HIGHLIGHTS:
- 7,000m RC drilling program has commenced at the Loma Bonita gold-silver deposit
- Channel sampling in a road cutting 400 metres along trend from the Loma Bonita deposit returned a continuous gold intercept of 35.5m @ 3.6g/t Au, confirming upside potential
- Loma Bonita deposit is open for expansion
in most directions with thick drill intersections of strong
and consistent gold mineralisation near the edge of the drilled area, including1:
- 47m @ 2.8g/t gold & 33g/t silver from surface in MDPC-131
- 67m @ 1.6g/t gold & 21g/t silver from surface in MDPC-096
- 44m @ 1.1g/t gold & 89g/t silver from surface in MDPC-102
- Initial focus is on growing the Alacrán gold & silver resources of 32.2Moz silver & 150,000oz gold2
- Exploration drilling on greenfields targets is planned for March & June quarters 2020
Azure Minerals Limited (ASX: AZS) (“Azure” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise that it has received environmental approval for the latest drilling program at its 100%-owned Alacrán Project, and that a two- stage program totaling approximately 7,000m of Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling has commenced.
Managing Director Tony Rovira stated, “Following receipt of environmental approvals last week, preparation of access tracks and drill sites and drill rig mobilisation commenced immediately and drilling at the Loma Bonita deposit is now underway. As our earlier resource drilling at Loma Bonita was prematurely halted in 2016 due to Teck Resources exercising its back-in right, we believe that additional drilling can significantly expand the initial mineral resource. Encouragingly, recent channel sampling returned over 35m at 3.6g/t gold from the road cutting 400m from the Loma Bonita resource boundary.”
Azure’s previous exploration on Alacrán discovered the Mesa de Plata silver deposit (refer Appendix 1, Table 2 for Mineral Resource) and the adjacent Loma Bonita gold-silver deposit (refer Appendix 1, Table 3 for Mineral Resource) (see Figures 1 & 2). In summary, these two deposits contain total resources of:
Mesa de Plata (ASX: 1 December 2016):
27.4 Moz silver in 10.5Mt @ 82g/t Ag
- Includes an at-surface high-grade resource of: 15.5Moz silver in 1.8Mt @ 275g/t Ag
Loma Bonita (ASX: 21 December 2016):
150,000oz gold & 4.8Moz silver in 5.4Mt @ 0.9g/t Au & 28g/t Ag
LOMA BONITA RESOURCE EXPANSION DRILLING
Initially, drilling will focus on expanding the gold and silver mineral resource at Loma Bonita. The deposit currently extends over 600 metres north-south and up to 200 metres east-west. Mineralisation starts at surface and in places the true width/thickness of the mineralised zone exceeds 100 metres.
The mineralised zone is limited to the west by erosion into a valley but remains open to the north, south, east and at depth. The open-ended potential is supported by strongly mineralised drill intersections which confirm that the deposit is unconstrained in multiple directions (see Figure 2), including:
To the east: MDPC-131 intersected 47.2m @ 2.79g/t Au & 33g/t Ag (ASX: 15 November 2016);
MDPC-096 intersected 67.1m @ 1.56g/t Au & 21g/t Ag (ASX: 28 September 2016);
To the south: MDPC-098 intersected 24.4m @ 0.72g/t Au & 13g/t Ag (ASX: 28 September 2016);
To the north: MDPC-135 intersected 16.8m @ 1.17g/t Au & 86g/t Ag (ASX: 15 November 2016);
MDPC-102 intersected 44.2m @ 1.10g/t Au & 89g/t Ag (ASX: 15 November 2016).
RC drilling has commenced to the east of holes MDPC-096 and MDPC-131 and is designed to expand the current resource on an initial 50m x 50m hole spacing. Azure expects to complete 3-4 holes prior to the scheduled Christmas-New Year break.
Photo 1: RC drill rig setting up at Loma Bonita
EXPLORATION DRILLING
In addition, Azure has identified a zone of strongly altered, iron-rich breccia in a recently excavated road cutting located approximately 400 metres southeast of the Loma Bonita resource boundary. Continuous channel sampling along this road cutting confirmed the breccia is strongly mineralised, returning a 35.5- metre-wide zone of gold mineralisation grading 3.6g/t Au (see Figure 2 and Table 1).
This outcropping high-grade mineralisation significantly enhances the potential for expanding the Loma Bonita resource to the southeast towards Cerro San Simon, where previous drilling returned several wide intersections of low to moderate grade gold mineralisation, including:
MDPD-025 intersected 29.6m @ 0.56g/t Au &27g/t Ag (ASX: 21 December 2016)
ALA-17-004 intersected 63.0m @ 0.47g/t Au &27g/t Ag (ASX: 10 May 2018)
If further exploration confirms continuity of gold mineralisation between Loma Bonita in the northwest and Cerro San Simon to the southeast, this could potentially identify a two-kilometre-long mineralised zone. Azure will target this area with drilling in Q1 2020.
GREENFIELDS EXPLORATION
Azure’s exploration team is continuing to undertake reconnaissance and follow-up exploration throughout the Alacrán project area. Two areas of focus are to the north and south of Mesa de Plata and Loma Bonita and in the area to the south of Cerro Alacrán.
First-pass surface sampling of historical mine dumps south of Cerro Alacrán returned numerous high- grades of precious and base metals, with maximum values of 3,675g/t silver, 24.1g/t gold, 2.3% copper, 33.5% lead and 21.0% zinc (ASX: 8 October 2019). These results are very encouraging and further systematic sampling and detailed mapping of the veins is underway to identify targets for follow-up trenching and drilling.
Figure 1: Alacrán project overview plan
Figure 2: Area of Loma Bonita resource expansion drilling
-ENDS-
Authorised for release by Brett Dickson, Company Secretary.
For enquiries, please contact:
Tony Rovira
Managing Director
Azure Minerals Limited
Ph: +61 8 9481 2555
Media & Investor Relations
Michael Weir / Cameron Gilenko
Citadel-MAGNUS
Ph: +61 8 6160 4903
or visit www.azureminerals.com.au
COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENTS:
Exploration Results
Information in this report that relates to Exploration Results for the Alacrán Project is based on information compiled by Mr Tony Rovira, who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and fairly represents this information. Mr Rovira has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activities undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Rovira is a full-time employee and Managing Director of Azure Minerals Limited and consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
Information in this report that relates to previously reported Exploration Results has been crossed- referenced in this report to the date that it was reported to ASX. Azure Minerals Limited confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects information included in the relevant market announcements.
Alacrán Mineral Resources
The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources for the Mesa de Plata and Loma Bonita deposits on the Alacrán Project are extracted from the respective reports “Mesa de Plata Mineral Resource Upgraded” and “Loma Bonita Mineral Resource” created and released to the ASX on 1 December 2016 and 21 December 2016 respectively and are available to view on www.asx.com.au . Azure Minerals Limited confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects information included in the relevant market announcement, and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed.
Original Article: https://azureminerals.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/191217.pdf
