Great Western uncovers expansive mineralisation trend at West Huntoon

Great Western Mining Corporation Plc (LON:GWMO), which is exploring multiple precious and base metal prospects in Mineral County, Nevada, has announced the results of surface sampling at West Huntoon during spring 2025.

HIGHLIGHTS

·    1.07 g/t gold and 455 g/t silver from a sample at the Crowne Pointe granite extends a high-grade trend there to an 80 m strike length.

·    A sample located in the far north of the Crowne Pointe granite outcrop returned 2.16 g/t gold, 34.2 g/t silver and 1.58% copper.

·    Multiple samples in the range 0.1 – 0.2 g/t gold and 5-20 g/t silver.

·    Seven samples around the Crowne Pointe granite outcrop contain copper grades of 0.18 – 0.31% copper, with an outlier at 0.68% copper.

·    A single grab taken to the northwest of previous sampling contains 0.44% copper and 6.4 g/t silver.

·    A single grab taken to the northeast of the granite outcrop area contains 56 g/t silver and 6.34% zinc.

Great Western Mining Chairman Brian Hall commented: “The West Huntoon area has the potential to be a major copper project as well as having an abundance of precious metal and other mineral indications. It is looking more and more exciting as we continue our field work and expand the mineralisation footprint. 

“We are currently preparing a summer drill programme which will include the Rhyolite Dome gold prospect on the Olympic Gold Project as well as several targets at West Huntoon.  In the same general area as West Huntoon, later this month we will have a team in the field sampling surface tungsten indications around and between the Defender and Pine Crow tungsten workings.  We will keep shareholders informed as we make progress.”

BACKGROUND

West Huntoon is a group of claims on high ground to the west of the flat Huntoon Valley.  In the hills on the other side of the valley is the M2 project where the Company has extensively drilled and already established an inferred copper resource.  Directly south of M2 is the M4 prospect which the Company has also drilled and found positive indications of copper.  Due to sedimentary cover, there are no surface indications of mineralisation on the floor of the valley and in due course this is likely be drilled, in an attempt to establish connectivity right across the valley.  West Huntoon and M2 are approximately 12 km apart which indicates the potential size of the copper prospect if connectivity can be established. The greater area has been designated the Huntoon Copper Project.

West Huntoon includes an abandoned gold mine (the Huntoon Mine) and in 2017 Great Western drilled a single scoping hole close to this mine, based on limited information, which recorded measurable grades of both gold and copper.  Commencing in late 2023, the company launched a new initiative at West Huntoon, discovered a previously unknown outcrop of granite, commissioned a report on this granite which verifies the setting for a potential copper porphyry, carried out extensive soil sampling and also commissioned a geophysical (IP) survey which indicates continuity of copper where mineralisation disappears from sight under the valley floor sediments.

During the current quarter, Great Western will be drilling on the high ground at West Huntoon with an initial programme of 5 holes, each likely to be approximately 200 m in length, (1) aiming to establish that the consistent copper showings at surface across a large area are matched at depth and (2) to continue exploring the precious metals potential.  The survey results below, acquired in collaboration with a team from the UK’s Camborne School of Mines, analyse precious metals and other minerals found to be present in this complex and highly mineralised area.  

WORK PROGRAMME

Great Western Mining conducted a selective surface sampling programme at West Huntoon earlier this year, focused on potentially mineralised ground in the Crowne Pointe granite area, to which it holds rights under the previously announced Huntoon Mine Cooperation Agreement. This work was a follow-up to an earlier programme which recorded exceptionally high grades of silver and gold of up to 2,438 g/t Ag and 5.14 g/t Au. Other samples from around the wider area were taken as part of a field consultation and the academic collaboration with the Camborne School of Mines.

NOTABLE RESULTS

·    A very high silver grade of 455 g/t Ag together with elevated gold of 1.07 g/t Au from a sample taken in the southern parts of the Crowne Pointe granite. Previous samples from this area included one with 2,438 g/t Ag & 5.53 g/t Au, situated 40 m to the southwest, and one with 102 g/t Ag & 4.51 g/t Au, taken a further 40 m to the southwest. These three samples together form an 80 m trend.

·    A first sample from the far northern end of the Crowne Pointe granite returned 2.16 g/t gold, 34.2 g/t silver and 1.58% copper, showing that potential for an elevated precious metals zone occurs at a considerable distance from the established zone in the southeastern portion.

·    Multiple samples with elevated gold and silver values (0.1-0.2 g/t Au and 5-20 g/t Ag), mainly located adjacent to the high-grade samples in the southern tip of the Crowne Pointe granite.

·    Widespread copper anomalism in the Crowne Point granite, with seven samples in the range 0.18 – 0.31% Cu, and an outlier at 0.68% Cu. These samples were selected from local surface showings of copper oxide mineralisation.

·    Outside the granite area, a grab sample taken 180 m to the northwest of the nearest previous sample, from a local copper sulphide and oxide showing associated with a 1 m wide vein, returned 0.44% copper and 6.4 g/t silver. This sample again expands the prospectivity of the West Huntoon area.

·    Also outside the granite area, 45 m upslope from the western margin of the Crowne Pointe granite, a sample from a breccia zone contained 56 g/t silver, 6.34% zinc, 0.51% Pb and 0.09% Cu.

These new results significantly expand the known footprint of mineralisation at West Huntoon, both within the Crowne Pointe granite area and in the surrounding host rocks. The repeated occurrence of high-grade silver and gold values along an emerging trend in the south of the Crowne Pointe granite, the identification of precious and base metal potential at the granite’s northern extent and the presence of copper and polymetallic mineralisation outside the granite all point to a larger, more complex mineralising system than has previously been recognised. These findings will guide future exploration targeting.

Figure 1. Geological map of central parts of West Huntoon claims, with distribution of new samples coloured by gold grade, and previously reported samples in grey. See figures below for detail of southern parts of the Crowne Pointe granite.

Figure 2. Southern portion of Crowne Pointe granite area with highlight new and previous precious metal results.

Figure 3. Southern portion of Crowne Pointe granite area with outlier base metal grades.

Table 1. Selected elemental abundances for results reported in this release

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

All grab samples were analysed at Paragon Geochemical Laboratories, Reno, Nevada. A quality control standard sample was included in the batch by the company and results of this reviewed prior to release. Grab samples were analysed by method Au-FA30/AuAg-GR30 for gold (30 g fire assay, with gravimetric finish for overlimit samples) 35AR-OES for a 35-element suite via aqua regia digest and ICP-OES. The gold grade in the QC sample was within acceptable limits. Both the silver and copper grades were below three standard deviations from the expected value, indicating that results reported here are likely conservative.