Red Canyon

Summary

The Red Canyon project consists of 237 lode claims covering 7.7 square miles (19.9 km2) along the Battle Mountain-Eureka Gold Trend in Eureka County, Nevada (Figure 1). The project covers a two square mile alteration cell in rocks that are age-equivalent to gold-bearing host rocks at the Cortez Hills, Pipeline and Gold Bar deposits. Previous exploration successes include:

- 95 feet of 0.117 oz Au/t from 20 to 115 feet (29.0m of 4.007 g Au/t from 6.1 to 35.1m) in drill hole KR-001 and 85 ft of 0.046 oz Au/t from 15 to 100 ft (25.9m of 1.568 g Au/t from 4.5 to 30.5m) in ROM07-01. Exploration potential remains open along strike to the northeast in areas covered by post mineral volcanic rocks and alluvium.

- Three 2005 drill holes that identify a deeper, previously unrecognized gold system between the Ice and Gexa target areas.

Location

The project is on the northwestern flank of the Roberts Mountains approximately 75 road miles (120km) south of Carlin, Nevada. Red Canyon is along the Battle Mountain-Eureka Gold Trend, a northwest alignment of bulk-mineable gold deposits including Pipeline, Cortez Hills, Gold Acres, Cortez, Horse Canyon, Gold Bar and Archimedes (Figure 1). The property is 12 miles (19 km) southeast of the Cortez Hills deposit, a +9.0 million ounce sediment-hosted gold deposit discovered by the Cortez Joint Venture (now Barrick). The northwestern portion of the property adjoins U.S. Gold's Tonkin Springs property.

Geology

Four distinct rock packages occur on the property (Figure 2). They include:

- Lower-plate, Silurian to Devonian age carbonate rocks dominated by silty to muddy limestone, fossiliferous limestone, dolomite, siltstone and lesser chert. These rocks are included in the Devils Gate, Denay, McColley Canyon and Lone Mountain Formations. Lower plate carbonate rocks, which are the preferred host for multi-million ounce gold deposits along the Cortez and Carlin Gold Trends, are exposed at surface in an erosional ''window.'' Potential stratigraphic host horizons for gold occur in: silty units within the Denay, silty units within the McColley Canyon, and at the McColley Canyon-Lone Mountain contact.

- Upper plate, siliceous sedimentary rocks of the Vinini Formation. Chert, mudstone and greenstone are typical rock types that crop out on the western part of the property.

- Tertiary volcanic rocks that cover lower plate carbonate rocks in the central portion of the property.

- Quaternary gravel deposits that form a pediment in the northern third of the property. The pediment is a gently-north sloping surface away from the mountain range where the gravels cover carbonate rocks and potential exploration opportunities.

On a regional scale, the upper and lower plate rock packages are separated by a low angle, regional fault known as the Roberts Mountains thrust. At Red Canyon, uplift and erosion of the upper plate rocks created a ''window'' that exposes favorable carbonate host rocks in the east limb of a northwest-striking anticline. The Red Canyon ''window'' exposes strongly oxidized, brecciated and silicified lower plate carbonate rocks that are age equivalent to rocks hosting the Cortez Hills gold deposit.

Geologic mapping illustrates chaotic bedding orientations and the periodicity of structural features at Red Canyon (Figure 3). The property is transected by: west northwest and northwest-striking folds; and west northwest, northeast, northwest and east northeast-striking faults (Figure 4). Compilation of Red Canyon and Tonkin Springs structural data illustrate district scale patterns including: northwest and west northwest faults transecting upper and lower-plate rocks, and a 310o alignment of Red Canyon prospects and Tonkin Springs gold inventories/resources (Figure 4). Similar northwest / west-northwest structural patterns are documented at the +9.0 million ounce Cortez Hills deposit and within northern Carlin Trend gold deposits.

