The Larus Project consists of 100% Redstar-owned unpatented mining claims along the prolific Cortez gold belt in central Nevada. The project covers a sediment-hosted (Carlin-type) gold system about 23 miles northwest of Eureka, Nevada, site of Barrick Gold Corp's Ruby Hill gold mining operations, and 31 miles southeast of Barrick's Cortez Hills gold mining operations.
Gold mineralization at Larus occurs in silicified zones (jasperoids) and quartz veins in "lower-plate" limestone that locally contain stibnite (antimony sulphide), a common accessory mineral in productive Carlin-type gold deposits. Mineralization is also locally present in "upper plate" shale. Preliminary sampling completed by Redstar has returned significant gold in several widely-spaced areas, with values reaching 3.23 ppm (g/t); historic assays from previous exploration programs reach 7.6 ppm. Mineralization is known over a strike length of at least 4,000 feet (1,200 m).
The gold-bearing silicified zones at Larus, as well as the distribution of the host limestone, are controlled by a series of property-scale and regional-scale north-northwest trending fault zones. This is the same structural control in the majority of productive Carlin-type gold deposits along the Cortez gold belt, including Pipeline (+20 million ounces) and Cortez Hills (+10 million ounces). The Larus project also lies along a north-northwest trending regional magnetic linear which passes through the Chert Cliff gold deposit about 6 miles to the northwest.
The host carbonate rocks, part of the lower-plate sequence below the regional Roberts Mountains thrust fault, are underlain by upper-plate siliciclastic rocks. Normally, the lower-plate carbonates, which are more receptive to mineralization, would underlie the upper plate. Previous workers considered that the limestone was emplaced into its present position as a geologically young "gravity slide" after mineralization occurred, such that the mineralization is detached from its original location and no longer rooted. However, Redstar's detailed geologic analysis indicates that gold mineralization is locally rooted and occurred after the limestone was emplaced.
There has been no significant work at the project since 1990, and historic drilling was limited in scope.
Click to Enlarge
