Pine Grove Property

Click to Enlarge Images Satellite view of Pine Grove district   Panorama view of Pine Grove Property   Pine Grove claims map

Summary
The Pine Grove property is an advanced-stage gold project with near-term potential for gold production.  Inferred gold resources are estimated at nearly 320,000 oz gold.  Open-pit mining and heap-leach processing are envisioned by the Company. Lincoln has contracted key technical and permitting contractors to help advance the property to production. A drill program has recently been completed and additional exploration drilling programs designed to increase the size of the resource are planned for later in the year.    

Location
The property is located approximately 20 miles south of the farming and mining town of Yerington in the Pine Grove Hills, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Lyon County, Nevada. The property encompasses almost all of the Pine Grove (Wilson) mining district. Access is excellent via paved Nevada State Highway 208 to the East Walker Road (gravel) southward to the Pine Grove drainage and then 4 miles by dirt road onto the center of the property. 

Land
Lincoln controls 100% interest in claims covering nearly 7 square miles. The Company has mining leases on the Wilson and Wheeler mines (patented claims) and 221 unpatented claims owned directly by Lincoln. The Company’s land position covers the main gold mineralization in the district, exploration targets, and adequate land for mine and processing facilities. The patented claims (private property) are under the jurisdiction of the State of Nevada.  Unpatented claims are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service.

History
The mining district was discovered in 1866 and was originally called the Wilson mining district.  The name changed over time to the Pine Grove mining district which reflects the name of the mountains in which the district is located. Gold was produced largely from two underground mines, the Wilson and the nearby Wheeler, which are separated by about 3,500 ft on either side of Pine Grove Creek.  At one time the district hosted three stamp mills and reached a population of 1,000 people.  Most underground mining was completed by 1887 with sporadic production to 1915.  Approximately 240,000 oz gold were produced with an average grade of 1.36 oz per ton gold.  Most of the old workings are shallow and are no deeper than 140 ft.

Geology & Mineralization
The Pine Gove district is dominated by Jurassic granodiorite and its variations.  The granodiorite has been postassicly altered and locally displays abundant secondary biotite.  Dikes and sills of various compositions (andestie, dacite, rhyolite) have intruded the granodiorite within the Pine Grove fault zone.  These dikes and sills are thought to be the source of the gold mineralization.  Native gold is associated with various quartz veins, stockworks, and disseminations hosted primarily in the granodiorite.  Mineralized quartz veins contain pyrite with minor chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and native gold.  Elevated copper is present.  The style of mineralization appears to be of the “Shear Zone” sub-type of Plutonic-Related Gold Quartz Veins and Veinlets.”  The shallow-dipping, Pine Grove fault zone is approximately 600 ft wide and at least 1 mile long and appears to be the primary structural control on gold mineralization.  The fault zone is an excellent exploration target.  Significant gold mineralization occurs as stacked, sub-horizontal zones and pods ranging from 5 to 70 ft in thickness.  Most of the mineralization drilled to date is shallow, less than 200 ft in depth. Although high-grade gold (>0.5 oz per ton) was the target in the historic past, the enclosing, lower grade gold mineralization ranging from 0.01 to >0.1 oz per gold is the present material of interest.    

Previous Work
Several companies have pursued the district in recent times to include Teck Resources in the early 1990s.  Teck spent US$2.2 million dollars over a period of three years.  During this time, Teck conducted geologic mapping and sampling and also drilled 188 reverse-circulation holes (67,488 ft) and two core holes (614 ft).  Much of the drilling was on 100 ft centers.  Although much of the district remains unexplored, Teck dropped the property in favor of other opportunities overseas.  Lincoln is in possession of all of Teck’s technical data, including drill hole logs and certificates of assay from ALS Chemex.

Inferred Resource
A revised technical report dated December 19, 2008 was written by David M. R. Stone, P. Eng., under the provisions of Canadian National Instrument 43-101.  The technical report states an Inferred gold resource based on Teck Resources’ drill hole data.  Owing to the lack of systematic quality control and assurance at the time of the drilling, all resources are considered Inferred.  The table below summarizes the Inferred resources.

Pine Grove Inferred Resources

Eleven bottle-roll leach tests conducted by Teck on drill cuttings from various parts of the deposits ranged from 57% to 84% and averaged 73% gold recovery.

Recent Work
In 2008, Lincoln drilled four large-diameter PQ core holes (799 ft) for metallurgical testing by McClelland Laboratories in Reno, Nevada.  Metallurgical tests are now in progress and include density determinations, bottle-roll leach tests, five column leach tests, and waste rock characterization.

In 2009, the Company acquired new aerial photography and generated new topographic base maps suitable for mine planning and engineering. The Wilson and Wheeler patented claims were professionally surveyed to insure that appropriate State of Nevada and US Forest Service jurisdictions are determined. JBR Environmental Consultants in Reno, Nevada have been contracted to expedite all stages of permitting. 

In November 2009, Lincoln initiated a reverse-circulation drilling program designed to reaffirm and potentially upgrade the Inferred resources at Pine Grove to Indicated and Measured. Drilling was completed in February 2010 with a total of 63 holes (16,341 ft) averaging 259 ft each. Drilling was confined to the Wilson and Wheeler patented claims.  A number of high-grade gold intercepts were encountered which will be followed up in subsequent drilling programs.  (click here for full drill report).

Project Plans
Lincoln intends to put the Pine Grove district back into production with open-pit mining and heap-leach processing by late 2011. In an effort to fast-track operations, the Company plans to use contract mining and probably a commercial offsite recovery of gold from the loaded carbon. The Company has engaged a consulting firm to compile a scoping study followed by a feasibility study. 

Additional exploration drilling programs, designed to increase the size of the resource base, are planned for later in the year. These programs will test numerous prospective areas of the Pine Grove property. District exploration is planned to include soil geochemical surveys, continued mapping, and drilling on new and existing targets. Permitting for these programs is in progress under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service.