Gold Reef vein system, Clipper Mountains, San Bernardino County, California

The Gold Reef Prospect is located in San Bernardino County, California, approximately
80 kms west of Needles. Exploration of the area was active in the early 1900’s
and again in the 1980’s. Gold Summit Corporation acquired the property in 2001 in
view of insights provided by the epithermal model of gold deposition and is conducting
exploration of the district.
The Gold Reef vein system consists of more than 15,000 m of precious-metal bearing
veins and structures in a northwest-trending swath that is approximately 7,000 m
long and 1,800 m wide. These veins are in proximity to Tertiary rhyolitic to dacitic
intrusive/extrusive complexes. Surface sampling encountered strongly anomalous gold
mineralization (0.1–10.5 g/t) over nearly the entire extent of the vein system. The surface
expression of the veins is dominated by ropy carbonate that has been variably replaced
by silica. Crystalline quartz phases fill open spaces and form footwall and hanging wall
veins, which tend to host the best gold anomalies, particularly near the widest expressions
of the veins near jogs in the structures. Limited drilling confirms the extension of
anomalous gold (as much 11 g/t) to depths of more than 250 m, the deepest penetration
on the property. At depth, carbonate is less developed than at the surface, while silicification,
accompanied by a minor increase in sulfide content, is more strongly developed.
A robust gold system may exist at depth in higher paleo-temperature regimes
beneath the surface of the Gold Reef vein system. The size of the precious metal-bearing
vein system and the thickness of the veins may indicate the presence of a major gold
deposit at depth. Excellent targets exist where drilling and mapping data suggest dilatant
areas of the veins that are developed at jogs within the structures, and in possible
paleo-boiling levels where precious metals may have been deposited.