Renforth Confirms Coarse Gold Content at New Alger Contributes to Enhanced Assay Results
The procedures for lab analysis of sample material are intended to generate assay values that appropriately represent actual metal grades. Fire assay is commonly chosen as the most accurate and reliable method. Geologists will submit rock sample material to the lab, which is then pulverized to a powder. The crushed powder is run through a fine screen to remove larger particles. A small portion is then extracted and assayed. Subjected to intense heat, the impurities and non-metallic elements are burned off leaving a button of heavy elements that may be precisely measured. This enables a representative assay to be calculated for the resource content of the sample.
However, gold often exists as metallic particles that do not pass through the fine screening process. One may also expect a degree of variance from one sample to another due to the erratic distribution of metallic particles. This variance of coarse gold content can skew the accuracy of the assaying process. It is known as the nugget effect.
The “nugget effect” is a term used to describe the sampling problem you can have when there are large, valuable particles, particularly gold, in a given deposit. Large gold particles are traditionally referred to as “nuggets.”. If by chance a nugget is selected through traditional sampling and analysis procedures, researchers tend to greatly overestimate the amount of metal in the deposit. However, the opposite is also true. If the nugget is missed, the results undervalue the ore.
Defining a gold resource cannot be left up to the luck of the draw to arrive at an estimate. If a resource grade is over-estimated it may impair the operations of an operating mine. And if a resource is under-reported it may exclude a potentially valuable deposit area from a future mine plan. Therefore to correct for the presence of coarse gold and accurately report the gold grade, alternate assay procedures may be requested.
A lab may complete metallic screening, where the pulverized sample material is sifted through a mesh screen recover larger gold particles. This screen sample is then assayed separately. A whole-sample assay is then calculated using the results from both methods to arrive at a more accurately represented grade.
Re-Evaluation of Drill Program Sample Material Provides Encouraging Upside Surprises
Recall that in the Fall of 2019, Renforth Resources Inc. (CA:RFR – $0.04 & US:RFHRF – $0.03 & GER:9RR – €0.02) completed a preliminary drilling program at several target areas of the New Alger project. This program encountered promising gold intervals in every drill hole. The samples sent for lab analysis were carefully tested using the fire assay process, and the results reported in subsequent news releases.
Based in the Province of Quebec, Renforth is well aware of the types of gold alteration commonly encountered within the Cadillac Break. This is one of the reasons the Company acquired the New Alger property. Upon review of the assay results, the experienced geologists considered the possibility that coarse gold may be present in the samples and requested additional lab testing to confirm their assumption.
This week, Renforth presented additional assay results for the sample material. Some of the data from this second round of testing provided welcome positive surprises in the overall gold grades. The sampling process for coarse gold used the remnants of crushed sample material originally prepared for fire assay. A recalculation of the final assay results was then completed using data from both the metallic screening and fire assay results. The new assay results were presented in a table that demonstrated the variance between test procedures.
Course Gold Encountered in Sample Material Delivers Higher Grade Assay Values
A total of 76 samples were re-evaluated using metallic screening for coarse gold. Of these, 51 of the subsequent assay values generated were higher than the conventional fire assay results. And as a result of this added gold content, many of the sample intervals are now considered of greater potential economic interest.
In addition, some of these higher grade sections have been reported within suites of alteration that were not expected to yield meaningful gold resources. For example, significant coarse gold content was reported in greywacke samples. This may prompt project geologists to review for coarse gold at other areas of the property.
With this new assay data in hand, the potential for additional gold resources within previously overlooked alteration zones becomes much more attractive. Consider the results from a section of the Discovery Vein target, where 1.5m of drill core was reported to contain 0.22 g/t gold based on fire assay only. The subsequent screening for coarse gold content revealed a further 2.09 g/t gold. Adjusting for this additional data led to a final assay value of 2.48 g/t gold for this interval, more than 11 times the original grade reported.
One of the intriguing aspects to the coarse gold encountered in these samples is that a much larger tonnage of alteration may now become part of the gold resource zones at New Alger. It should be noted that previous operators of the project focused mainly on the obvious quartz veins where higher grade gold was frequently encountered. The lower grade alteration halo extending into the adjacent rock surrounding vein structures also accounts for additional resource clout.
Conclusion
As exploration activity continues, Renforth has now achieved an emerging deposit area at the Discovery Veins target. An experienced geological team will consider a wide range of possible deposit settings when preparing its exploration model. Attractive gold values have been reported in unexpected lithographies, both in the sediments and volcanic rock units. The Company has also delivered intriguing success to outline what may be a significant low angle, cross trending vein system with the potential for additional gold resources.
This most recent upgrade to the reported gold values is yet another example of the creative approach of the Company that has paid off with improved results. Based on this interpretation of coarse gold content, Renforth has now presented higher gold grades for many of the drill core intervals from the previous drilling work. This in turn will result in a higher gold resource estimate when the data is included in a new updated calculation.
The additional gold content in some of these sections will contribute towards much more robust economic potential. Moreover, while the upgrade is welcome for the previously reported assays, Renforth may now incorporate the testing for coarse gold in all future exploration work.
Renforth is currently in the midst of another round of exploration work. The awareness of coarse gold content, and the potential for additional high grade assay results as this work continues, will contribute to the speculative appeal for this Company. Smallcaps Recommendation: BUY.
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