Project Description
Project Location and Access
The Mineral Creek Project is in Gila County, Arizona on USFS land in the Tonto National Forest. Access is via the Cypress Thicket Road (FS 414) 9 miles west from Payson to the Mineral Creek Trailhead, then 0.7 miles west.
Geology and Mineralization
Geology of the project is Precambrian schist and gneiss cut by monzonite dikes with quartz veins 2 to 4 feet wide, vertical dip, striking NNW. The mineral is a polymetallic mineralization (Cu, Pb) with gold and silver. In 1956 the property was leased to Viola Mac Mining Co. which performed over 2000 feet of diamond drilling and the collection and assaying of several hundred samples. Viola Mac found the average value of the vein content to be 1.98% copper. Five parallel mineralized vein structures were uncovered with widths of 10 to 55 feet, dipping 45 degrees into the ridge. It should be noted that Viola Mac’s drilling yielded only about 30% core recovery. Silver was also reported to be found averaging 1 opt with an “occasional” 5-foot core sample assaying up to 4 opt.
The Viola Mac drilling indicated a mineralized area 1,800 feet in length and 900 in width that “averaged 1%-2% copper with appreciable gold content. Several other operators conducted mineral exploration work in the Mineral Creek area during the period of 1957-1977. This work resulted in the construction of many roads and bulldozer cuts, chiefly on the ridge north of Mineral Creek. The above are all historical results which need to be confirmed independently by the Company.
Project Exploration and Work Plans
Gold Express Mines acquired the Mineral Creek project via the Amador Purchase Agreement in 2020 and expanded the land package. During the fall of 2020, the Company did some limited sampling and a small geophysics program using IP revealing a deeply oxidized system which potentially indicates a large copper oxide and gold system.
The Company sampled the property for a second time in late spring of 2021 and results from these sample assays are pending.
The next phase of geophysics will be to employ magnetotellurics which is a method of using the earth’s natural magnetic field to measure conductivity at deep depths. This work will happen in the fall of 2022. The highly experienced firm of Durango Geophysics is managing and interpreting the geophysical work, and an expert on magnetotellurics has also been retained to assist.
The Company is planning to permit a drilling program with the aim of confirming the previous results of Viola Mac, testing results of the recent geophysics as well as the magnetotellurics results. Planning for the next twelve months is dependent on obtaining drill permits for the project from the U.S. Forest Service.