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Historically, there has been more than 1,000,000 ounces of gold produced in the Manhattan mining district. Recent production from the Manhattan mine (1974-1990), an open-pit operation, produced 236,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 0.08 ounce per ton ("opt"). The Echo Bay East and West Pit deposits operated in the early 1990s, producing 260,000 ounces at an average grade of 0.06 opt. The Round Mountain Mine, situated eight miles to the north, has produced more than 12,000,000 ounces of gold. Recorded placer gold production from the district includes approximately 150,000 ounces from a major dredge operation, with small-scale lode mines having produced another 100,000 ounces.
The current exploration model suggests that deposits that will be found in the Manhattan District are related to the contact of the Manhattan Caldera Margin and structural intersections. Gold is also related to the Cambrian-Ordivician Age sedimentary rocks along the five mile long by one mile wide zone of the Caldera.
In March 2009 we announced the recovery of 4.9 grams/ton gold and 1.2 grams/ton silver from the first large (bulk) bulk sample at EMW.
The sample was taken from a previously sampled outcrop that contained approximately 1 gram of gold per ton. At that time, it was also noticed that if the sample was crushed and "panned", free gold was found. The recent bulk sample weighed 793 pounds and was crushed to particles of less than 1 millimeter in size. The sample was then processed on a Wilfley Table to concentrate the heavy minerals. From this concentrate, a fired bead was made to produce a gold/silver "button". This button, which weighed 2.67 grams, was then analyzed using a NITON x-ray analyzer and was found to contain approximately 80% gold and 20% silver. On a per ton basis, this is equivalent to 6.1 grams of gold/silver per ton, or 4.9 grams of gold per ton and 1.2 grams per ton of silver.
An extensive soil/outcrop sampling program was subsequently undertaken at EMW during the spring of 2009, which will be followed up by an auger drill program to outline the native gold bearing outcrop. Additional land has been staked along the north and south sides of the original EMW claims. East Manhattan Wash is a high grade epithermal deposit which we feel also has the potential for a disseminated gold bulk tonnage open pit, similar to Round Mountain.
Bulk Sample at East Manhattan Wash
Wilfley Table - Processing Bulk Sample from East Manhattan Wash
In July 2009 we received the assay results from three large volume soil sampling grids completed in May at EMW.
This sampling program was designed to delineate the geometry of the native gold mineralization in three areas of interest. Significant values in the samples that were taken ranged from 0.05 ppm to 0.32 ppm gold with two of the zones being open in at least three directions.
The first two grids are located in a volcanic rhyolite lithic tuff hosting coarse gold. These areas, the "Gold Pit" and the "Old Drill Hole" grids, were sampled first by clearing a 1 meter by 1 meter area of surface debris then removing the organic (A) and root (B) soil horizons in turn. The sample was collected and consisted of a mixture of the soils directly above the bedrock (C horizon) and a portion of the bedrock below the soil. The sample was then sieved to ¼ inch minus then bagged.
These holes ranged from 12 inches to 48 inches in depth. Each hole location was identified with a 16 inch wooden stake labeled with an aluminum tag and backfilled to minimize disturbance. This technique was used to look at a small representative area and obtain any coarse gold trapped in the bedrock fractures.
In the first area, the Old Drill Hole grid, 30 samples were taken. The values ranged from nil to 0.32 ppm gold. The mineralized zone is 1200 feet long and 600 feet wide and is open in all four directions. Further work is now planned to define the full areal extent of mineralization in this zone. The sampling locations at East Manhattan Wash are identified on the following map:
At the Gold Pit grid, located approximately 500 feet west of the Old Drill Hole grid, the area of significant mineralization was 1000 feet long by 250 feet wide. Again, the values range from nil to 0.32 ppm Au. This zone is open to the north, east and west and further work is planned for this area, which contains the old prospector's pit from which our recent bulk sample grading the equivalent of 4.9 g/t gold was collected. The geology of the "Gold Pit" area consists of lithic rhyolitic and lapilli tuffs. These tuffs are locally argillically altered with minor local silicification.
A metallurgical sample was also taken and the entire sample contained 0.018 opt Au. This sample was found to contain visible native gold in the concentrate, middling's, and the reject, with equal values in each of the three sizes. The gold found is from fine to coarse grained in size and did not seem to be in any one size fraction.
In November 2009 MAX received assay results from additional soil sampling completed at East Manhattan Wash that was designed to further delineate the geometry of the native gold mineralization in the two main areas of interest, the "Gold Pit" and the "Old Drill Hole Grid", which sampling now indicates are joined. A total of 138 samples were taken, with significant values ranging from 0.05 ppm to 1.5 ppm gold. The total mineralized zone now encompasses an area 5,500 by 1,500 feet in size while still remaining open to the north, east, and west.
MAX staff also sampled historic prospector pits to the southeast of the of the Old Drill Hole Grid and returned high gold values (0.96 g/t) from soils around the pits that indicate that the mineralized zone continues and may be linked to another mineralized zone sampled by MAX further south. MAX intends to fill in this zone through future soil sampling programs.
The Gold Pit and the Old Drill Hole Grid were located in a volcanic rhyolite lithic tuff hosting coarse gold. These areas were sampled in early 2009. This recent work has filled in the areas between the two mineralized systems. These sample holes ranged from 12 inches to 48 inches in depth. Each hole location was identified with a 16 inch wooden stake labeled with an aluminum tag and backfilled to minimize disturbance. This technique was used to look at a small representative area and obtain any coarse gold trapped in the bedrock fractures.
Examination of the mineralized samples from the Gold Pit and Old Drill Hole Grid superimposed on air photo images has enabled Max to identify structural features and, coupled with argillic alteration seen in the sample pits, has helped to define where significant gold values may be found.
A large sample data base (1,107 samples) containing values of up to 3.3 ppm Au in rocks and up to 1.0 ppm Au in soils was recently acquired by MAX. These samples, along with MAX's latest results, have been added to our sampling data base and new maps are being created to better define the anomaly for further work, which will include trenching and large bulk samples prior to drilling during 2010. The first of these maps is now available on our web site at www.maxresource.com.
Clancy Wendt, VP Exploration of MAX, states "With these latest sample results, and the additional data we have acquired, we have now defined a significant area of gold mineralization that contains potential for a large mineralized system. More important is the fact that the mineralization appears to be free gold within the volcanic tuff. A large sample is being taken where the highest grade sample was found to define how deep the mineralization extends and to see if it increases in grade."
The soil samples were analyzed by ALS Laboratory Group (Chemex) in Reno, Nevada. Samples from two of the sample grids were taken in the coarse gold area (as seen in the previous bulk sample) and are being run for gold and silver using a one kilogram split with following cyanide leach to minimize the potential to miss the coarse gold. The other grid (different mineralization style) samples are being fire assayed in addition to an ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) suite of 41 elements. All sample bags were labeled at the site with a sample specific number, logged on a sample card with sample card tag put in each sample bag and taken directly from the field to ALS Labs. In addition, each site was located using a GPS in UTM with NAD 27.
Sample Pit November 2009
Pan Sample - Gold!
