VR Expands Bonita Property and Plans for 2019 Exploration on the Porphyry Copper-Gold System in Nevada
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VR Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: VRR, FSE: 5VR; OTCBB: VRRCF), the "Company", or “VR”, is pleased to provide an update on its large, Bonita porphyry copper-gold property in Nevada. New claims were staked to expand the property to the south and west to cover new surface copper showings. This area was mapped and sampled following the summer 2018 drill program completed at the Hemco target in the northwestern part of the property (see News Release dated August 8, 2018). The Company will provide further updates for ongoing exploration at Bonita in 2019.
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The new area of interest at Bonita is named Rattlesnake. A total of 36 new claims cover numerous clusters of historic workings of copper-bearing specularite iron oxide vein breccia (Figure 1). Surface exploration by VR at Rattlesnake included geological mapping, rock sampling (21) and soil sampling (94 samples on 5 lines). Copper and silver assays of surface grab samples are similar to those taken elsewhere throughout the 5x7 km alteration footprint at Bonita (see grab sample map at http://www.vrr.ca).
Copper-bearing iron carbonate and iron oxide vein breccias at Rattlesnake commonly extend upwards into the folded volcanic and sedimentary units which are the host to the Bonita igneous complex and porphyry system (Photo 1). The most intense chlorite alteration facies at Bonita occurs at Rattlesnake (Figure 2). The alteration provides an exploration vector to the area north of the historic workings which is under cover and previously unexplored.
The Bonita porphyry copper system has the potential to host one, or several porphyry copper stocks within the overall 5x7 km hydrothermal footprint, based on comparison with other porphyry copper camps of similar age and tectonic setting in western North America. The Company is planning for additional ground-based IP geophysics and drilling in 2019 to advance and test this potential (Figure 3):
- the current coverage of ground-based IP geophysics at Bonita will be expanded, including two new lines at Rattlesnake;
- additional drill holes are proposed at Copper Queen and Hemco in order to fully evaluate those targets in the northern part of the property where drilling was initiated in 2017 and 2018;
- new drill holes are proposed at four other key integrated targets in the Bonita system, namely: Whiskey Bottle; Corral; Lori, and; Rattlesnake. As shown on Figure 3, IP geophysics is also proposed at all four areas, to improve vectoring for specific drill hole locations.
VR also continued through the summer and fall of 2018 and is working towards a full Plan of Operations (POA) permit from the BLM for the Hemco target area. While more drilling is still possible under the current Notice of Intent permit (<5 acres disturbance), this initiative for a POA is strategic in nature, designed to enable the Company to be ready to complete more detailed delineation drilling in the future. Work by an independent, arms-length company which specializes in the base-line surveys required by the BLM is ongoing. Two surveys are complete and filed with the BLM:
- Habitat Evaluation Report, a desktop analysis of habitats within the project area;
- Baseline Biological Survey, including Botanical Survey and Wildlife Survey, including Aerial Raptor Survey.
The next and final survey required for completion of a Plan of Operations submittal is an archeological survey. The Company has a survey and budget proposal in-hand for work this spring and summer, 2019.
Commenting on the news today, VR’s CEO Dr. Gunning stated: “Four years of exploration at Bonita have unearthed a middle Jurassic porphyry copper-gold system that unifies showings of copper and gold - bearing iron oxide breccia across a hydrothermal alteration footprint nearly 5x7 km’s in size. The work this summer at Rattlesnake added another target to the system. The past-producing Yerington camp to the south demonstrates the endowment of copper systems of this age in Nevada, and the Company continues to believe in the unusual upside of owning 100% of a district-scale property like Bonita. We will look at all strategic options to continue to advance the property in 2019; to complete the first pass drilling of the first two targets at Copper Queen and Hemco, and fully test the remaining four. We look forward to providing updates as plans unfold.”
Please see the Company’s website at www.vrr.ca for more complete information on the Bonita Property.
