Headwater Gold Plans Drill Program at Whiskey Project in Nevada
News related to:Headwater Gold Inc · 2 min read
Headwater Gold Inc. has announced plans to commence an initial drill program at its Whiskey project in Nevada. The program, which is expected to consist of approximately 1,500 metres of drilling, is set to test multiple high-priority target areas identified through the integration of geological mapping, geophysics, surface geochemistry, and re-analysis of historical drilling data.
The strategic location of the Whiskey project, positioned in the heart of the Walker Lane gold belt, 20 kilometres east of the Borealis Mine and the company’s Spring Peak project, makes it an attractive exploration opportunity. The planned drilling program, anticipated to commence in late October 2026, will utilize a reverse circulation (RC) drill rig to test four to five holes.
Historical drilling at the East Rye and West Rye targets has intersected broad zones of epithermal gold mineralization. Notable results include an intercept of 59.7 metres grading 0.85 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 48.77 metres downhole in drill hole RS-6, which reportedly ended in mineralization. Additionally, the West Rye drill hole W-83-5 returned 10.7 metres grading 0.52 g/t gold from 33.53 metres downhole, with 0.57 g/t gold over 4.6 metres.
Recent rock chip sampling by Headwater has also returned high-grade gold mineralization, with gold grades of 19.2 g/t, 18.5 g/t, and 14.6 g/t from the High Proof target, an area with no known drilling completed in the region.
The Whiskey project is a consolidation of two exploration lease and option to purchase agreements with separate private arm’s length vendors. Headwater has the right to acquire 100% interests in pre-existing project claims. Each agreement requires an initial payment of US$4,000 and, beginning on the third anniversary, annual minimum payments of US$10,000. Annual payments increase by US$5,000 per year until US$30,000 is payable on the seventh and each succeeding anniversary over a twenty-year term. These minimum payments may be credited towards the purchase price of US$1,500,000 under each agreement should the company elect to exercise its option to purchase a 100% interest in the vendor claims. The vendor claims under each agreement are subject to a 2.0% net smelter return (NSR) royalty, of which the company may purchase 1.5% of the NSR royalty for US$2,000,000, reducing the royalty to 0.5%.
Headwater has also located an additional 134 100% owned unpatented mining claims contiguous to the vendor claims, consolidating the district. In total, Headwater now holds 206 unpatented mining claims representing the Whiskey project.
Caleb Stroup, President and CEO of Headwater Gold Inc., expressed excitement about the upcoming drilling program.
The company is systematically drill-testing several projects in Nevada and has strategic earn-in agreements with OceanaGold Corporation on its TJ, Jake Creek, and Hot Creek projects, Newmont Corporation on its Spring Peak, Lodestar, and Jupiter projects, and Centerra Gold Inc. on its Crane Creek project in Idaho. In August 2022 and September 2024, Newmont and Centerra acquired strategic equity interests in the company, further strengthening Headwater's exploration capabilities.