Resource World Magazine

34 www.resourceworld.com J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 9 Newrange Gold exploring high-grade Nevada prospect by Peter Kennedy F rom the El Capitano Lodge & Casino in Hawthorne, Nevada, it takes roughly 20 minutes to drive to Newrange Gold Corp.'s [NRG-TSXV; NRGOF; X6C-FSE] Pamlico property. The easy access via US Highway 95 suggests that transportation will not be an issue if Newrange Chairman, Robert Carrington, and CEO, Bob Archer, can find enough gold to spark the inter - est of established Nevada producers like Newmont Goldcorp Corp. [NGT-TSX, NEM-NYSE] and Barrick Gold Corp. [ABX-TSX, GOLD-NYSE]. Newrange is far from being the first to look for gold in this area. Since the first discoveries were made in 1884, literally hundreds of independent miners have been active at Pamlico. Evidence of their work is scattered across the sage brush on a property that covers 1,700 hectares, contains 8,000 metres of underground workings and roughly 300 mine entrances. Some aren't much bigger than a rabbit hole. During a tour of the project site, a Resource World magazine reporter was shown what remains of a 20-stamp mill that was built in 1896 and operated until 1928. We also crawled down a 190-metre decline into the Merritt Zone and stopped at the portal of the Good Hope Mine, one of the property's seven former gold producers. Situated along the Walker Lane, one of Nevada's largest and most productive gold trends, Pamlico is renowned for the high-grade nature of the gold mineraliza - tion. One historic drill hole intersected 4.6 metres grading 239.7 g/t gold, including 0.8 metres assaying 702.5 g/t in an area called the Merritt Zone. Much of the gold mineralization is so fine grained that it is invisible to the naked eye. However, previous work has not addressed the potential for modern, large- scale mining that has made Nevada a major global centre for gold production (5.6 mil - lion ounces in 2017). That opportunity came Newrange's way in July 2016 when it secured exploration rights via Carrington's connections to the family of the late Dick Merritt, an Arizona mining contractor who passed away three years ago. "He has two sons and a step - daughter," Carrington said. "They don't want anything to do with mining." Carrington leaped at the opportu- nity because he believed Pamlico offered his company the chance to explore and develop a district scale, near surface, potentially high-grade gold deposit. He was also attracted by the fact that the property remains underexplored and rela - tively untested by modern exploration techniques. Only 103 shallow holes had been drilled in the entire property when it was acquired by Newrange in July 2016. Under the 2016 agreement, Newrange obtained the option to purchase a 100% interest in the Pamlico property, either by (1) paying the owner $4 million in cash, including advance minimum royalties and production royalties (4% NSR) within four years; or (2) pay $7.5 million in cash, including advance minimum royalties and production royalties so long as annual pay - ments are equal to or exceed $250,000. Upon signing, the company committed to pay $50,000 with a second payment of $150,000 due within six months. Payments of $250,000 are due on each anniversary of the signing date thereafter until the total purchase price, as per option (1) or (2), has been paid. The 4% NSR can be bought down to 1% by paying the owner $1 mil - lion per percentage point. The payment schedule was altered slightly in December, 2016 to reflect pre- vailing market conditions. Under the amended agreement, Newrange consented to pay the owners US $25,000 on December 15, 2016, and another US $125,000 by March 1, 2017. The remainder of the Pamlico agreement remains unchanged. A Scottish geologist and co-founder of Great Panther Silver Ltd. [GPR-TSX; GPL- NYSE], Archer came on board initially as a director in March 2018. He was named CEO in January 2019. Both Carrington and Archer have a wealth of experience in mining. The challenge they have set them - FIELD REPORT Left to right, Robert Archer, CEO of Newrange Gold, Greg McCoach, Editor of The Mining Speculator, and Robert Carrington, President and Chairman of Newrange Gold, inspect diamond drill core from the Pamlico Project near Hawthorne, Nevada. Photo by Peter Kennedy.

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