The Honeycomb Gold Project consists of 130 unpatented, contiguous lode mining claims located along the southern extension of the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend in Lincoln County, Nevada. The 11km2 area that constitutes Honeycomb has geologic aspects similar to those at Long Canyon (3.4M oz Au oxide deposit), the Bald Mountain mine (3.7M oz) and the historic Eureka District (current resource 7.7M oz).
Honeycomb is located approximately 113 km south of the town of Ely, Nevada and 27 km northwest of the town of Pioche, Nevada. Access from Ely is via US Highway 6 south to Nevada State Highway #318, 79 km to the Pioche turnoff, followed by 29 km on the Bristol Well – Pioche graded road through Silver King Pass to the edge of the claim block.
Although no historic prospects have been located at Honeycomb, several companies have explored the project. In the early 1990s, Great Basin Gold explored the property and conducted a Helicopter Electro Magnetic (HEM) survey over the Honeycomb and adjacent Silver King projects. This survey delineated a north 30° west-trending magnetic highs which were believed to be granodiorite intrusions.
White Knight Gold (1996-1997), in joint-venture with Cyprus Minerals, explored Honeycomb. Cyprus conducted a tensor IP survey combined with some reconnaissance but did not drill the IP anomaly due to the Reno office closure.
In 2003, Electrum Resources leased the Honeycomb project and organized mapping and sampling of the Jasperoid areas. Additionally, Electrum ran an IP (Induced Polarization) survey over the Cyprus Tensor IP anomaly. A total of 8 RC (Reverse Circulation) holes were drilled, 817 m in total. Electrum dropped the project in 2004.
Nevoro Nevada Inc. picked up the Honeycomb project in 2006. The company reviewed the existing data and drilled 14 RC drill holes totaling 3,776 m. The Nevoro lease was dropped in 2008.
Barrick was the most recent company to explore the Honeycomb project before Moneghetti.
The most prominent rocks at Honeycomb are mainly the westerly-dipping Pogonip Group, overlain by the Eureka Quartzite, Ely Springs, Laketown, Sevy and Simonson Dolomite Formations, Ordovician to Devonian in age. Almost all the prospective areas at the Honeycomb project lie stratigraphically beneath the Pogonip Group (pediment).
Significantly, the Honeycomb project lies at the intersection of the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold belt and the east-west trending Silver King lineament. This zone has been estimated to be approximately 24 km wide by 100 km long. It has been reported that the Silver King lineament joins the Blue Ribbon lineament to the east with the Warm Springs lineament to the west. A series of faults have complicated the stratigraphy in this area.
Surficial alteration features at Honeycomb are consistent with a Carlin-like sedimentary rock-hosted gold system that developed on the flank of an intrusion, consistent with many other deposits along the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend. The hydrothermal alteration at the project is characterized by silicification and decalcification. Additionally bleaching-argillic clay alteration, hydrothermal dolomitization and pyrite are seen. The abundance of silicification, size of silica masses and intensity of silicification (becoming more jasperoidal) increases from west to east, toward the pediment.
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Honeycomb has geologic aspects similar to Nevada Gold Mines’ Long Canyon (3.4 M oz Au reserve), Kinross’ Bald Mountain mine (3.7 M oz Au) with a pipeline of high-quality targets and the historic Eureka District.
Compiling all the historical data indicates there is potential for at least 3 mineralising events in the Honeycomb project area based on strong empirical evidence of mineral-bearing fluids flowing through the Project. From this, Moneghetti has been able to identify numerous shallow drilling targets, which have never previously been tested.
