Tarsis Resources begins BP property exploration in Nevada

Tarsis Resources (CVE:TCC) says it has begun exploration at its new BP property in Nevada that is being explored for Carlin-style gold mineralization - a dominant type of gold in the region. 

The BP claim block was acquired from Almaden Minerals(TSE:AMM), along with six other projects in Nevada and Mexico, as announced in March of this year. 

"We look forward to providing detailed information on each of these projects as exploration advances," said president and CEO Marc Blythe.

The BP property, located 60 km south of Carlin in Nevada along the Rain Trend, is the more advanced of the two claim blocks in Nevada, and features structure and geochemistry that the company believes to be prospective for Carlin-style gold. 

"Some of the prospective attributes include outcropping jasperoid breccias in the vicinity of interpreted structural corridors, anomalous gold plus arsenic-thallium-antimony-mercury pathfinder geochemistry and permissive stratigraphy," Tarsis said in a release late Monday. 

Preliminary soil geochemical results from the property show gold of up to 34.9 parts per billion, along with amounts of thallium, arsenic, antimony and mercury. The company noted that no evidence of modern gold exploration is visible on the property, apart from the soil geochemistry. 

Work this year on the BP property will include soil sampling, prospecting and detailed mapping, Tarsis said, with the work having started last month. Results will be released once they are received and compiled, it added. 

Before the acquisition from Almaden, Tarsis had nine properties in the Yukon, Canada, and one in Mexico - the Erica property, which the company earlier this year optioned to Osisko Mining Corp (TSE:OSK). 

The Canadian junior functions on a prospect generator model, which means it seeks out prospective exploration projects to acquire, and then vends or options them to partners for development. This model has allowed the junior to raise cash in an otherwise tough market.          

Indeed, the company has strong backers. Kinross Gold (TSE:K) invested about a year and a half ago, and now has around a 9 per cent stake, while Sprott’s Rick Rule has a more than 10 per cent interest. Almaden Minerals (TSE:AMM) also holds over 10 per cent. 

Last October, Tarsis closed a financing for total proceeds of just over $1 million, raising double what it had originally anticipated. Backers in the offering included Sprott, and management, which holds a significant chunk of shares, among others.