Warning: Heavy-duty geologic speak in this article
Interesting academic paper by our Chief Geologist Wesley Whymark which was published in April 2017.
Novo Res (NVO) project in Australia
Created this map to help illustrate for investors who are asking about the scale of Novo's new find at Purdy's Reward (based on what little we know so far) compared to the geologic setting we have at Pardo. Below are two maps at the same scale.
3D Modelling of Pardo Progressing Well
Until this point Inventus has not made an effort to 3D model the geology and gold mineralization at Pardo. This was mainly because we didn't have sufficiently dense drilling over a wide enough area. With the recently completed 65 hole program, we have developed a Leapfrog model that will assist with exploration and ultimately estimation of what we have there.
Grade x thickness contour (plan view)
Grade x thickness contour (isometric projection)
MiBC hosts most of the mineralization, with a minor amount in MaC (isometric projection)
Visual similarity between Pardo and Wits style gold bearing reefs
Bottom channel sample is from the Witwatersrand basin in South Africa. Unfortunately I don't know the grade of the bottom sample.
Grade Thickness Contour with All Holes
Figure below is a grade thickness contour using all holes in the core area we've been drilling. As we described in our March 1st, 2017 news release, pre-2017 drill results have a tendency to under represent the gold grade due to sampling procedures at the time. This figure shows the areas where the contoured area is open for expansion with additional drilling, which is what we are currently working on.
Figure below is a map showing our exploration targets in order of priority. The purple rectangle encompassing areas A&B corresponds to the area shown in the map above.
This channel sampling from late 2014 was never published. The area is called Line 34, which is about 4 km southwest of where we are currently drilling. Should be revisited this field season.
The channels runs 1.5 gpt over 4.5 m, including 2.9 gpt over 1.0 m. True thickness appears to be about 3 m.
Artists Representation of Witwatersrand Reefs During Deposition
This diagram is from a really interesting book about the history of the Witwatersrand goldfields in South Africa (ISBN 0 620 09663 2). It helped me to visualize what occurred at Pardo as well. Gold is concentrated along the banks of those channels, one can imagine the distribution of gold is complex as the position of channels changes over time. Finding and following "pay streaks" is how the South African miners developed the Wits.
This is what Pardo gold looks like
Gold grains from this sample are quite small, but it was still possible to pan some of them out of the concentrates. We're evaluating producing a gravity concentrate as the first step in processing larger bulk samples. Hope to provide an update on this soon.
2017 Winter drill program at Pardo
CEO Stefan Spears and Geologist Robin Wolf visiting the drill rig on hole #7 of the winter 2017 program. Summit Drilling doing a great job getting the large diameter HQ-Thin Wall holes down for us.
Photo Credit: Wesley Whymark Feb 8, 2017