overview | geology | vein structures | past work

The Ponderosa property is 100% owned by Almaden and was acquired by staking in late 2005. The claim group covers 6950 hectares (69.5 sq. km.) within the Spences Bridge Group volcanic assemblage. The property is located 25 km southwest of Merritt, B.C. and has good road access.

Follow-up prospecting by Almaden on the Ponderosa property has identified a trend of quartz vein float exhibiting epithermal textures, sixteen rock samples of which returned an average of 1.3 g/t gold with a high of 8.5 g/t gold. To date 15 reconnaissance grab samples taken in 2006 range from 0.4 to 12.8 g/t gold and average 2.0 g/t.

Duane Poliquin, President and CEO of the company commented, “The Ponderosa project is representative of the exciting new opportunities that can result from Almaden’s grassroots prospecting efforts. We look forward to bringing the project forward in the 2007 field season.”

 

epithermal gold-silver system

Epithermal gold-silver mineralisation within the Spences Bridge Gold Belt was initially identified by Almaden during a regional exploration program in an area west of Merritt, British Columbia in 2001. This area was one of the first where alluvial gold was discovered during the Gold Rush of the mid–19th to early 20th centuries. During this time placer gold was mined in this area from the Fraser and Thompson Rivers and on many tributary streams in the Ashcroft-Lytton-Lillooet district. Early into Almaden’s 2001 program, several areas of elevated gold in stream sediments were identified. Follow-up prospecting resulted in the identification and staking by Almaden of seven areas of clay-carbonate alteration and quartz veining, representative of low-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver vein systems, including the Ponderosa.

 

A new banded quartz-adularia vein named the Axel Ridge Showing was discovered during follow-up work in 2006. The highest grade sample consisted of banded chalcedonic QV rubble located 25-30m SE of the discovery trench on the Axel Ridge Showing.

Axel Ridge Showing subcrops in a low, narrow ridge near an old logging road. A single hand trench dug across the top of this ridge has exposed a northerly trending, apparent subvertical zone of quartz veining and brecciation hosted by strongly silicified and clay altered andesitic volcanic rocks.  The mineralized section has a horizontal width of 11.7 meters (38.4 ft.)and its E/W boundaries remain to be determined under steeply dipping overburden cover. Twelve (12) contiguous bulk channel samples across the vein system have returned gold analyses averaging 2.43 g/t over 10.5 meters, with individual sample analyses ranging from 1.4 to 4.9 g/t.  Mineralized float and angular rubble occurrences have been found over a 400m strike length, from about 50m south to 350m north of the trench.

image right: trench sampling

 

 

 

Autumn 2007: In the autumn of 2007 Strongbow conducted a trenching and diamond drill program designed to test a quartz vein zone on the Axel Ridge showing where Almaden samples collected in hand trenches returned 11.7 meters of 2.22 g/t gold (see Almaden news release of December 12, 2006). The drill program consisted of six holes totaling 960.72 meters. All six holes failed to intersect quartz veins and gold values similar to those identified in trenching. Almaden has received a report on this drill program from Strongbow. Subsequent to a review of this report, Almaden’s interpretation is that the veins must exist at depth that the holes were not located in the best way to intersect the vein system. Almaden plans to review the past drilling further when spring weather melts the snow and enables field work to resume.

December 2006 : Assay are back from two trenches dug in August. The trenches were located at 57 metres and 77 metres respectively to the north-northwest of the first trench cut in July. Individual samples (generally of 1.0m length) have returned gold assays ranging from 0.11 g/t to 6.57 g/t and silver assays of <2.0 g/t to 30.0 g/t.  The ends of the alteration and mineralisation are open to the East and West in both of these trenches, with end samples reporting gold values of between 0.11 g/t and 1.06 g/t. Highlight results include:

• TRENCH 06-2 exposed a mineralised section averaging 1.50 g/t gold over 10.0m, including 3.37 g/t gold over 3.0m
• TRENCH 06-3 has reported 2.83 g/t gold averaged over 6.6m, which includes a section of  2.6m section of 5.26 g/t gold across a massive, sheared quartz vein.

Summer 2006: Almaden completed an extensive summer summer field program consisting of prospecting, soil sampling and hand trenching. Completed work:

• a detailed geochemical soil sampling was completed over a 3-sq.km. area totalling 1,095 samples
• further prospecting and reconnaissance rock sampling totalling 40 samples
• geological mapping over a portion of the Axel Ridge zone
• roadcut soil sampling (75 samples) in the southeast sector of the property. 

The soil geochemistry survey outlined a gold anomaly measuring 2000 metres long and 250 averaging 250 metres and defined by gold values of >5ppb -344ppb. The 40 rock grab samples, collected over a 1,750-metre long segment of the overall soil geochemical anomaly, have returned gold analyses averaging 1.04 g/t with a high of 12.2 g/t.