Updated On The Norte Zone El Cobre Project

 

VANCOUVER, BC - Almadex Minerals Limited has received assay results from hole EC-17-027 of the 2017 Norte drilling program. EC-17-027 was drilled to target and expand the high grade mineralization, and intersected multiple zones of intense stockwork veining and potassic alteration accompanied by significant copper and gold grades. 

J. Duane Poliquin, Chairman of Almadex said, "Since the Norte Zone discovery we have been carrying out a systematic drill campaign to define this target. While a broad lower grade zone envelopes the high grade mineralization we have intercepted, it is clear that a discrete high grade gold copper porphyry system may be a target for our drill program, and this hole helps to further define the high grade zone that is emerging from the drill program."

The El Cobre Project has a total area of 7,456 hectares and is located adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, about 75 kilometers northwest of the major port city of Veracruz, Mexico and has uniquely excellent infrastructure. The project area is situated 200 meters above sea level with extensive road access and is located less than 10 kilometers from a power plant, highway, gas line and other major infrastructure. Major power lines cross the property area. Almadex has its full drill permits from SEMARNAT and has land access agreements in place. The land ownership is private over most of the project area, has previously been cleared and is used for local agricultural purposes.

The four copper-gold porphyry targets currently known within the El Cobre Project, Encinal, El Porvenir, Norte and Villa Rica are defined by distinct Cu-Au soil anomalies, discrete, positive magnetic features and a large IP chargeability anomaly. The largest target area is the Villa Rica zone which has not been drill tested. Limited past RC and diamond drill testing at Encinal, El Porvenir, and Norte has returned wide intercepts of porphyry copper-gold and narrow zones of intermediate sulphidation epithermal gold-silver vein mineralization, with selected intercepts as follows: El Porvenir Zone: Drilling has demonstrated that the system persists at least to 400 m depth. Significant copper and gold grades were intersected such as 0.16% Cu and 0.39 g/t Au over 290 m in hole DDH04CB1. In addition, hole EC-13-004 intersected 0.23% Cu and 0.36 g/t Au over 106 m, to a depth of 504 m, again indicating potentially significant mineralization at depth. No drilling has been conducted at El Porvenir since 2013; Encinal Zone: Hole CB5 intersected a highly altered breccia pipe containing fragments of stockwork veining and porphyry mineralization across which 18.28 meters returned 1.42 g/t Au and 0.10% Cu. The breccia pipe occurs in a large alteration zone, IP chargeability high and magnetics low which has not been tested to depth. On June 19, 2017 Almadex announced that a new area of exposed stockwork quartz veining and gold mineralization had been identified in the Encinal Zone. On June 29, 2017 Almadex announced the results of initial drilling on this exposed stockwork (Hole EC-17-025) which returned results including 34.47 meters grading 0.73 g/t Au and 0.20% Cu. Almadex is currently following up these results with some additional drilling at Encinal; Norte Zone: All five holes drilled in the Norte Zone prior to 2016 intersected porphyry-style mineralization. Hole 08-CBCN-022, one of the deepest holes drilled at Norte in 2008, returned values of 0.14% Cu with 0.19 g/t Au over 259 m and 08-CBCN-19 intersected 41.15 meters averaging 0.42 g/t gold and 0.27% copper to the end of the hole at 187.45 meters. Drilling at the Norte Zone in 2016 and 2017 has resulted in the highest grade intersections to date at the El Cobre project, including 114.6 meters grading 1.33 g/t Au and 0.48% Cu (Hole EC-17-018, see press release of April 5, 2017), 80.5 meters grading 1.34 g/t Au and 0.46% Cu (Hole EC-16-012, see press release of October 24, 2016), and 70.45 meters grading 2.32 g/t Au and 0.59% Cu (Hole EC-17-026, see press release of July 25, 2017). Since the Norte Zone discovery, Almadex has been carrying out a systematic drill campaign to define this target. Future Norte drilling will focus on defining the high grade zone now emerging from the Norte drill program.

In addition to the above, several anomalous areas remain untested by drilling, including the Villa Rica Zone, a roughly 2.5 kilometer by 1 kilometer area defined by a strong north-northwest trending magnetic-chargeability high and associated copper-gold soil geochemical anomaly. Recently (see Almadex news releases of March 19th, 2017 and April 10th, 2017) significant new gold porphyry mineralization was identified in outcrop at the Raya Tembrillo target within the Villa Rica zone.