Hydrothermal alteration in the form of iron oxidation, decalcification, silicification, clay, and barite/stibnite occurrences are exposed over a two square mile (5.2km2) area. Alteration extends to the north under pediment cover at the Ice prospect and abuts post-mineral rhyolite flows (Figure 5). This relationship indicates the rhyolite may cover and obscure additional alteration and gold mineralization within favorable carbonate rocks. Additional drilling for near-surface, oxide gold mineralization is recommended.

Exploration History

Previous exploration and drilling by Meridian, Tenneco, Great Basin, Hycroft, Kennecott, Newmont and Romarco focused on four separate prospect areas including Ice, Gexa, Red and Sage. 95 percent of the historic drilling was less than 500 feet (152.4m) deep. Only 14 holes reached depths greater than 1,000 feet (304.9m).

Kennecott completed KR-001, a 2,500 foot (762.2m) vertical drill hole at the Ice Prospect, to followup on surface gold (>0.01 oz Au/t / 0.343 g Au/t) mineralization, in the footwall of the northwest-striking Wall fault. The hole intersected 95 feet of 0.11 oz Au/t from 20 to 115 ft (29.0m of 4.01 g Au/t from 6.1 to 35.1m) in silty carbonate rocks, above massive dolomite of the Lone Mountain Formation. Additional drilling in the vicinity of KR-001 intersected disseminated gold in silty carbonate rocks, including:


- 60 ft of 0.033 oz/t Au from 200-260 ft (18.3m/1.132 g Au/t from 61-79.3m) in M-9
- 40 ft of 0.050 oz/t Au from 320-360 ft (12.2m/1.715 g Au/t from 97.6-109.8m) in M-9
- 50 ft of 0.030 oz/t Au from 380-430 ft (15.2m/1.029 g Au/t from 116-131.1m) in RED-11
- 50 ft of 0.014 oz/t Au from 150-200 ft (15.2m/0.480 g Au/t from 45.7-61m) in RED-06

These holes defined a northeast-striking zone of gold mineralization that remains open along strike (Figure 5).

Joint Venture Exploration

In 2005, Newmont completed geologic mapping, rock chip sampling, a 340 station CO2/O2 soil gas survey, and 13,115 feet (3,998.5m) of reverse circulation drilling in 11 holes. Three holes, NRC-4, -5 and -6, identified a vertically-extensive hydrothermal/gold system below shallow drilling (Figure 6). Drill cuttings from NRC-4 contain deep oxidation, zones of moderate to strong decalcification and silicification, and breccia zones. The hole ended prematurely at 1,170 feet (356.7m) in silicified and oxidized multi-lithic breccia with the following metal values: Au 170 ppb, As 123 ppm, Sb 75 ppm and Hg 7.5 ppm. This gold system remains open in all directions. These alteration features combined with elevated pathfinder metals confirm the presence of a deeper, previously unrecognized gold system.

In late 2007 Romarco completed 6,070ft (1,850m) of reverse-circulation drilling in eight holes (Figure 7). The holes were selected to drill test several ''Carlin-Style'' gold targets based on recently completed surface mapping, soil geochemistry, a three-dimensional geochemical model, and interpretation of pre-existing drilling. Results include 85 ft of 0.046 oz Au/t (25.9m of 1.568 g Au/t) in drill hole ROM07-01 at the Ice Prospect.

In plan, five drill holes at the Ice Prospect roughly outline a 195 ft by 820 ft (60m by 250m) zone of gold mineralization that remains open along strike to the northeast (Figure 5). The northeast exploration potential is supported by the five mineralized drill holes, structural contouring, gravity and a geochemical evaluation completed by specialist Robert Jackson. Miranda geologists will continue evaluating these new drill results in conjunction with existing geologic data. Additional drill targets have been identified.

Since July 2006 Romarco expended in excess of $500,000 to fund exploration on the project. Romarco terminated the Red Canyon exploration agreement in March 2008.

2008 Plans

Miranda is actively seeking a joint venture partner for this project to follow-up on a near surface, oxide gold system at Ice and deeper opportunities at Gexa. A digital data package is currently available for review.