In January 2020, Carolina Rush (formerly Pancontinental Resources) won the exclusive right to explore and purchase the former Brewer Gold Mine property, with an option period through 2030.
Between 1987-1995, Brewer produced 178,000 ounces of oxide gold from open pits that extended to 65-meter depths, where gold (Au) and copper (Cu) sulphides were exposed but could not be processed by the oxide heap leach operation.
Located in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Brewer is approximately 17 kilometers along trend from the producing Haile Gold Mine. Brewer is a large, epithermal, high sulphidation gold-copper system driven by a sub-volcanic intrusive, possibly connected to a copper-gold porphyry system at depth (Schmidt, R.G., 1978, The Potential for Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Deposits in the Eastern United States, U.S. Geological Survey).
Rediscovering the Former Brewer Gold Mine in South Carolina
As of January 31, 2024, Rush has drilled more than 11,000 meters of: diamond core, rotary air blast (RAB), and sonic drill hole samples, with the latest drill program (October 2023 – January 2024) adding 8 core holes for a total of 2,000 meters. Drill results to date have been very encouraging with the latest drill program having three main objectives
To define and extend the mineralization beneath the former gold mine;
To follow up on newly discovered mineralization in the southern Tanyard zone; and
TO test a geophysical target ~ 350 meters west of the former mine.
Rush achieved all three objectives and implemented the program as planned, which provided useful new insights into the geometry and controls of Brewer’s gold-copper mineralization.
Compelling Results to Date
Rush takes a data-driven approach to exploration, using historic and new geological, geochemical, mineralogical and geophysical data to target, discover and define new gold-copper mineralization. To date Rush has released results for 25 diamond core, 94 RAB, and 6 sonic drill holes at Brewer. True widths are not yet known.
Grade x Thickness (GT) values are a common way to measure the significance and future potential of early-stage drill programs. By taking core lengths multiplied by the gold + copper (gold equivalent, AuEq), grades, one can calculate GT values in terms of gram-meters. Paradigm Capital, a research-driven, independent, institutional equity investment dealer based in Toronto (www.paradigmcap.com), characterizes:
Notes: *Reported intervals are drilled widths and do not represent true thicknesses. Holes ranked in terms of best GxT value (GxT = Au grade x thickness). Table shows reported intersections with a GxT value > 10 with new results highlighted in yellow.
Newly Discovered Tanyard Zone
The Tanyard Zone is a new diatreme breccia zone identified about 150 m south of the Brewer pit. The breccia was recognized in drill hole B21C-015 in 2021, intersecting 62.4 m of 1.03 g/t Au and 0.15% Cu from 44.6 m (see news release of 24 November 2021).
On surface, this zone consists of a sequence of highly altered, thinly bedded sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks that are exposed over a strike length of one kilometer.
This geologic formation is interpreted to overlie the Tanyard Breccia and correlates with a broad chargeability anomaly present at depth.
To date, the Tanyard Breccia has been tested with three holes, with the most notable intersection of 62.5-meters @ 8.5 g/t Au and 0.3% Cu in hole B23C-021 (see news release dated 28 February, 2024).
Mineralization is open in all directions and additional drilling will test the Tanyard Zone along strike and down-dip. In addition, the Company plans to engage geophysical consultants and contractors to implement a deep-sensing geophysical survey to help target the deeper mineral potential at Brewer.
A 3,000-meter core drill program is currently underway. Three, 25-meter step outs from hole 21 are planned to determine the geometry and controls on mineralization as well as the relationship between the gold-telluride zone and the breccia-hosted gold-copper mineralization. Additional drilling will focus on extending the Tanyard Breccia Zone along strike and down-dip, where the mineralization appears to correlate with the northern margin of a large chargeability anomaly that has been mapped for >400 meters along strike.
Reported intervals are composited based on minimum 4.0 m width @ >0.3 g/t Au and are uncut.
