YARMOUTH
GOLD PROJECT
Nova Exploration was founded on January 1, 2022 to explore for gold in southwestern Nova Scotia. The company has staked a contiguous land package of 4,774 hectares. Nova Exploration selected its land package based on the 1987 and 1991 GSC tree bark geochemical surveys, which covered three areas of Nova Scotia. The most important of these areas was the eastern Meguma terrane survey that covered the most prolific gold producing areas of Nova Scotia. The results shown in Figure 1 demonstrate a strong correlation between the tree bark anomalous gold results and past producing mines.
Figure 1. Eastern Meguma Terrane Regional Tree Bark Survey, Au Proportional Symbols, Past Producing and Developing Mines
Figure 2. South Western Nova Scotia Regional Tree Bark Survey, Au Proportional Symbols, Past Producing Mines
In the Eastern Survey, the biogeochemistry covers a prolific mining district; which contains several developing mines, such as Signal Gold’s Goldboro- 2.58 million ounces measured and indicated, St Barbara’s Fifteen Mile stream- 739 thousand ounces measured and indicated, St Barbara's Beaver Dam- 395 thousand ounces measured and indicated, cochrane hill- 611 thousand ounces measured and indicated.
The two other surveys covered southeastern Cape Breton and southwestern Nova Scotia. Nova Exploration identified an extremely anomalous tree bark gold zone within the southwestern survey. This anomaly consists of six closely spaced 98 and 99th percentile gold samples. Such high density of anomalous gold samples is not observed anywhere else within the Nova Scotia GSC datasets. Nova Exploration’s land package is centered around these gold anomalies as shown in Figure 2 and 3.
Figure 3. Nova Exploration’s Yarmouth Gold Project Claim Block and Anomalous Au GSC Tree Bark Sample Locations
Nova Scotia has over 60 past producing and developing Au mines, with the majority being found within the Goldenville Group formation. Nova Exploration’s Yarmouth gold project is located within the Goldenville group and the Quinan pluton, as shown in figure 4. Southern Nova Scotia has seen a lack of exploration due to limited outcrop exposures. The overburden around the Yarmouth gold project is relatively shallow, typically less than 5m. Due to the lack of outcrop and lack of exploration in southern Nova Scotia, Nova Exploration is working in a green field area.
Figure 4. Nova Scotia Provincial Geology with Regional Tree Bark Survey Areas, Gold Domains, Past Producing Mines, and Nova Exploration’s Yarmouth Gold Project Location
During 2022, Nova Exploration followed up on the anomalous Au regional tree bark samples by conducting 4 surveys consisting of 419 tree bark samples and 119 soil samples. Nova Exploration’s personnel collected the samples. Analytical results from these surveys have been received by the company and show gold anomalies coincident with the GSC survey. The gold anomalies show a strong correlation with REE element, including Cerium. In 2021 researchers at Australia’s Monash University attempted to reproduce in laboratory the processes that resulted in the concentration of more than a trillion dollars’ worth of metals at the Olympic Dam mine in Southern Australia. They found that Cerium acts as a catalyst for one of the key reactions associated with the concentration of gold, copper and silver mineralization. It plays an active role during the replacement of magnetite by hematite as it speeds up the reaction providing space for the precipitation of the valuable minerals; and promotes a positive feedback between reaction and fluid-flow that contributes to increasing the metal endowment of the deposit. journal Nature Communications.
The Yarmouth Gold project is covered by a fixed wing aeromagnetic gradiometer/VLF-EM survey flown 1989/90. This survey was flown at 300 meter line spacing with a nominal terrain clearance of 150 meters. The airborne data is useful as a regional representation of the underlying geology as shown in figure 5. However, its large line spacing and terrain clearance does not provide the level of detail required for ground follow-up. There is very little basement rock exposure, which increases the importance of acquiring high resolution ground magnetic data.
