HIGHLIGHTS
Hole APR-DD-109 intersects 240m of alteration, veining and copper sulphide mineralisation consistent with the margin of a porphyry copper body
Sulphide mineralisation comprises quartz-pyrite-chalcocite veining with disseminated pyrite and chalcocite in the host porphyry
Further testing of the porphyry target is currently being planned as part of the current drill program
Drilling is continuing at the Cascada mineralised zone with hole APR-DD-110 in progress
Mexican-focused
Azure Minerals Limited (“Azure” or “the Company”) is pleased to provide an update on drilling operations at the Companys flagship Promontorio Project, located in the state of Chihuahua Mexico.APR-DD-109 is the first hole to test the porphyry copper target located beneath the Cascada and Promontorio high sulphidation copper-gold-silver deposits. The target comprises two overlapping Induced Polarisation (IP) features, represented by high chargeability and low resistivity anomalies. This vertical hole successfully reached the target depth of 500m, penetrating into the chargeability anomaly and passing through the western edge of the resistivity anomaly.
At a depth of 260m the hole entered, and for the next 240m, intersected porphyry with argillic (quartz-alunite) alteration, abundant disseminated pyrite, and moderate to abundant quartz veins forming a stockwork. These veins contain variable amounts of sulphide mineralisation, including pyrite (iron sulphide) and chalcocite (copper sulphide) (see photos on following pages). The hole was still in mineralisation when terminated at its planned depth of 500m, and has been cased for re-entry at a later date.
Azures Managing Director, Tony Rovira, commented:
“Im very encouraged by the geology we are seeing in hole 109. The alteration, veining and sulphide content indicate that a mineralised porphyry copper system is present at Promontorio and we have intersected the margin of this body. We will continue drill testing the porphyry copper target and the wider Cascada mineralised zone and report results as we progress.”BACKGROUND
The current drill program is designed to test:
around and beneath the Cascada deposit with the aim of expanding the mineralised zone and enabling a Mineral Resource to be estimated;
the porphyry copper target beneath Cascada and Promontorio;
interpreted feeder zones connecting the buried porphyry body and the near-surface Cascada and Promontorio deposits.
The Promontorio and Cascada copper-gold-silver deposits form separate parts of a high-sulphidation, epithermal system comprising massive, semi-massive and disseminated copper sulphides hosted in vuggy silica and silicified host rocks.
High sulphidation epithermal deposits form above porphyry copper bodies with feeder zones connecting the porphyry and the overlying epithermal system. These types of deposits are common in northern Mexico and south-western US.
Azure believes that beneath Cascada and Promontorio is a porphyry copper body which was the source of the copper, gold and silver mineralisation and is likely to be mineralised in its own right. This makes the Promontorio Project an exciting porphyry copper exploration target in addition to the high grade epithermal mineralisation already identified.
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