The Opal Hill project consists of a 100% Redstar-owned block of unpatented claims with no underlying obligations. The project contains a large area of silicification at a range front about 29 miles northwest of the Round Mountain and Gold Hill gold deposits. The silicification consists of massive opal replacement of volcanic rocks along a west-northwest striking zone at least 1,100 feet long by about 400 feet wide. The silicification is covered by valley-fill alluvium along strike to the west, and there is evidence that the alluvial cover is thin. The opalite is enriched in mercury (to >100 ppm) and As (to 900 ppm), with moderately-elevated antimony (to 30 ppm), and these elements are concentrated in the western portion of the exposed opalite where it projects under valley cover. There is no record of previous modern drilling, nor is there any record of activity by major mining or exploration companies. Three old drill sites have been identified within the opal outcrop zone, not outboard into the valley, and it is likely these holes predate 1980 and were very shallow. There are several small pits in the mineralized portions of the opalite, but there is no record of the nature of this historic work, which probably predates 1960. Where mineralized, opalite zones such as Opal Hill are commonly enriched in mercury but lack gold, even where gold is present in deeper portions of the hydrothermal system. Opaline alteration forms at very low temperatures at high or distal portions of a hydrothermal system, beyond the zones where gold precipitates. Examples of gold systems hidden below gold-barren opalite in Nevada include Goldbanks, Hollister (Ivanhoe) and Redstar's Painted Hills project. Further, range-front settings are favorable environments for mineral systems, as they tend to mark zones of structural complexity and enhanced hydrothermal fluid flow. Nevada's largest gold deposits, including Round Mountain, occur along range fronts.
Opal Hill represents an undrilled, pristine exploration opportunity. The silicification is interpreted as a high-level or distal part of a potentially gold-mineralized system concealed along the range front and under the valley-fill alluvium to the west.
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