American Vanadium is expanding the Company's existing Nevada based NI 43-101 compliant resource holdings.
Based on the work already conducted, and the knowledge gained to date, the Company's exploration program has a goal of significantly expanding the vanadium resource on its 6,600 acres of 100% controlled property.
The exploration program is also expected to advance both quickly and relatively inexpensively, as the targets are all surface exposures on American Vanadium's six other vanadium bearing shale occurrences:
- Gibellini Northeast
- Louie Hill
- Middle Earth
- Big Sky
- Del Rio
- Hot Creek
Choose from the exploration maps below to view at full size:
Program Objectives Overview
The exploration program's first objective is to increase resource by including the already drilled out primary zone found underneath the current resource on Gibellini Hill.
The program's second objective is building on the 60 historic holes previously drilled on Louie Hill, an attractive open pit target along the top of a hill adjacent to Gibellini Hill. The holes indicate economic grades are at the surface and will be tested at depth and along strike. Additional work is also planned to test and define the metallurgical characteristics of the Louie Hill vanadium occurrence.
The program's third objective is to complete field work and drill on the nearby Del Rio property. In the fall of 2010, large surface vanadium anomalies that have not yet been closed off were discovered at Del Rio, with values over 1% vanadium pentoxide.
Additional surface sampling at Del Rio is planned. Subsequent drill testing will determine thickness, grade and metallurgy of the target.
The Del Rio property is mineralized over 1,800 feet of strike and 1,200 feet of width, giving it the capability to be as large, if not larger than, the Company's main Gibellini resource.
Additional testing is also planned on the Company's recently acquired Hot Creek vanadium property in Nye County, Nevada. Values up to 0.5% vanadium pentoxide have been found along a one kilometer long zone of favorable oxidized shale exposed along a ridge.
The Hot Creek project's 360 acres of unpatented claims appear to be located in a large thrust fault along trend of the Gibellini Hill vanadium project.
American Vanadium's exploration plan also includes evaluating several sources for economic concentrations of various metals in Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.
Exploration Plan Highlights
Gibellini Hill Primary Zone Work Plan Overview
- Goal: increase the resource into the primary zone at depth beneath to Gibellini Resource
- Process:
- update mineral resource model and grade estimates using current drill hole data in primary zone
- conduct metallurgical test on current core samples in primary zone
Louie Hill Work Plan Overview
- Goal: attempt to convert the historic drilling into new Inferred level resource
- Process:
- compile detailed geologic mapping
- construct cross sections
- expand XRF survey
- sample old dozer cuts
- drill 20 reverse circulation holes (infill drilling to define resources)
- conduct Bottle Roll Test on RC cuttings (budget does not include funds for core drilling)
Del Rio Property Work Plan Overview
- Goal: identify significant new resource
- Process:
- expand XRF survey
- expand channel sampling in selected areas
- define drill targets
- prepare NOI for BLM
- construct drill site access roads
- sample new road cuts
- drill 10 RC holes to test prospective areas
Hot Creek Property Work Plan Overview
- Goal: define drill targets
- Process:
- complete detailed geologic mapping
- complete detailed XRF survey
- expand channel sampling in select areas
- define drill targets
- submit NOI to BLM
