Location Highlights
California
- Stable mining jurisdiction
- Fourth largest mineral producing state
- Rich history of mining
- Over 730 mines in operation in California
Hayden Hill
- Past producing gold mine
- Located in northern California
- Exploration agreement with Kinross
- Easy, year-round access
- Nearest town, Susanville pop. - 15,064
Property History
The Beginning
Discovery of the deposit is credited to a party of travelers in 1870. High-grade gold was found in a spring on the south side of Hayden Hill. High-grade production, along veins, from multiple underground mines.
The modern era of mining at Hayden Hill commenced in the mid-1970s with exploration programs by Fischer-Watt Mining Company among others. A series of joint ventures with Lacana Mining Corporation and Peco Resources Ltd. for exploration and development, including drilling, followed in the 1980s.
In 1988 and 1989, Amax Gold, Inc. in partnership with U.S. Gold Corporation (formerly Silver State Mining Corp.) further explored the deposit, primarily in the area that was to become the Lookout Pit.
Development of the mine started in 1991 by Lassen Gold Mining, Inc., a subsidiary of Amax that acquired the interests of U.S. Gold in 1990, and production began in 1992.
The Four Nines team recognizes significant exploration potential in the existing gold-silver deposit and significant additional opportunity to follow up on high grade drilling intercepts
ALTERATIONS & MINERALIZATION
- Hayden Hill is a high level, epithermal gold-silver system
- Completed initial 2D & 3D modeling of historical data
- Three distinct primary mineral zones on the project
- Additional mineralized areas identified
- Higher-grade mineralization occurs within steeply-dipping veins & faults
- Lower grade mineralization in favourable host rocks
- Native, coarse-grained gold & silver
- Degree of alteration and gold grades reported to be increasing at depth
- Previous explorers (and thereby drill execution) did not initially recognize the structural setting & coarseness of the precious metals
PREVIOUS OPERATORS DRILLING
Joint Venture between Amax Gold and U.S. Gold
- Large database of historical information (largely non-compliant)
- Exploration holes: 327,514.5 feet of exploration drilling (dominantly reverse-circulation) in 742 holes (average length of 441 feet)
- Blastholes: 112,235 production blastholes
Exploration Targets
- Vein systems developed within N, NE & NW trending faults
- Hydrothermal vent breccias developed along faults & veins
- Structural intersections
THREE DISTINCT PRIMARY MINERAL ZONES
PROVIDENCE ZONE
- Providence structure/vein the “feeder” to the zone.
- Multiple Bonanza- & higher-grade gold-silver exploration drill intercepts
- Dynamic multi-phase hydrothermal alteration, textures observed
- Highly attractive opportunity to explore to depth, and along trend to the North
- A clear target for Bonanza-grade mineralization, at depth
- Breccia bodies developed adjacent to the structure under-explored
LOOKOUT NORTH-SOUTH ZONE
- Distinct zone of > 0.03 opt Au (over vertical extent), that is apparent also at a 0.05 opt Au cut-off grade
- Blasthole data indicates position & orientation of a “feeder structure”
- Exploration intercepts remain intact in the pit walls and beneath the pit bottom
- Mineralization open along trend to N & S
HIGH-GRADE VEIN ZONE
- Includes the historical high-grade mines
- Establishes the potential for additional Bonanza-grade mineralization
- Higher-grade gold intercepts in exploration holes
- Intersects the northerly trends (i.e., the Providence trend just south of that pit)
OTHER TARGETS: East Vein, Juniper Zone, Lookout NW Structure
Unlocking Opportunity
Hayden is a high-quality exploration property with at least 3 primary mineral zones. Other known sites of mineralization are also present. Historical data sets have been compiled, analyzed & modelled and drill-indicated mineralization is open along strike and to depth. Substantial opportunity exists for definition of the following styles of gold mineralization:
- Definable zones of “Bonanza-grade” mineralization (> 0.3 opt) in veins (at depth) and multi-phase breccias.
- Continuous zones of higher grade (> 0.1 opt) in veins, stockworks and structural intersections.
- Significant potential tonnage of + 0.03 opt: upper-levels of stockworks & breccias, smaller-scale structural sites, and regions of pervasive silicification.
Drill targets are defined, and a 2023 program has been planned.