High Grade Zones Extended Beyond Known Mineralization At LaPlata Project In Ecuador

VANCOUVER - Atico Mining Corporation reported results of the latest five holes from its drill program at the La Plata precious metals-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) project in Ecuador. These five holes are still part of the ongoing campaign targeting the south block to test for possible continuity as well as mineralization outside of the known envelope. True widths are dependent on uncertainties in the local strike and dip of the mineralization and are estimated to be between 76% and 83% of the drill intercept.

Joseph Salas, VP Exploration, said, “The high-grade precious metals results are associated with additional pulses of hydrothermal fluids that further enriched pre-existing VMS lenses with gold and silver. These drill results are often exceeding the expected intercept value in the south block which is pointing to the possibility of expanding the mineralized envelope of the La Plata deposit.”

The 2020 La Plata exploration program is intended to infill the south and north blocks of the La Mina area while upgrading the known mineralized resources from the inferred category. This program is also designed to increase the known resources at the main La Mina VMS lenses while providing the necessary samples to further metallurgical testing along with geotechnical investigations. When completed, these new findings and results will then be included in the upcoming feasibility study.

Drill holes are planned to continue testing mineralization mainly at depth and along strike of the La Mina area while also stepping out 275 meters north to further test the Guatuza target area. The previous operator of the property reported high grade values from their earlier trenching program at the Guatuza target. These results included a surface trench cutting 2.5m of 5.36 g/t Au, 71.18 g/t Ag, 2.14% Cu, 3.22% Pb & 10.86% Zn as reported in Toachi Mining Inc.

Gold-bearing sulphide mineralization at La Plata occurs as compositional banding composed of chalcopyrite, sphalerite and pyrite laminae with barite occurring as clasts and also as layers. The mineralized lenses have also been dislocated by a few faults and dolerite dikes cutting the body. The La Plata project is amongst the highest-grade gold-copper VMS deposits in which base and precious metal mineralization is interpreted to have formed as part of multiple volcanic episodes that created a stacked volcanic-exhalite hydrothermal sequence considered favorable for hosting additional VMS lenses. The recent drilling results in the southern portion of the deposit have encountered deeper mineralization, and an extension of mineralization to the north has been discovered by recent trenching results.

The project consists of two concessions covering a total area of 2,300 hectares along its 9-kilometer length, which contains known mineralization in two VMS lenses and nine priority exploration targets. The Company has a binding option agreement with a private Ecuadorean company to earn up to 75% in the La Plata project, of which the first option to acquire the initial 60% ownership has been exercised.