Overview
The 100% owned Rosebud project is a former gold producer that was operated from 1997-2000 by a Newmont-Hecla joint venture that successfully mined and processed 953,000 tons grading 0.416 oz gold per ton (14.26 g/t) and 2.42 oz silver per ton (82.97 g/t) to produce 396,842 oz and 2,300,000 oz of gold and silver respectively.
The operation shipped high grading gold and silver ores to Newmont’s Pinion Mill for processing and operated during a period of low gold prices ranging from US$280-US$350 per oz.
In the ensuing years, the property lay essentially dormant with a handful of junior companies undertaking sporadic exploration work before it came under the ownership of a well know Nevada geologist and investor who recognized the value in Rosebud.
Tremendous value is about to be unlocked by Blossom Gold.
Technical Report
Rosebud MRE Tech ReportLocation & Infrastructure
The Rosebud gold project is in the perfect location, in the heart America’s and one of the world’s great gold mining regions – Nevada.
Located a 2.5-hour drive east of Reno, the project covers 1,809 acres and is easily accessible year-round along all-weather roads from Winnemucca, 48 miles (77 km) to the east.Located in Pershing County, the two main access roads are maintained by the local counties.
Location Map – Rosebud Project
The former producing Hycroft gold mine project is located 4.7 miles (8 km) north of the Rosebud property concessions.
Location Relative to Hycroft Mining
During mine operations at Rosebud in the late 1990s, the Sierra Pacific Power Company established a power line to the mine site. This power line remains in place and can be quickly restored to provide power to the project site.
Additional site infrastructure includes two decline ramps which offer the possibility for rehabilitation and direct access to the underground high grades zones that remain at Rosebud.
Previous Underground Development – Rosebud Project
Geology
Rosebud is a volcanic-hosted low sulphidation gold-silver deposit located along the eastern flanks of the Kamma Mountains which form part of the Basin and Range physiography of northwestern Nevada.
Gold mineralization is hosted within Tertiary volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Kamma Formation and range from rhyolitic to latitic in composition, with mineralization found in silicified breccias, along stockwork fractures and disseminations within wide zones of shearing.
Gold mineralization is strongly associated with and controlled by three primary structures on the property and steeply dipping shears within the Rosebud Shear Zone {RBSZ), the South Ridge Fault Zone (SRFZ) and the North Ridge Fault Zone (NRFZ).
Structural Map - Rosebud Gold Project – SRK Consulting (US) Inc., January 2020
The footwall of the SRFZ is exposed on surface as a sheeted zone of limonitic veining and strongly silicified volcanic breccias within a fault zone up to 200 ft (60 m), or more in thickness. Three mineralized breccia deposits were defined by previous operators and mined via decline ramps in the late 1990s. These include the North, East and South zones, which are all associated with and proximal to the three cross cutting fault zones on the property.
Two additional zones, the Far East and RBS zone were also defined but were not mined. Both offer significant upside exploration potential to add additional gold resources.
A significant bulk tonnage mining opportunity exists along with potential to mine and process high grade resources which remain on the property. In the late 1990s, during a period of extremely low gold prices, Hecla and Newmont used a cutoff grade of 0.2 oz per ton (6.85 g/t) to develop the high-grade resources at Rosebud as an underground mining operation.
Large and extensive low grade gold halos, which are typical of epithermal gold deposits in Nevada, have been identified at Rosebud and provide a new opportunity to develop both a bulk tonnage open pit operation along with high grade underground extraction in this new era of record high gold prices.
A technical study completed in January 2020 by SRK Consulting (US) Inc. for the project owner at the time, modeled both high grade and low grade domains at Rosebud using the large Newmont-Hecla drill hole database.
Plan View – Rosebud Gold Project - High Grade Mineralization Shell – SRK Consulting (US)) Inc., January 2020
Plan View – Rosebud Gold Project - Low Grade Mineralization Shell – SRK Consulting (US) Inc., January 2020
Plan View – Rosebud Gold Project - Projection to Surface of Grade Shells and Historic Underground Workings – SRK Consulting (US) Inc., January 2020
Cross Section - Rosebud Gold Project -East View with Drill Hole Traces, Historic Underground Workings and Grade Shells – SRK Consulting (US) Inc., January 2020
Exploration Potential
The property hosts a number of exploration targets outside of the main zone of mineralization as illustrated below.
Rosebud claim block with exploration targets. Red outline shows envelope of the Rosebud deposit (>0.10 oz/ton Au (3.42 g/t))¹
- Far East: Hosts South Ridge Fault Zone up-dip target 600,000 oz target potential.
- Northwest Corridor: High grade stockwork mineralization.
- Southern Extension: Near surface, 7 holes, all gold mineralized in veins and stockwork.
- East Zone: Adjacent to Rosebud pit. 15-30 m thick near surface zones.
- Northeast Zone: Hydrothermal breccias with multi-element soil anomalies. Never drilled.
- Valley: 11 holes define potential for southwest extension of Rosebud mineralization, 12.1 m at 2.01 g Au.
- Dreamland: Bulk tonnage potential tested by 8 drill holes. Large target striking for almost 1,000 m near former producing Dreamland gold mine.
- Motherlode: Drilling intersected high grading Ag values in steep dipping structure. 36.58 m at 0.34 g Au and 41.14 g Ag.
| Target | Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Far East | RL-219 | 25.91 | 41.15 | 15.24 | 0.38 | 17.14 |
| RL220 | 76.20 | 91.44 | 15.24 | 10.35 | 127.89 | |
| HGR-25 | 77.72 | 91.44 | 13.72 | 0.45 | ||
| Northwest | 96-356 | 408.43 | 411.48 | 3.05 | 12.24 | 21.26 |
| Corridor | SLD-394-00 | 128.63 | 130.15 | 1.52 | 12.62 | 2.74 |
| RS-D345-99 | 220.37 | 222.08 | 1.71 | 30.51 | ||
| and | 240.8 | 244.5 | 3.7 | 17.83 | ||
| RS-D365-99 | 128.63 | 130.15 | 1.524 | 15.43 | ||
| Southern | HGR-19 | 54.86 | 82.3 | 27.44 | 0.27 | |
| Extension | HGR-28 | 30.48 | 65.53 | 35.05 | 0.24 | |
| HGR-34 | 51.82 | 60.96 | 9.14 | 0.45 | ||
| Valley | RL-56 | 16.76 | 32.00 | 15.24 | 0.48 | 28.11 |
| HGR-10 | 19.81 | 32.00 | 12.19 | 2.02 | ||
| HGR-23 | 77.72 | 91.44 | 12.19 | 0.45 | ||
| Dreamland | RL-224 | 0 | 7.62 | 7.62 | 0.21 | 13.37 |
| 97-402 | 1.52 | 18.29 | 16.77 | 0.24 | 13.71 | |
| Motherlode | RL-122 | 74.68 | 111.25 | 36.57 | 0.34 | 41.14 |
