Cascabel Exploration Project Update In Ecuador
OTTAWA, ON - Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. reported on the project update for the Cascabel copper-gold porphyry joint venture exploration project in northern Ecuador, in which the Company has a 15% interest financed through to completion of a feasibility study. SolGold Plc is funding 100% of the exploration at Cascabel and is the operator of the project.
Drill hole 18 assay results return 664m (true width 398m1) grading 0.70 % copper, and 0.77 g/t gold (1.39% CuEq²) from 904m, within a broader mineralized halo of 1204m (true width 722m) grading at 0.46 % copper and 0.47 g/t gold (0.88% CuEq) from 466m at the growing Alpala deposit, at 0.3% Cu cutoff.
Hole 19 terminated at 1632.52m on January 21, 2017 and samples at laboratory. Drilling focus moving towards Alpala south-east and Hematite Hill high temperature, bornite rich zones. Hole 20R continuing at 1310m.
Holes 21 & 22 commenced and at 289m and 249m respectively. Two additional rigs to arrive in February. (1) Estimates have been made in defining true widths due to insufficient drilling in the outer limits of the currently known extension of the Alpala deposit and drill results not having been fully interpreted. These estimates may change as more drilling is completed and results continue to be processed. (2) Copper Equivalent (CuEq) calculated using a gold conversion factor of 0.89, with copper price of US$2.20/lb. and gold price of US$1,350/oz.
The Cascabel Project is located within the section of the Andean Copper belt. The project area hosts mineralization of Eocene age, the same age as numerous Tier 1 deposits along the Andean Copper Belt in Chile and Peru to the south. The project base is located at Rocafuerte, in northwestern Ecuador just west of the City of Ibarra, approximately 3 hours drive north of Quito and close to water, power supply and Pacific Ports. SolGold holds an 85% interest in ENSA (Exploraciones Novomining S.A.) which holds the Cascabel concession.
Fourteen different targets have been defined at Cascabel and only one of these, the Alpala Deposit has been drilled to date. The deposit at Alpala continues to grow with each new drill hole. Drilling has focussed on defining the geometry of the Alpala deposit, which is open in all directions. 29,000m of drilling has been completed to date.
Hole 18 intersected copper and gold mineralization over an interval of 1204m from 466m depth. This interval is characterized by 112m long upper zone of mineralization from 548m to 660m, and a 664m long lower zone of mineralization from 904m to 1568m, separated by a late stage lower grade dyke intersected from 660m to 904m.
Following geological review and updated modeling, SolGold is focussing on the Alpala south-east and Hematite Hill zones, covering a further 750m of strike, or double the existing strike of the Alpala zone.
Drilling on Rig 1 continues with Hole 22, which is at a current depth of 249m. Hole 22 will test for shallower extensions above recent mineralization encountered in Hole 19.
Rig 2 was moved to Hematite Hill drill site for Hole 21, which is at a current depth of 289m. Hole 21 is testing southeast extensions of the Alpala deposit. The high-grade core of the Alpala deposit, remains open southeast and below Hole 16, which returned an encouraging 856 meters grading at 0.80 % copper and 1.04 g/t gold.
Rig 3 continues deepening Hole 20R, which is at a current depth of 1300.5m.
Updates on the progress of current holes 20R, 21, and 22 will be provided in the coming weeks.
SolGold is awaiting the arrival of two additional rigs in February to focus on drilling to define the extent of the Alpala system, prior to an optimized maiden resource statement.