Western Star Resources Company (Private search engine: WSR) (Over-the-counter: WSRIF) (“The Company” or “Western Star”) is pleased to announce the results of a high-resolution UAV magnetic geophysical survey via the White Star Tungsten Project in Elko County, Nevada, USA.
The survey is designed to obtain a high-resolution magnetic dataset on known historical workings, identify additional potential targets across the property, and improve the company’s understanding of structural controls on the mineralization. The results will also be combined with geochemical data on rock chips and soils currently collected across the broader White Star claims package.
Key observations and insights:
- The first modern, high-resolution geophysical dataset acquired via the White Star project.
- The products of the total magnetic intensity (TMI), first vertical derivative (1VD), second vertical derivative (2VD), and analytical signal (AS) are processed and interpreted.
- The historic Batholith and Adet mine is located along a northwest-southeast trending magnetic line within a micromagnetic depression. Several similar geophysical features have been identified elsewhere across the White Star Property.
- The extensive magnetic uplift in the western part of the property may represent a previously unmapped extension of intrusive granite (quartz monzonite) that has been interpreted to be associated with tungsten-bearing saccharine mineralization in the area.
- The interpreted intrusive body is located adjacent to mapped carbonate units, defining a newly identified area considered potential for skarn-hosted tungsten mineralization.
- Multiple magnetic lines have been identified and interpreted to represent fault zones and fractures that may have served as pathways for hydrothermal fluids associated with tungsten-bearing saccharine mineralization.
- Geophysical results will be combined with soil geochemistry and suspended rock chips to guide the design of the follow-on exploration program and optimize potential drilling targets.
“White Star’s geophysical results provide the second component of the consolidated Jarbidge-Charleston data set and complement the area-wide magnetic coverage that the property consolidation was intended to unlock,” said Blake Morgan, CEO and President of Western Star. “The interpreted intrusive body identified in the high-resolution magnetic data has generated an important new area of interest, where contact between granite and surrounding carbonate rocks may provide a favorable environment for tungsten skarn mineralization. We look forward to integrating these results with the geochemical program For rock chips and soil as exploration continues at White Star.
Magnetic results for drones
The White Star area previously had no high-resolution geophysical coverage, with the only publicly available data collected in 1967 at a distance of one mile. The published geological framework is Coates’ Jarbidge Area Map, RR, 1964 (USGS Bulletin 1141-M), at scale 1:62,500. The company’s high-resolution drone magnetic survey is therefore the first modern dataset acquired across the property and is being used to improve the geological model of the area.
The magnetic product of the Analytical Signal (AS) and the geology of 1964 are shown in Figure 1. Preliminary interpretations suggest that the central intrusive complex is more extensive and internally complex with multiple discrete magnetic bodies consistent with predictions of quartz monzonite intrusion.
Figure 1: Preliminary interpretation of the analytical signal and current geological map of the White Star property. Geology legend below in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Legend accompanying the geological map in Figure 1
The geological model at White Star is a quartz monzonite (Kqm) intrusion that intruded a Paleozoic sedimentary sequence, interacting with limestone (Pzl) and adjacent host rocks to produce garnet-diopside tektites and hornfels (Pzt) bearing local skelite. The historic Batholith mine workings and announcements fall within this tactic Pzt, and the historic open pit lies to the north in land that is only poorly mapped due to the extent of the Quaternary cover (Ql, Qgm, Qtg).
Of the magnetic products, multiple discrete magnetic objects appear within and near the mapped Kqm zone, which the company’s technical team believes represent a harbinger of quartz monzonite intrusion. Each additional terminator represents an additional length of potential overlying rock contact with the host and potential setting for further tungsten-bearing horizons. The dataset also resolves NE–SW and NW–SE directional magnetic lines that cut across the property, and are interpreted as high-angle fault and fracture zones favorable as fluid pathways.
Four target areas have been identified for follow-up:
- The central Kqm–Pzt contact, just north of the Batholith mine. A direct on-strike extension of the mineralized contact in the mine itself, and the highest priority follow-on target.
- It appeared to the north of the body within the northern peak. The mapped Pzt tactite window is located within the northern Kqm block and is cut by a northwest-trending magnetic line. Cutting of the tungsten-bearing host rock by the filtered fluid path structure.
- South Limestone Pass. Several small Pzl limestone bodies in the southeast host discrete magnetic features similar to those seen in the batholith mine. Not enough has been mapped, and the true extent of Pzl on the surface likely exceeds the 1964 outline.
- Historic open pit area. The crater is mapped on Kqm but lies beneath extensive Quaternary cover, so the surface geology is inferred rather than observed. The coherent magnetic character of this area supports the possibility that Kqm-Pzt-Pzl contact geology persists beneath cover, as the historic workings themselves represent direct evidence of previously identified mineralization.
Figure 3: Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI) image of the feature – Figure 4: First vertical derivative (1VD) image of the feature
Figure 5: Analytical signal (AS) image of the property – Figure 6: Second vertical derivative (2VD) image of the property
Next steps and district-level integration with the Roland dataset
The White Star UAV magnetic survey was transmitted to the same specifications and line spacing as the recently completed Rowland UAV magnetic survey, allowing the two data sets to be processed and interpreted as a single contiguous area-wide magnetic product spanning the uniform Jarbidge-Charleston tungsten footprint. The collected dataset is currently undergoing geophysical inversion and will be announced once it is complete and reviewed. This dataset will provide the first modern geophysical framework across the two mining areas and will support integrated area-level targeting between the White Star workings and confirmed areas of historic workings on the adjacent Rowland Tungsten property.
The geophysics will be combined with outstanding soil and rock chip geochemistry results from the White Star and Rowland field programs to identify priority follow-on targets and inform the design of any subsequent phase of exploration on the project.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC):
Quality assurance/quality control protocols were applied to the magnetic scanning data during data collection to ensure their integrity and reliability. All magnetic data were quality checked in the field, and final data processing and gridding was performed using Geosoft Oasis Montaj by Warren Hughes at East Coast Consulting. Diurnal corrections were applied using filtered base station readings, along with additional corrections for lag and direction bias. The filtered derivative products, including the analytical signal and the first and second vertical derivatives, were then calculated from the corrected TMI data. Grids were generated using the minimum curvature method with a cell size of approximately one-third of the flight line spacing. All maps are displayed in the NAD 1984 UTM Zone 11N coordinate system.
References
Coates, R.R., 1964, Geology of the Jarbidge Quaternary, Nevada-Idaho, USGS, Bulletin 1141-M, 1:62500
Qualified person
The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Jasper Mowatt, MIMMM (Membership No. 0486653) and MAusIMM (Membership No. 3178851), an advisor to the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Western Star Resources
Western Star Resources is a mineral exploration startup focused on revitalizing North America’s tungsten supply. The Company is enhancing its entry into the US market through previously producing tungsten assets in historically significant mining areas and positioning itself to participate in the growing need for secure domestic critical mineral supplies.
For more information, please visit www.westernstarresources.com
Contact information:
blake morgan,
Director, President and CEO
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Certain statements and information contained herein may constitute “forward-looking information.” In particular, references to the acquisition or future work programs or expectations about the quality or results of such work programs are subject to risks associated with operations on the property, exploration activity generally, equipment limitations and availability, as well as other risks of which we may not currently be aware. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