About the Bonita Property
The Bonita property is located in Humboldt County in northwestern Nevada, USA, approximately 200 km northeast of Reno, and 75 km northwest of the town of Winnemucca. There is road access both to, and within, the property, and there is railroad and powerline infrastructure approximately 20 kilometres to the south. Bonita is located in desert-like basin and range affording nearly year-round work.
The Bonita property is large, consisting of one contiguous block of 381 claims covering 3,186 ha (7,872 acres), an area of approximately 5 x 6 kilometres. It is owned 100% by VR, free and clear of any interests or royalties. It is on land administered by the BLM, and is outside of sage grouse protection.
The Bonita property encompasses a district of historic copper, gold and iron workings over an area of about 4 x 5 kilometers. The showings occur within a district-scale hydrothermal system with a footprint which spans 5 x 7 kilometers, as delineated by airborne magnetic and hyperspectral surveys, and refined by detailed geological mapping. Alteration facies progress inwards from distal propyllitic to argillic, sodic, and phyllic alteration, with silica-specularite and iron-carbonate – chlorite hydrothermal breccia bodies (veins, dykes and plugs) at numerous locations.
VR has identified several large and specific exploration targets for porphyry copper-gold mineralization at Bonita over the past four years of exploration. They are based on the integration of geological mapping, mineral alteration vectors, rock and soil geochemical anomalies, and gravity, magnetic and resistivity geophysical anomalies. Integrated exploration targets represent the potential to discover not just one, but a cluster of buried, porphyry copper stocks and/or breccia pipes which give rise to the various historic surface workings of copper-gold veins, and copper-gold bearing iron oxide hydrothermal breccias.
Bonita is a mafic, alkaline, polyphase middle Jurassic batholith that is the same age as the past-producing Yerington porphyry copper camp located some 150 kilometers to the south, in west-central Nevada. VR completed an independent NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report in January, 2017, and first-pass drill programs in September, 2017 and June, 2018.
Technical Information
Summary technical and geological information on the Company’s various properties is available at the Company’s website at www.vrr.ca.
VR submits all surface grab samples and/or drill core samples collected for geochemical analysis to the ALS Global (‘ALS”) laboratory in Reno, Nevada. Analytical work is completed at the ALS laboratories located in Vancouver, BC., including ICP-MS analyses for base metals and trace elements, and gold determination by atomic absorption assay. Analytical results are subject to industry-standard and NI 43-101 compliant QAQC sample procedures at the laboratory, as described by ALS.
Technical information for this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101. Justin Daley, P.Geo., Principal Geologist at VR and a non-independent Qualified Person oversees and/or participates in all aspects of the Company’s mineral exploration projects. The content of this news release has been reviewed on behalf of the Company by the CEO, Dr. Michael Gunning, P.Geo., a non-independent Qualified Person.
About VR Resources
VR is an emerging junior exploration company focused on greenfields opportunities in copper and gold (TSX.V: VRR; Frankfurt: 5VR; OTCBB: VRRCF). The diverse experience and proven track record of its Board in early-stage exploration and discovery is the foundation of VR. The Company is focused on exploring large copper-gold mineral systems in the western United States. VR is the continuance of 4 years of active exploration in Nevada by a Vancouver-based private exploration company. VR is well financed for its exploration strategy. VR owns its properties outright, and evaluates new opportunities on an ongoing basis, whether by staking or acquisition.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
“Michael H. Gunning”
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Dr. Michael H. Gunning, PhD, PGeo
President & CEO
For general information please use the following:
Website: www.vrr.ca
Email: info@vrr.ca
Phone: 604-262-1104
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, and similar expressions or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events. Forward looking statements in this release include but are not limited to: The Bonita porphyry copper system has the potential to host one, or several porphyry copper stocks; The Company is planning for additional ground-based IP geophysics and drilling in 2019.
Although the Company believes that the use of such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Company’s public disclosure filings are available at www.sedar.com; readers are urged to review these materials.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in Policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/037a98ce-0f8c-4dd4-a088-20dae0790043
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