Azteca Discovers Sullivan-Style Massive Sulfides at Two Mile

SPOKANE, WA - Matthew Russell, President of Azteca Gold Corp. reported drilling and geologic progress on the Company's 50% owned Two Mile Project near Osburn, Idaho in the historic Silver Valley.
"Azteca Gold has made tremendous progress in furthering our understanding of the mineralizing system responsible for the high grade massive-type zinc-silver-lead mineralization reported in mid-January at Two Mile in hole DDH-005A," said Mr. Russell. "Considerable additional data has been garnered since our initial discovery in the form of drilling, assays, thin sections and other studies, and these indicate that what we have intersected are Sullivan-type Precambrian massive sulfide beds forming a thick lens.
"Further, we believe that the massive sulfide beds discovered at Two Mile, while very similar in thickness to those at the Sullivan ore body, have much higher grades of zinc, silver and lead. They also contain additional metals including gold, copper, gallium, germanium, and indium. Finally, we believe these beds may represent at least a portion of the original source for all of the Silver Valley region's mineralization, a theory first postulated by the early Bunker Hill geologist O.H. Hershey in 1916," said Mr. Russell.
The Sullivan Mine in Kimberly, B.C. closed in 2001 after producing in excess of 130 million tonnes of ore at average grades of 6.9% lead, 5.1% zinc, and 67 grams per tonne (1.95 oz per ton) silver, if discovered today this world-class deposit would be worth several tens of billions of dollars at today's metals prices. The Sullivan is understood to be a Precambrian sub-sea hydrothermal system, perhaps a black smoker. The deposit occurred as broad, continuous and complex lenses in total approximately 2,000 meters in diameter and as much as 100 meters thick.
The upper layers of the Sullivan were relatively narrow (1-3 meters) sulfide beds inter-bedded with Aldridge mudstone and pyrrhotite. The lower or main zone (3-24 meters) was relatively massive pyrrhotite (up to 70%) within which were concentrated layers of sphalerite (zinc sulfide) and galena (lead sulfide).
The Company believes the assay results and geologic study being conducted on holes DDH-005A, -005B, and -006 support Sullivan-type massive sulfides hosted in stratified quartzitic layers or beds within the upper 1/2 of the Prichard Precambrian mudstones, which are very similar to the Aldridge. The Company believes that the massive sulfides at Two Mile will be of much higher grade than the Sullivan because much of the pyrrhotite gange (iron sulfide) has stratified above the ore beds and thus does not dilute them as occurred at the Sullivan.
The company’s address is Suite 315, 8921 N. Indian Trail Rd., Spokane, WA 99208, 509-464-0172, fax: 509-465-2883, email: [email protected].