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Atna controls a land position covering most of the historic Jarbidge gold mining district, in Elko County, Nevada, near the Idaho border. The camp was the largest gold producing district in Elko County (based upon pre-1950 production records1) until the advent of the new discoveries at Carlin in the 1970s. Atna negotiated option agreements with a number of parties to acquire a 100% interest in a land package covering multiple gold occurrences and approximately 3,140 acres including 289 unpatented lode mining claims and 11 patented lode claims. Gold-bearing veins were first discovered at Jarbidge in 1909 leading to one of the last gold rushes in the western states. The district produced over 350,000 ounces of gold and 1,200,000 ounces of silver, from an estimated 800,000 tons of ore, mainly between 1918 and 1932. Little modern exploration has been carried out since the 1930s. Geology Jarbidge is a low sulphidation, epithermal bonanza-grade gold vein district. High-grade gold-silver mineralization is found within microcrystalline quartz veins and vein filled breccias, often displaying bladed quartz after calcite. Bladed quartz is a common characteristic of productive epithermal vein systems world wide and suggests that gold-mineralization appears within the "bonanza-gold levels" in the hydrothermal system where episodic boiling has taken place. Gold and silver production in the area came from steeply dipping, northwest trending, quartz/adularia veins hosted in the Tertiary-aged Jarbidge Rhyolite complex. More than 55,000 linear feet of veining and altered structures have been traced in the district. Post mineral faulting resulted in the hydrothermal system being exposed over a vertical extent of more than 3,000 feet. Some of the veins and host fault structures expose the heart of the bonanza system; others display high-level alteration along structures without significant amounts of gold. Atna is targeting bonanza veins that have received only surface and/or limited subsurface exploration. Other targets include faulted vein offsets and unexplored vein traces that are interpreted to underlie overburden areas. Project History Since the 1930s, little attention has been given to the Jarbidge district. Some minimal reconnaissance exploration was completed looking for large, low-grade bulk minable gold-silver deposits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The district is a classic example of a bonanza-grade, low-sulfidation, epithermal, volcanic hosted vein system comparable to the Tertiary-age volcanic-hosted gold-silver mines elsewhere in Nevada including those in the Midas District. Freeport McMoran Exploration drilled six holes (4,725 feet) from 1980 to 1982 exploring for a bulk minable disseminated gold deposit. Their best intercept was 2.2 g/t gold and 22.7 g/t silver over a length of 35 feet. Following Freeport's efforts, Moly Corp drilled 4,640 feet in 13 holes. Their best interval intercepted was 5 feet grading 0.18 g/t gold. Moly Corp's drilling was not designed to test the vein structures of the main district. Mr. John D. Bernt entered the district in the 1980s and began prospecting, studying the geology, and acquiring land. He collected and compiled historic data on the district, which in combination with his geologic mapping, rock sampling, and studies, succeeded in identifying a number of high-grade vein targets. Mr. Bernt brought the district to Atna's attention in 2003 and his work underpins Atna's exploration efforts in the district. The majority of Atna's land position in the district is through an option agreement with Mr. Bernt on his patented and unpatented claims. Atna has focused on defining the geologic, structural, and geochemical framework of the main district. Work included detailed surface soil and rock sampling as well as geological and structural mapping of the district to determine the character of the historic ore shoots and the potential for on-strike extensions. Atna's geologists collected surface rock samples returning gold assays up to 1,000g/t gold and 1,200 g/t silver from banded quartz-chalcedony veins and defined a number of drill targets. 2007 Program Atna commenced drilling at Jarbidge in early June 2007 with one core drill and brought in a reverse circulation rotary drill in early July to accelerate testing of selected targets. Most all of the targets tested during the 2007 program were vein targets initially developed by Mr. John D. Bernt. Drilling continued through October 2007 and 12,798.8 feet of drilling was completed during the season. Encouraging zones of gold and silver mineralization were encountered in association with the five structures tested in the first round of drilling. Broad intervals of gold mineralization were intersected in the Longhike vein, including 0.031 oz/ton Au over 84 feet and 0.045 oz/ton Au over 60 feet, within an envelope of altered, quartz veined volcanic rock. The gold mineralization indicates significant exploration potential along the strike length and at depth in the Longhike structure. Silver grading 1.7 oz/ton Ag over a 5-foot core interval was intersected in the Alta structure, suggesting that the upper portion of the epithermal system has been intersected and that gold mineralization may occur at a deeper level. The Pick and Shovel, Starlight-Legitimate, and Success-Bluster structures all returned anomalous gold values and widths, indicating that further drilling will have good potential to discover high grade ore shoots within the structures. The most significant results are tabulated below.
(1) The lengths of the intercepts do not represent true vein widths. Insufficient data (too few intercepts) currently exists to determine the true width of the veins. A total of 10,380 feet of reverse circulation rotary drilling and 2,418.8 feet of diamond core drilling in 24 holes was completed in five target areas. Permit applications have been submitted to the US Forest Service which, upon approval, would allow for a flexible work plan over a five year period for further exploration of the Longhike vein and construction of drill roads to test the district's other mineralized structures. In addition to the drilling, work during 2007 completed field work for cultural, botanical, and biological surveys and a draft Environmental Assessment was submitted to the United States Forest Service (USFS). These studies form the foundation and supporting documentation for Atna's 5-year drill permit submitted to the USFS in September 2006. Once the new permits are granted (anticipated in June 2008), these permits will allow Atna to drill test several targets which have not been able to be tested due to the current constraints on drill access roads and trails. The new permits will allow for the construction of up to 7 miles of drill access roads and up to 126 drill sites in the district over the five year permit period. Assays results disclosed were completed by Inspectorate America Corporation in Reno, Nevada. Analytical work was by standard industry methods with gold assays complete by standard fire assay methods with an Atomic Absorption finish. Silver assays were completed by ICP Mass Spec. Inspectorate was also responsible for all sample preparation. 1 Granger, Arthur E., Bell, Mendell M., Simmons, George C. and Lee, Florence, 1957, Geology and Mineral Resources of Elko County, Nevada, Bulletin 54, Nevada Bureau of Mines, Table 2, p 23, & personal communications with Mr. John D. Bernt.
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