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2022 RC Program Highlights
TG2221intercepted1.5 meters (“m”) at 3.0 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”)in a zone of lower grade at a depth of 155 m as a step-out to the west of the south pits and south of the main pit area, indicating the potential presence of a new high-grade zone and extension to the south pit trend.
TG2219intercepted18.3 m grading 4.1 g/t Austarting at a depth of 73 m
TG2218,encountered1.5 m at 9.2 g/t Auat 30 m depth
TG2217; 5.0 g/t Au over 18.2 m, including 4.6 m at 14.7 g/t Austarting at 76 m depth
TG2214hit a zone of4.6 m averaging 21.4 g/t Austarting at a depth of 111 m
TG2212intercepted21.3 m at 0.5 g/t Au, including7.6 m at 1.3 g/t Au
TG2211intercepted a zone of57.9 m at 5.0 g/t Au from40 meters depth,including11m at 24.0 g/t Auwhich included3 m at 53.6 g/t Au
TG 2010intercepted three zones totaling38 m at 0.8 g/t Austarting at 18m depth
TG2209; 86.9 m at 1.3 g/t Austarting at 87m depth, including3.0 m at 13.5 g/t Au, and 1.5 m at 9.2 g/t Au
“In 2022, we were able to significantly advance Viva’s Tonopah Gold project towards feasibility. We discovered new areas of high-grade (+1.0 g/t Au) gold mineralization at shallow depths within the perimeter of the 2022 resource pit shell limits, and extended existing zones of high-grade mineralization both inside and outside the 2022 resource pit limits. This work demonstrated that the main deposit remains open in several north-south mineralized corridors along its 1.5 kilometers strike length. New discoveries in our recent drill program increased the width of mineralization up to 200 meters in some areas. Our work in 2022 substantially enhanced our understanding of the structural and lithologic controls of the deposit, which has allowed us to significantly improve our drill targeting success rate. Significant progress has also been made on optimizing gold recovery and we can now demonstrate a process route to increase gold recovery from our high-grade gold mineralization. Our baseline environmental study work is also well advanced and we believe that we have substantially de-risked the project for future development. In these programs we have already completed a number of critical steps required to complete feasibility study. Our plan for 2023 is to conduct additional drilling to follow-up on our successful 2022 drill programs, determine the limits of mineralization in the main pit area, and to rapidly move the project into feasibility study,”stated
Update On Resource Modelling
The resource model for the
Tonopah deposit is presently being updated to include results from 22 drill holes completed in 2022. This information includes six core holes totaling 1,307 meters and 16 RC holes totaling 2,457 meters
The resource model has been significantly improved by consolidating lithologic codes for the entire drillhole database and the inclusion of structural information captured from over 35 oriented core holes. These enhancements to the model were instrumental in helping to improve drill-hole targeting and resulted in a very successful RC drill program.
Previous iterations of the
Tonopah resource model only included gold assays. The database has now been improved with the addition of total gold and silver assays, as well as cyanide soluble gold and silver assays. The additional metal assays were extracted from assay sheets produced byRio Algom , Kennecott, Newmont, Midway Gold and Viva. This additional assay data will help to quantify silver content in the deposit, as well as aid in quantifying potential recoverable gold and silver values in the deposit.Tonopah was flown by drone in 2022 to produce detailed topographic mapping of the project for use in resource modelling, feasibility study and permitting efforts.
Update on Metallurgy
Initial pulp agglomeration testwork was completed, which demonstrated a gold recovery of 91% from high-grade (+1.0 g/t Au) mineralization in the deposit. This increased gold recovery may be applicable to approximately 50% of gold resource at
Tonopah . This process incorporates three-stage crushing for all gold mineralization mined including low-grade (+0.15 g/t Au to 1.0 g/t Au) mineralized material. High-grade goes through an extra grinding and tank leach step for initial gold recovery. Dewatered pulp from the tank leach, where up to 70% of the gold is recovered, is blended with low-grade crushed material and agglomerated with cement for final placement on the leach pad to complete the gold recovery process. Gold recovery for low-grade mineralized material is estimated from testwork to be approximately 70%.Additional crushing, tank leach, and column leach tests are underway to further confirm and validate these results.
Update on Baseline Environmental Studies
Wildlife and plant studies were completed and submitted to the BLM for review. We believe that no material red-flag issues for the project were discovered in this work;
Quarterly baseline water sampling and analysis have been consistently performed at the project over the last two years;
Four quarters of baseline study have now been completed on water samples from natural seeps and springs within a 10-mile radius of the project;
One water well and two upstream monitoring wells were drilled and completed and 5 wireline piezometers were installed in abandoned exploration drillholes on the property for use in aquifer sampling and modeling around the
Tonopah deposit;In
December 2022 , a seven-day aquifer pump test was completed to test hydraulic flow rates in the valley floor alluvial formation over the deposit. Pump down tests were previously completed in the hard rock formations, below the alluvial cover. This information will be utilized in baseline hydraulic aquifer modelling.Geochemical studies of potential ore and waste materials is 80% to 90% complete. A total of 10 Humidity Cell Tests were initiated to test for release of acid and other deleterious elements and 8 of the 10 tests have been declared complete and released by the BLM. The two remaining tests are expected to be completed in early 2023. No unusual deleterious results have been seen.
Other Work Completed
A total of six oriented core holes (TG2201 to TG2206) were completed and geotechnically logged and over 65 core samples from that program were submitted for strength testing. This information, combined with information from over 30 prior oriented core holes will allow the completion of geotechnical slope study to define working pit slope angles in feasibility study.
A 40-acre lot of private surface over existing federal mineral claims at
Tonopah was acquired. This lot has existing highway access, power and land-line phone service. It is currently beingused for storage and will be useful for lay-down yards and the possible siting of warehouse, process, and office facilities.
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About
Viva Gold Corp’s (TSX-V: VAU; OTCQB: VAUCF;
Viva has a solid capital structure with 91.6 million shares outstanding and a strong management team and board who can claim both gold exploration and production experience. For additional information on
For further information please contact:
(720) 291-1775
jhesketh@vivagoldcorp.com
(303) 519-5149
ahite@vivagoldcorp.com
1)2022 PEA:NI43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment of the
Tonopah Project (amendedApril 12, 2022 ) authored byGustavson Associates including Donald E. Hulse, P.E., SME-RM;Christopher Emanuel , SME-RM;Deepak Malhotra , Ph.D., SME-RM; andEdward Bryant , AIPG, CPG
Forward-Looking Information:
This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, “forward-looking information”), including but not limited to drilling operations and estimates of gold mineral resource at the
Cautionary Note to Investors---Investors are cautioned not to assume that any "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources", or "inferred mineral resources" that the Company reports in this news release are or will be economically or legally mineable. United States investors are cautioned that while the
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