Drilling Extends Mineralization At The San Francisco Project And Commencement Of Exploration On New Acquisitions
VANCOUVER - Turmalina Metals Corp. reported that Phase 3 deep drilling at the San Francisco project on the San Francisco de Los Andes (SFdLA) breccia pipe has continued to extend copper-gold-silver mineralization below previous drilling at the breccia pipe, while initial exploration on new acquisitions at the Project have returned highly encouraging results.
Drill holes SFDH-048, SFDH-049, SFDH-050 and SFDH-051 test the width and structure of the SFdLA breccia pipe at 350 to 450m depth, approximately 100 to 200 meters below Phase 2 drilling. These four holes intersect the centre of the breccia pipe between the high-grade lobes located on the eastern and western ends of pipe. In tourmaline breccias this central area is typically characterized by mineralization focused along the margins of the breccia. The holes intersected: 12.3m @ 0.93% Cu, 0.05 g/t Au & 41 g/t Ag (2.1 g/t AuEq, 1.3% CuEq) SFDH-048 from 546m; 25m @ 1.2% Cu, 0.21 g/t Au & 54 g/t Ag (2.9 g/t AuEq, 1.7% CuEq) SFDH-049 from 270m; 20m @ 0.51% Cu, 0.62 g/t Au & 55 g/t Ag (2.2 g/t AuEq, 1.3% CuEq) SFDH-050 from 329m; 31m @ 0.76% Cu, 0.13 g/t Au & 21 g/t Ag (1.7 g/t AuEq, 1.0% CuEq) SFDH-051 from 288m; and 21m @ 0.08% Cu, 1.76 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.9 g/t AuEq, 1.2% CuEq) SFDH-051 from 492m.
These holes extend mineralization in the center of the breccia pipe to nearly twice the depth of Phase 2 drilling and will allow detailed 3D models of the breccia and contained resources to be developed.
Rohan Wolfe, Chief Executive Officer and Director, said, “Our drilling at SFdLA aims to systematically test the extent and shape of this remarkable breccia pipe at depth. These four holes extend copper-gold-silver mineralization in the core of the pipe to nearly double that of previous drilling, significantly increasing the extent of mineralization at depth in the pipe. Our team is now using these holes to accurate model the geology, structure and mineralization of the pipe in 3D to guide further exploration and develop a resource model. In July we announced a significant expansion of the San Francisco project from 3400 ha to 34,000 ha, and our initial exploration of these newly acquired areas have started to return highly encouraging results, with multiple breccia and vein prospects returning assays of > 1-2 g/t gold from initial rock chip samples. We look forward to keeping the market informed as exploration continues over the coming months.”
Previous the Company announced an expansion of the project area from 3400 ha to 34,600 ha. Exploration of this newly acquired ground is a high priority, with current field work including a soil sampling campaign covering the entire area and detailed mapping and sampling over high-priority targets. Initial results from first-pass exploration are highly encouraging, with multiple breccia and vein systems returning significant grades, including: The Miranda vein system: quartz-tourmaline-sulphide veins up to 10m wide exposed over a 1600m strike length with initial rock chips returning up to 4.9 % Cu, 2.0 g/t Au and 411 g/t Ag; The Santa Barbara I breccia: a 50m diameter tourmaline breccia with assays of up to 3.3 g/t Au; The Tocota vein system: a series of quartz-sulphide veins with assays of up to 9.2 g/t Au; The Canaleta veins system: a 100m diameter quartz-tourmaline vein and breccia system with assays up to 1.8 % Cu, 5.9 g/t Au and 72 g/t Ag; and Chorrillos SW: a quartz-tourmaline vein and breccia system with assays up to 1.73 % Cu, 0.72 g/t Au and 3420 g/t Ag.
One drill rig is currently drilling at the Project testing both the SFdLA breccia pipe and new exploration targets. Several field teams are focused on conducting project-wide mapping and sampling campaigns, with the highest priority targets to be drill tested in the coming months. Turmalina is well funded with a strong cash position to execute its exploration strategy.
Field work at the company’s Chanape copper-gold project in Peru is focused on mapping and sampling the large number (>50) of outcropping tourmaline breccias at the project and finalizing permits for drilling. Recent field work continues to return encouraging results from oxidized outcrops that do not typically retain copper, with rock chip sampling at the undrilled San Antonio tourmaline breccia returning maximum values of 14.4 g/t Au and 89 g/t Ag. Follow up channel sampling is underway at several breccia pipes, including San Antonio.