("Tonogold" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Brian Metzenheim as interim CEO and the acceleration of its ongoing drill exploration program on the southern portion of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode. The company is also pleased to provide an update on its ongoing drill exploration of the Gold Hill section of the Comstock Lode.
Tonogold aims to prove the existence of a substantial mineable resource of gold and silver in the Comstock Mining District.
Corporate Update
Over the past 12 months, Tonogold has transitioned from a company consolidating its holdings in the historic Comstock Mining District to one focused on exploration and development of its assets. For this new chapter, the Board of Directors has determined that the Company requires more technical expertise in its executive management. Effective as of April 22, 2021, Mark Ashley was terminated as CEO and Travis Miller resigned as COO. Mr. Ashley and Mr. Miller remain members of the Board of Directors.
On that same date, Tonogold elevated Brian Metzenheim from his position as VP of Exploration to serve as the Company's interim CEO until Tonogold identifies a permanent replacement. Mr. Metzenheim has been on the ground in Virginia City leading the Tonogold drill program since September 2020, which will ensure continuity during the transition period.
Alan Edwards, Chairman of the Board of Directors, commented: "We wish to thank Mark and Travis for their hard work transforming Tonogold from a company searching for a project to one with the opportunity to develop a world-class asset at the site of one of the most historic mining districts in the world. Development of the site will be an exciting undertaking, and I look forward to the Company identifying exceptional technical talent to lead its efforts. Like all shareholders, I am excited to see what the future holds for Tonogold at the Comstock Mining District."
Occidental/Brunswick Lode
In light of the encouraging results obtained thus far in the ongoing initial drill exploration of the southern section of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode, Tonogold has decided to accelerate that exploration campaign. Tonogold has requested that the drill contractor mobilize an additional reverse circulation (RC) drill rig to the project. The contractor is in the process of acquiring the RC drill rig and hopes to have it in operation by the first half of May 2021. If successful, the additional RC drill rig will be exclusively devoted to completing the company's initial drilling in the Occidental/Brunswick target area.
The proposed drill program covers approximately 620 meters of strike length extending north from the boundary between Storey and Lyon counties. Beyond the northern limit of proposed drilling, Tonogold is mapping and sampling to define the extension of the zone and identify targets for additional drilling.
Tonogold has changed its original drill plan at the southern section of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode from predominantly core drilling to predominately RC drilling. Favorable ground conditions in the Occidental/Brunswick Lode allow for the efficient and accurate employment of RC drilling. Tonogold projects that using RC instead of core will lower the cost of the drill program by approximately 25 to 30 percent. The switch to full-time RC drilling will also greatly accelerate completion of the program.
To date, Tonogold has completed five holes in the Occidental/Brunswick Lode, two core holes, and three RC holes. The completion of the two core holes-TC-003D and TC-004D-was reported in Tonogold's "Corporate Update" of Feb. 2, 2021.
As reported in that update, hole TC-003D intersected 25 meters of 13.5 g/t Au and 38.4 g/t Ag. At the time of the update, assay results for hole TC-004D were still pending. Tonogold has now received the results of TC-004D. Those results are summarized below.
Hole No
From (m)
To (m)
Length (m)
Au (g/t)
Ag (g/t)
AuEq 60:1 (g/t)
TC-004D
13.11
40.23
27.13
0.800
6.4
0.91
Assays for the three recently completed RC holes are still pending.
Since its last update, Tonogold has adjusted and expanded its drilling targets in the southern portion of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode. In addition to the five holes already completed, Tonogold envisions completing 23 additional holes, for approximately 2,400 meters of additional drilling. Six of those 23 holes aim to test the down dip mineralization at greater depths than previously tested along the southern portion of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode. From commencement of the expanded program, Tonogold anticipates completing the 23-hole program within two months and receiving the bulk of the assays within two and a half months.
As part of the effort to expand and define the Occidental/Brunswick zone to the north, Tonogold recently collected 16 rock chip samples from the northern extension of the target area. The aim of the sampling was to extend the known mineralized zone and help define additional drill targets north of the area of proposed drilling. The sampling covered an area up to 550 meters to the north of the northernmost proposed drill holes. Preliminary assays ranged up to 4.95 g/t Au. Additional infill sampling is planned to fully define the area's potential and to connect the zone currently under exploration to the historic Occidental Mine that lies approximately 1 kilometer along strike to the north.
