Erickson Ridge - Orogenic Au
Opportunity – District-scale property with the potential to expand historic resources.
Erickson Ridge is situated within the Elk City mining district, specifically along the northern extension of the Orogrande Shear Zone, a highly prospective structural corridor known for hosting intrusion-related and orogenic gold systems, including the Stibnite gold deposit.
Scout holds 100% ownership of two projects within this 35 km mineralized shear zone: Erickson Ridge to the north and South Orogrande to the south. The Company's strategy is to consolidate these two projects into one contiguous land position, streamlining exploration efforts. This will enable Scout to generate a more comprehensive understanding of the mineralization throughout the district, and enhance the potential for future discovery and development.
Highlights
Orogenic/intrusion-related gold system within the Elk City mining district; 1 Moz historic placer > lode gold production
District-scale property, along strike of 1.2 Moz Au resource (Friday), 5 km from 111,000 oz historic resource at Buffalo Gulch
Drilling by Scout in 2023 and 2024 yielded intercepts of 100.6m @ 1.18 g/t Au (EK-23-05) and 98.18m @ 0.65 g/t Au, including 28.78m @ 1.43 g/t Au (EK-24-01)
Rock chip samples including 47.31 ppm Au and 20.81 ppm Au in biotite gneiss with intense goethite-jarosite-hematite alteration
Reconnaissance soil sampling outlined 1500 x 500m Au in soil anomaly (up to 2.6 g/t) open along shear zone to the S-SW
Historic non-43-101 compliant resource area with historic drill intercepts of 33.5m of 4.1 g/t Au (from 16.8m to 50.3m) and 21.3m of 3.15 g/t Au (from 77.7m to 99.0m)
Project Geology
The host rocks at Erickson Ridge are Proterozoic biotite gneisses and schists. Both of these units are excellent sources of Fe for sulfidation, and they are the primary hosts of both disseminated mineralization and high grade, orogenic-style Au-quartz veins.
Locally, Au mineralization is associated with sericite-pyrite alteration that follows metamorphic foliations.
2024 Drilling
Following Scout’s 2023 Phase I drilling program, which primarily validated 1980s-era reverse circulation drilling in the known resource area, Scout initiated a Phase II drilling program in late 2024. The 2024 program aimed to drill test extensions of the known resource in previously undrilled areas and evaluate whether the main Orogrande Shear Zone, located approximately 100 meters to the east of the resource, served as the primary structural feeder zone for the largely foliation-controlled higher-grade mineralization in the resource area.
Due to early snowfall, only one 211-meter core hole (EK-24-01) was completed, to the east of the known resource. This hole crossed the Orogrande Shear Zone, which appears to be a key mineralized feeder structure on the property, and into a new zone of gold mineralization dominated by quartz-sericite-pyrite, consistent with previous drilling.
Click here to view the full April 2025 News Release.
These new results indicate major expansion potential for the historical resource at Erickson Ridge to the east in an undrilled area, validating a newly recognized structural model. The historical resource remains open in all directions.
