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Wildcat
Status: Available for Joint Venture
Target: The Wildcat Project model is a Pequop-style mineralization along karsted zones within altered rocks hosted in the Light Colored Member of the Cambrian Orr Formation.
Breccia zones located throughout and adjacent to the claim block may represent breccia pipes or diatremes. Previous sampling of these zones has not produced surface gold values as seen in the jasperoids, but they do contain ppb-level gold values and offer excellent structural targets. Abundant silica replacement and veining has accompanied these breccia systems.
Location: The Wildcat Project is located in Juab County, Utah, west of the Drum Mountains. It is approximately 31 miles northwest of the farming community of Delta and 110 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Ownership: AuEx has 100% ownership of approximately 434 acres (176 hectares) of unpatented mining claims.
History: Gold and copper were first discovered in the Drum Mountains in 1872. It has been reported that 534 ounces of gold and 5,127 ounces of silver were produced from the Detroit district from 1904 to 1917. During the period 1925 to 1953, about 72,500 tons of manganese ore averaging 25% Mn was produced from the same district. Beryllium has been produced from the Brush-Wellman operation in the northern portion of the district. During the 1980's, Western States Mining mined approximately 3 million tons of ore grading 0.04 ounce per ton gold, from the Drum Mine located nine miles southeast of the property.
Small prospect pits are found within and around the claim block area but there has been no recorded production. Homestake Mining Company first staked the area in early 1980 and upon completing one assessment drill hole the claims were allowed to expire. A private individual staked the area in 1986 after identifying multiple outcrops of jasperoid containing ore grade mineralization. Gold Fields Mining Corporation leased the property in 1989 as part of a regional exploration and drilling program in the Drum Mountains. At that time, Gold Fields completed mapping, sampling and some initial drilling on the property. The property was returned to the original owner in 1990 and the claims were soon dropped.
Recent sampling for AuEx has resulted in gold values up to 2.08 opt with significant trace elements.
Geology: The dominant rocks within the Wildcat property are limestone and jasperoids. Very subdued exposures of very thin, fissile shale are found at several locations in the project area. Several of the basins located south and southwest of the claim block are filled with Tertiary rhyodacite and welded tuff. These rocks also form the eastern boundary of the claim group along the Joy fault.
Cambrian sedimentary units within the claim block consist of two lower carbonate units: the Big Horse Limestone Member and the Light Colored Member. The Light Colored Member consists of light pink to purple-weathering, soft, covered slope-forming, fossil-poor limestones. This unit corresponds to the Candland Shale Member which occurs on the west side of Pequop Range in eastern Elko County, Nevada. Within the Drum Mountain area, this unit is approximately 250 feet thick.
The Light Colored Member is overlain by the Corset Spring Shale Member, a green-colored fissile shale with a few thin interbeds of coquinoid limestone. Overlying the Corset Spring Shale is the Sneakover Limestone Member. This third carbonate unit consists of thin-bedded, flaggy, dark gray limestone ledges. All four members make up what is referred to as the Upper Cambrian Orr Formation.
Aside from the Joy fault, the dominant structural directions that are related to mineralization are the northwesterly and northeasterly faults. Drainages and jasperoid breccias partially follow these two structural directions.
Jasperoids, principally controlled by fractures and siliceous replacement fissures in the limestone, form prominent outcrops within the claim block. These jasperoid bodies range in dimensions from several feet to over 200 feet (discontinuously) in length and up to 15 feet in width. Several breccia zones have also been mapped in the area. These consist of brecciated limestone with silica in a stockwork of fractures and often grade to a totally silica replaced breccia. Variably iron-stained boulders and knobs throughout portions of the property characterize these jasperoid zones. Where unoxidized, clots and grains of pyrite are visible.
AuEx Ventures, Inc. is currently seeking a joint venture partner for the Wildcat property. To learn more about this property and other joint venture opportunities, please contact Eric M Struhsacker, Exploration Manager, US at (775) 337-1545 or estruhsacker@com.
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