All of Tonogold's results to date on the southern portion of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode are consistent with previous exploration work completed in the area. This includes RC drilling completed in 2018 by the owner of the claims with whom Tonogold has an option agreement, underground and surface sampling conducted by the claim owner, and Tonogold's historical and economic analysis of the small mines that worked the zone in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
All the data Tonogold has accumulated points toward the existence of a wide, near-surface mineralized zone in the southern portion of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode. Evidence suggests that the mineralized zone dips east-southeast at approximately 35 degrees and averages between 15 and 35 meters thick. The zone remains open along strike and down dip below the deepest drilling, which is approximately 120 meters down dip.
If successful, the results of the drill program will be utilized to generate a preliminary resource estimate for the zone. In conjunction with development of a resource, exploration will continue to the north along the Occidental/Brunswick Lode, where Tonogold controls more than three uninterrupted kilometers of the Lode's strike.
The Comstock Lode
Tonogold's Ongoing Exploration of the Gold Hill Section of the Comstock Lode
Since the previous announcement, the company has completed two additional deeper tests along the Comstock Lode and a third precollar. While average deviation of the drill holes was estimated and utilized in hole planning, the actual deviation turned out to be far more erratic and extreme than forecasted. As a result, both of the recent core tails intersected the Lode at least 80 meters away from their respective historic reference locations. Although assays have established the presence of gold and silver in all intercepts, mineralization has not been as strong as hoped. High confidence remains in the company's 3D model as the quartz bodies encountered that host the strongest mineralization have been in almost the exact positions as predicted.
The third precollar also experienced significant deviation in the opposite direction than anticipated, sending the hole away from its intended target. Once the deviation was detected and it was clear that there was no chance of the hole hitting in the area of the target, the hole was discontinued.
Given the difficulty experienced in accurately testing the deeper targets, the deep targeting portion of the program has been discontinued. Two of the holes (including the deviated precollar) have been maintained to allow the option of wedging off of the existing hole and utilizing directional drilling to steer a new hole toward the target area. Over the next several months the viability of this option will be evaluated. One advantage is that the overall costs of a shorter directional hole would be 30 to 50 percent cheaper than drilling a new hole.
Drilling along the Comstock Lode has shifted to the Segregated Belcher portion of the Lode, now that drill permits have been received. The Segregated Belcher represents one of the company's highest priority drill targets in the district based on a number of favorable historic references and the limited extent of historic mining that was carried out on the claim.
Initially, Tonogold has two to three holes planned for the Segregated Belcher target area. If results are favorable, additional holes may be added within the framework of the permit. Following completion of drilling at the Segregated Belcher target, the drill rig will be moved to targets further north along the Lode.
A video available on the company's website (www.tonogold.com) features Gregory Crouch and Kiersten Briggs's presentation for the Geological Society of Nevada, in which they discuss the potential of the district and the details of the Segregated Belcher target.
Website
Tonogold is also pleased to announce the revision of its website to more accurately reflect its focus on proving the existence of a substantial minable resource of gold and silver in the Comstock Mining District (www.tonogold.com).
Mil-Ler Asset
The Company has not been pursuing the Mil-Ler project since 2015, when it wrote down the assets to $1. Tonogold has recently become aware that it does not hold title to the Mexican assets it believed it had acquired in the Mil-Ler Resources and Energy SA transaction in 2014. The Board of Directors has begun an investigation into why and how this occurred and will seek to cure the issue in the manner most favorable to the Company. Depending on the results of the review, Tonogold may need to revise or restate some of its prior press releases and financial reports. The Company will provide updates on this matter as appropriate.
Tonogold's QA/QC procedures:
Drill core is logged for geology, photographed, and marked for sampling on breaks averaging 1.52 meters in length. Following logging, the core is sawn in half with one half placed in labeled sample bags and sealed for delivery to the assay lab. RC samples are collected on 1.52-meter intervals in labeled sample bags and generally contain a 1/4 split. Representative chips from the intervals are logged for geology. Both core and RC samples are stored at a secure facility prior to transport to the assay lab.
Certified standards, blanks and duplicate samples are inserted in the sample series at the rate of one each per every 20 samples. Samples are delivered to ALS Minerals' lab in Reno, Nevada where they are dried, crushed and pulverized. Gold analysis is performed at the Reno facility utilizing a 30-gram fire assay with an AA finish (Au-AA23). Samples containing greater than 10 g/t Au are reanalyzed utilizing fire assay with a gravimetric finish (Au-GRA21). Silver analyses are completed at ALS Minerals' Lab in Vancouver, Canada, using a four-acid digestion with an AAS finish (Ag-AA61). Samples containing greater than 100 g/t Ag are reanalyzed utilizing a four-acid digestion with an ICP-AES finish (Ag-OG62). Results for standards, blanks and duplicates are monitored for precision, accuracy, and contamination upon receipt of assays.
