Taking on Nevada one JV at a time

Piedmont Mining (PIED-O) doesn’t want it all.

Rather than staking its own claims and investing the time and dollars into developing an exploration staff, the company would rather pay and let someone else run the show.

The Reno, Nevada-based company follows a corporate policy of designating properties with significant gold and silver potential and then options or joint ventures on them with experienced exploration groups.

Piedmont generally structures deals whereby it funds exploration for five years to earn at least a 50% stake in the project.

The strategy has yielded seven different properties in the state with an eighth on the way as it currently has an interest in Dutch Flat, Pasco Canyon , Dome Hi Ho, Trinity Silver, PPM, Bullion Mountain and the Antelope Ridge project with the eighth, Willow Creek Gold, waiting to be finalized.

In November of last year Piedmont signed a letter of intent with a subsidiary of Carlin Gold (CGD-V) for Willow Creek in Nevada’s Elko County.

The property stretches over 15 sq. km along the western range of the Snake Mountains.

“This property has great potential” Lew Gustafson, Piedmont’s vice president of Exploration said in a statement. “It has all the lithologic and structural elements and signs of intense hydrothermal activity exhibited by the famous Carlin type gold deposits in Nevada, and yet it is practically untested by drilling.”

The deal is consistent with Piedmont’s policy allowing it to form a joint venture with Carlin in which Piedmont can earn a 51% interest by completing US$3.5 million of exploration work within five years.

Beyond Willow Creek, the company is focused on Dutch Flat where a 24 reverse circulation hole program for 3,135 metres was finished in January. All but four holes hit at least 10 feet assaying more than 0.1 grams gold.

The program was highlighted by 44 metres averaging 0.7 grams gold and 49 metres averaging 0.4 grams gold per tonne.

The company describes mineralization at Dutch Flat as concentrated in swarms of small quartz veins which is open both to the north as well as to the south.

More drilling is planned for this spring.

Piedmont also has a five-year option and earn-in agreement on Dutch Flat, this time with Columbus Gold (CGT-V).

Moving over to Antelope Ridge, 1,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling was done on the site last year to test underneath old workings and silver-bearing jasperoid.

Rock chip samples from the jasperoid have averaged 186 grams silver per tonne. Results from the program are still pending.

The company has another five year earn-in structure with Carling Gold at the Dome-HiHo property where a second drill program was finished towards the end of last year results are pending.

Another key property is Trinity Silver where Piedmont is teamed with AuEx Ventures (XAU-V). A second drill program is underway there with the aim of expanding silver resources around a historic open pit that was operated by US Borax from 1987 to 1989 and produced roughly 5 million ounces of silver.

And roughly 16-km from Dutch Flat lies another recently acquired property known as PPM.

The property sits at the north end of the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend on the west flank of the Hot Springs Range and has mercury occurrences that are often associated with sediment-hosted gold systems in Nevada.

Piedmont entered an option with Miranda Gold (MAD-V) last spring that allows it to earn a 55% interest by spending US$1.75 million over five years on the project.

Year-to-date Piedmont’s shares have fluctuated between 21 and 31 and the company has roughly 63 million shares outstanding.