Today we interview CEO Bill Howald where he explains the significance of recent results from their 100% owned Garden Gate Pass project.
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SmallCapPower.com: Could you provide a little background on Rye Patch Gold for the benefit of our readers who may not know about the company?
Bill Howald: Rye Patch Gold is junior gold exploration company focused on the well-known mineral trends in Nevada - the world's fourth-richest gold region. The Company presents two “Trend Scale” opportunities.- Gold and silver resource properties covering 100 square kilometers along the emerging Oreana Trend, and a 66 square kilometer land package along the famous Cortez Gold trend. The Company's seasoned management team is engaged in acquisition, exploration, and development of quality resource-based gold and silver projects. The Company has approximately 3.9 million oz of gold and gold equivalent resource in the NI 43-101 compliant category at its various projects and we are working to increase that substantially.
SmallCapPower.com: Rye Patch recently announced drill results at its 100% owned Garden Gate Pass Project at the Cortez Gold trend in Nevada. The release has a lot of technical information. Could you please explain to our readers in simpler terms what you think about these results? In other words, what should be investors’ take away from this release?
Bill Howald: Well, first I would like your readers to understand that the Garden Gate Pass property is covered with pediment gravel; hence it has no exposed bedrock. So it is not easy to know what is underneath the gravel cover and drilling is the best tool to get a look. One has to go through the gravel and cover rocks, in this case almost 1000 feet, before making contacts with the favourable Lower Plate host rocks. What we achieved in the first phase of drilling is quite remarkable as this is the very first time anyone has drilled the Lower Plate rocks in this area. What we found was that we have right types of rocks at the targets that we drilled which are suitable to host an ore body. Not only that, we also discovered very thick intercepts of the right alteration. In simple terms, it means that we have the right type of geological environment for a Carlin-type gold deposit. In addition, we also found thick intercepts of geochemically anomalous gold and arsenic which can be used to vector future drilling toward higher grade gold and a Carlin-type gold deposit. So we are getting all the right clues that there could be a potential deposit here. Investors should be pleased to find out that with a very limited drilling program we have now established a very strong base to advance our exploration program here.
SmallCapPower.com: What would be the most important findings you have obtained that suggest that you are drilling in the right area to host a potential deposit?
Bill Howald: Well, as I mentioned before, we do believe that we are drilling at the right spots as we have confirmation that we are hitting right types of rocks, observing correct alteration and seeing elevated gold values. It is important for people to understand that we have probably found 2 of the 3 most important things that you would look for while searching for a potential deposit along the Cortez trend. The only thing still missing is high-grade gold values that we expect to see as we drill further.
SmallCapPower.com: Your press release seems to suggest that the GGP property is showing characteristics similar to what the recently made discoveries by Barrick Gold at the newly discovered Goldrush and RedHill targets, which are in close proximity to GGP. Does this mean that you can follow a similar drilling strategy and approach to finding a deposit at your property?
Bill Howald: That is exactly right. We do believe that we have witnessed features that are similar to what has been found at other known deposits such as Cortez, Pipeline, and Cortez Hill deposit (owned by Barrick Gold) and the newly discovered Barrick Gold’s discoveries, namely Goldrush and Redhill deposits. We have found the right rocks, the right alteration in one of the most prolific gold trends in the world. Our geological and geophysical surveys provided the targets that we believe run through our properties and Barrick Gold’s projects and we are very encouraged by these findings.
Our team has strong experience at the Cortez trend. I have personally worked in this area for many years and was general manager for exploration for Placer Dome until late 2005. As you know, in 2006 Barrick Gold acquired Placer. So I know these systems and understand their characteristics and I can confirm that we are seeing very similar features at GGP. In addition, we have a very good working relationship with Barrick Gold, which is our Joint Venture partner on the Patty project.
SmallCapPower.com: Well, based on what you are saying, it seems that the company has found some very encouraging signs or clues to advance this project and find a potentially big deposit. The markets have reacted somewhat negatively to the news. Seems that investors had high expectations from these results. What would be your message to the current and potential investors?
Bill Howald: Well, that does seem to be the case based on the stock’s reaction today (Jan 5, 2011). I wonder if people were expecting that we would find wide intercepts with high-grade gold right away during the very first phase of drilling. Obviously that would have been wonderful but as you know it is highly unlikely that the first 6 holes will find an ore body, especially when you are drilling at a place that is covered with gravel and has no exposed bedrocks. What does happen is that every new drillhole provides more information that leads to the building up of a critical knowledge base, which hopefully results in a discovery. We are certainly working toward that at GGP and feel very positive about it. I would just say that investors should be patient with the process and with our expertise in what we are looking for. We hope that investors will see positive results in the coming months as we conduct a follow-up drilling program.
SmallCapPower.com: What are the next steps at the GGP? Can you provide some details on the next phase of drilling and exploration plan?
Bill Howald: As you know, the first phase of drilling was RC drilling (Reverse Circulation). This has provided us very important information about the two target areas we tested. We will follow this up with a combination of RC and core drilling in the spring. We hope to begin in March of this year. We will RC through the gravel and into the Upper Plate and case the holes. Then proceed with core drilling through the targets. We had very encouraging results at the Eastern target as we encountered thick Carlin-style alteration. We will move eastward from drillholes GGR-003 and GGR-006. On the Western target, we lost drillholes GGR-001 and GGR-004 because of difficult ground conditions and could not really complete those holes to target depth. We will go back to those drillholes and complete core through the target zone. We will use the enhanced knowledge from this phase of drilling to better define the targets and potentially find the high grade we are seeking.
SmallCapPower.com: Rye Patch has been in a lot of news lately due to its recently staked claims near the Rochester Mine. These claims previously belonged to Coeur D Alene Mines Corp. (CDM:TSX) (CDE:NYSE) and as per their own admission may contain 20% of known reserve and resources. While we have you here, can you please provide some update on what is happening there?
Bill Howald: Yes, you are right. We staked claims over 30 square kilometers at the Rochester property. These claims previously belonged to Coeur D Alene Mines Corp. (CDM:TSX) (CDE:NYSE) but we now have the senior claims and mineral title. A recent court ruling has allowed us to proceed with our exploration program on most of the LH claims. Only a very small portion, approximately 10% of the area that is part of the current operational mine has been kept off limit by courts. Even this area includes claims that we own. We are working on an exploration and drilling program and will start drilling at this property by the end of January. We are certainly very excited by this opportunity and believe that this will drive pleanty of value for our shareholders.
Disclosure
Ubika Research has received compensation from Rye Patch Gold Corp for providing analyst research coverage
Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this document contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements.
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