Warrior, Hillside, Cute Maid and Lou veins and their extensions.
For the latest information on exploration and drilling at the Warrior Project, please view our ASX Releases, and Corporate Presentations
