Mojave

Summary

• Location: Inyo County, California
• Land Package:
  • >50 km² land position
  • 5,830 ha
  • Covers more than 8 exploration targets with only 2 drilled to date
• 3 styles of mineralization
  • Epithermal gold
  • Porphyry copper and gold
  • Silver, base metals, and gold

Project Description

• Mojave was BHP’s last remaining gold property in N. America before exiting gold exploration and mining worldwide
• Historical drilling by majors Newmont, BHP - ore grade economic intersections from surface - ~ 145 holes total (25 holes drilled by Newmont and 10 by BHP, every hole intersected mineralization)
• Resource estimates (historical in nature) by Newmont and Great Bear Resources on only 2 of 8 currently identified gold targets. BHP internal report very ‘optimistic’ 
• Project area rescinded from Wilderness Study Area in mid 90’s because of the mineral potential (by Democrat Senator Feinstein). Negotiated withdrawal to facilitate formation of Death Valley National Park
• Local government actively looking to diversify economy beyond tourism, leisure and recreation which accounts for >50% of employment in Inyo County

Exploration History of the Mojave Property

Gold mineralization was first discovered at Soda Ridge on the Northwest corner of the Mojave Property by Mobil in 1984. Prior to K2’s recently completed work at least eight other gold rich areas on the property had been recorded and partially investigated by exploration and mining companies, most notably Newmont and BHP. To date 145 drill holes have been completed by three companies: Newmont in 1985 (22 RC holes), Asamera in 1986 (113 RC and diamond drill holes), and BHP in 1997 (10 RC holes) on three of the nine gold targets. Other companies that have explored on the Mojave property include Great Bear Resources and SSR Mining but the recent work by K2 is the most extensive and comprehensive since 1997. There are now 12 gold and base metal exploration targets on the Mojave property.

The historical drill programs focused on three different target areas on the property, Newmont, East Zone and Dragonfly. Highlights of historical drill results include 16.8m of 2.1 g/t Au, 24.4m of 1.54g/t Au, and 12.2m of 3.8 g/t Au. The best trench result to date is an undrilled section of the Dragonfly area where BHP reported 42.7m of 4.2 g/t Au (Great Bear Resources news release October 2013). A compilation of K2’s Dragonfly rock and soil sampling results will be released as and when available. 

Highlights of historical drilling results from Newmont, East Zone and Dragonfly

Summary of Mojave Project - PDF