Figure 5. Yarmouth Gold Project Claim Blocks Regional Airborne Magnetic Survey Image
In 2023, Nova Exploration’s 890 km walking ground magnetic survey was carried out to acquire high resolution data to assist in following up on anomalous gold and REE results from its 2022 tree bark survey. The walking mag surveys were carried out at 50m line spacing, which greatly enhanced the company’s geological understanding, tree bark interpretation, and targeting ability. The resulting magnetic data has provided high resolution images of the total magnetic intensity which was used to define fault structures, lithological trends and plutonic intrusion in great detail. The anomalous tree bark gold and REE clusters have been detected in close proximity to strongly faulted magnetic intrusions, as shown in figures 6-9.
Figure 7.
Figure 6. Big Gull Property Showing Regional Tree Bark Anomalous Au Sample as Red Diamond Symbol With Detail Survey Tree Bark Au Proportional Circles in Black Over Ground Magnetic TMI Survey
Figure 7. Quinan Lake Property Showing Regional Tree Bark Anomalous Au Sample as Red Diamond Symbol With Detail Tree Bark Survey Au Proportional Symbols Over Ground Magnetic TMI Survey
In 1995 a survey was completed on the Shunacadie property as seen in figure 7,The 1995 detailed tree bark survey used the same sampling, analysis methods, and laboratory as the regional surveys. It returned one Au ppb value nearly twice as high (262 ppb) and another slightly greater (135 ppb) to the maximum of the regional surveys as shown in table 1. The mean of 25 Au ppb from the detail Survey would be considered anomalous within the regional surveys, suggesting that the entire area is anomalous for gold. Furthermore, these high individual samples are clustered with other significantly elevated values ranging from 30-74 ppb. After completing the ground magnetic survey, Nova Exploration has established that the highly anomalous values are associated with the strongly faulted magnetic intrusions and metamorphosed sedimentary rock.
Figure 8. Shunacadie Property 1995 Detail Tree Bark Survey Au Ppb Values Over Ground Magnetic Colour Image
Table 1. Shunacadie Property 1995 Detail Tree Bark Survey Au ppb Values, Eastern Meguma Terane Regional Tree Bark Au ppb, and SW Nova Scotia Regional Tree Bark Au ppb statistics
2023 Nova Exploration acquired 13 rock samples from an outcrop in SW Quinan approximately 100 m north outside the zone of interest as shown in figure 9. The outcrop is highly metamorphosed sedimentary rock to garnet amphibolite. Analytical results from these surveys have been received by the company and returned anomalous values of rare earth elements, and barium confirming the results found in the detailed tree bark survey. Garnets, rare earth ores, and iron oxides incorporate rare earths. Garnets co-crystalize with rare earth ores such as monazite, bastnaesite, and xenotime. xenotime is an important accessory mineral which coexists with monazite and garnet. REE data from sub-solidus amphibolite-facies metapelites from Bhutan, where overlapping ages, inclusion relationships and Gd/Lu ratios suggest that garnet and monazite co-crystallized (American Mineralogist, Journal of Petrology, Geological Society).
Figure 9. Quinan Lake Property Detail Tree Bark Sw Survey Nd Proportional Symbols With Rock Sample Locations
Exploration results derived from the tree bark surveys, rock samples, and ground magnetic surveys support Nova Exploration’s assumption that the tree bark geochemistry is representative of the underlying rocks as opposed to glacial tills. The walking mag surveys have defined several mag highs that are interpreted as felsic intrusive and could represent the source for gold and REE mineralisation. The geology is similar to areas where past and future producing gold mines are located across Nova Scotia. Southwestern Nova Scotia has seen little exploration mostly due to very limited outcrop. Nova exploration results from its 2022/23 programs support significant gold and REE potential. Possibly indicating a new ore deposit camp in Nova Scotia.
Exploration at the Yarmouth Gold Project is cost effective with good vehicle access, infrastructure, a major powerline in close proximity, and a major port located in Yarmouth. 100% of the Yarmouth Gold Projects 4774 hectares is located on crown land. Nova Exploration is a privately owned company with 100% of its project being self funded and grants received from the Nova Scotia Mineral Resources Development Fund (MRDF).
Nova Exploration is looking for a partner to help advance the project by focusing on the defined gold and REE anomalies and expanding the tree bark survey areas. Nova Exploration intends to follow up on these anomalies through Reverse Circulation (RC) Drilling and to expand the tree bark sampling to encompass the defined intrusives and metamorphosed sedimentary rocks of the Goldenville group.