VANCOUVER, BC / TheNewswire / July 12, 2017 - Novo Resources Corp. (TSX-V: NVO; OTCQX: NSRPF) ("Novo" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has found in situ gold nuggets up to 4cm long in primary conglomerates from its first trench at its Purdy's Reward prospect and has collected a bulk sample of these gold-bearing conglomerates for analytical test work. The sample originates from a one meter thick reef near the top of an 11 meter thick stacked sequence of mineralized conglomerate horizons. Purdy's Rewards is part of an 8 km trend that has now been identified by Novo to be highly prospective for conglomerate gold mineralization considered analogous to the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Purdy's Reward is part of Novo's new Karratha gold project located in the West Pilbara, Western Australia and is situated on lands that are subject to an earn-in/joint venture agreement with Artemis Resources Ltd, an ASX-listed mining company (please refer to the Company's news release dated May 26, 2017 for further details) .
Trial Bulk Sample
Given the extremely coarse nature of gold found in conglomerates at Novo's Karratha gold project, Novo has collected a trial bulk sample from the Purdy's Reward prospect to help establish sampling and assay protocols for the project moving forward. Approximately 700 kg of mineralized conglomerate was collected from a 2x2 meter exposure of bedrock at the bottom of a half-meter deep trench. The sample was split into duplicate subsamples that were shipped to Nagrom's Metallugical Laboratory in Perth, WA, where the samples will be subjected to a series of tests including gravity gold recovery and Cyanide leaching. This test work will provide the first indication of grade of this unusual deposit.
Fresh rock was encountered at just 30-50cm below a thin soil horizon. The floor of the first 2x2 meter pit was swept with a metal detector to evaluate distribution of nuggety gold resulting in multiple zones of coarse gold being evident.
Extrication of the bulk sample was undertaken with the help of a pneumatic chisel
Many coarse gold nuggets were readily visible during excavation, the largest of which was approximately 4 cm long (please see Figures 1 & 2 below). Bedrock was comprised of heterolithic cobble conglomerate with a sandy matrix. The bed of conglomerate that was sampled is approximately 1 meter thick and belongs to a stacked succession of mineralized conglomerate horizons approximately 11 meters thick. Strata dip at about 17 degrees to the southwest at Purdy's Reward prospect.
Full-Scale Trenching and Large Diameter Drilling
Data from this exercise will help Novo determine the best means of future trench sampling and drilling at Karratha. Novo plans to undertake full-scale, systematic trench bulk sampling along the strike of the conglomerate package at Purdy's Reward beginning in a few weeks. Plans are also being made to test the use of large diameter reverse circulation ("RC") drilling on down-dip projections of these conglomerates. Novo has been in discussions with a drill contractor with capabilities of drilling 17.5" (44.5 cm) diameter holes and is preparing necessary permitting to undertake a test program of around 30 shallow, 20-50 meter-deep holes.
"We are very excited by visual indications from our first test trench at Purdy's Reward," commented Dr. Quinton Hennigh, Chairman, President, and a director of Novo Resources Corp. "Numerous gold nuggets were visible while our crew extracted this first bulk sample from the very unusual gold deposit. Now that the sample has been shipped to Nagrom Metallurgical Laboratory, we will be working with them to develop analytical protocols combining gravity gold recovery and CN leaching. We are dealing with an extreme nugget effect, even greater than that at Beatons Creek. Future work will require careful, systematic bulk sampling and assaying. Once protocols are established, we will employ them in our upcoming trench and large diameter drill programs. This is a very exciting new discovery, and Novo is ready to meet the challenge of evaluating it."
(Figure 1: Coarse gold nuggets exposed in conglomerate bedrock on the floor of the first trial test pit at the Purdy's Reward prospect. The largest nugget is 4 cm long and is water worn indicating a paleo-alluvial origin.)
(Figure 2: A freshly exposed 1 cm diameter nugget exposed in conglomerate bedrock on the floor of the first trial test pit at the Purdy's Reward prospect.)
Dr. Quinton Hennigh, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and the Company's Chairman, President and a director, has approved the technical contents of this news release.
About Novo Resources Corp.
Novo's focus is to explore and develop gold projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and built up a significant land package covering approximately 10,000 km2. Novo also controls a 100% interest in approximately 2 sq km covering much of the Tuscarora Au-Ag vein district, Nevada. For more information visit www.novoresources.com.
