Rio Narcea drills record hole

Drilling by Rio Narcea Gold Mines (RNG-T) at its El Valle mine in northern Spain has uncovered what appears to be a shallow, high-grade zone of mineralization. The 10-hole program is testing a previously undrilled area in the main pit.

Indeed, hole 139, which tested the updip extension of mineralization in the southwest quadrant of the pit, returned the highest grade and thickness ever reported by the company: 56.4 metres (from 86.4 to 142.8 metres) averaging 38.4 grams gold per tonne, including 22 metres (92.1-114.1 metres) of 94 grams and 9.7 metres (133.1-142.8 metres) of 6.4 grams. Also included is a 19-metre interval (114.1-133.1 metres) with no significant gold.

Other highlights include: 4 metres (69.6-73.6 metres) averaging 27.7 grams; 1.85 metres (75.8-77.6 metres) of 21.7 grams; 14.8 metres (17-31.8 metres) of 9.2 grams; and 8.3 metres (190.7-199 metres) of 5.1 grams.

The holes indicate a northeasterly trending zone with a strike length of 70 metres, ranging in thickness from 7 metres in the northeast to 35 metres in the southwest, dipping about 20 to the southeast. The zone is open and untested along more than 200 metres of strike to the southwest.

Mineralization consists of a strongly oxidized, clay-altered breccia of jasperoid with clasts of porphyry dykes.