The first phase of Barrick’s drilling at Arakaka (half of 7,500 meters) confirmed Chief Geologist Marcus Harden’s interpretation of the area, which was not without challenges as outcrop is not abundant in this jungle. Three major thrust faults (Valley, Central, and Purple Heart) that trend to the northeast and verge southeast chop up sedimentary packages and intrusive bodies (diorite, felsic porphyries), (Fig. 10), creating fertile ground for alteration and gold mineralization.
The second phase of drilling will focus on priority targets and will be looking for bends in the regional shear zones, higher density of quartz veins, and altered intrusive bodies— coincident with anomalous gold and/or arsenic-in-soil geochemistry. The objective is to identify high grade shoots of gold mineralization, such as the 4.0 meters grading over 20 grams per tonne gold from 14 Mile—recall that the surface expression of Rory’s Knoll is only 180 meters by 140 meters and the Arakaka Trend is 12 kilometers long and over two kilometers wide.
AQI Price at posting:
14.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
