Drilling expands Cerro Casale gold-copper deposit

Deep drilling at the Aldebaran property in northern Chile has expanded the width of the low-grade Cerro Casale gold-copper porphyry deposit.

The main porphyry zone was previously estimated by partners Arizona Star Resource (AZS-V) and Bema Gold (BGO-T) to have a dimension of 850 metres long by 300 metres wide by 750 metres deep. These dimensions are based on 11 deep drill holes and 17 shallower, reverse-circulation holes.

Assay results for two additional deep drill holes were recently released.

Hole 30 was collared from the centre of the main porphyry zone and drilled at an angle of minus 50 to the southwest, for a total depth of 800 metres.

Starting at a depth of 3 metres, it intersected 251 metres of oxide mineralization grading 0.55 gram gold and 0.085% copper before cutting 164 metres of porphyry between 254 and 418 metres grading 0.52 gram gold and 0.27% copper, as well as 382 metres of porphyry between 418 and 800 metres grading 1 gram gold and 0.26% copper.

The bottom of hole 30 is 350 metres southwest of the previously defined southern boundary.

Less impressive was hole 29, which was drilled from the south on the opposite side of the mountain and passed through 340 metres of low-grade propylitic altered porphyry before intersecting 250 metres of prophyry mineralization between 352 and 602 metres grading 0.38 gram gold and 0.18% copper, plus 80 metres of potassically altered porphyry between 602 and 682 metres grading 0.71 gram gold and 0.29% copper. Both holes ended in mineralization.

The work forms part of a 20-hole program designed to test the extent of sulphide mineralization lying beneath the Cerro Casale oxide deposit, which was last estimated to host a minable reserve of 94.3 million tonnes grading 0.65 gram gold.

Assay results are pending for an additional three holes, which were collared outside the Main zone and which are reported to have intersected porphyry mineralization.

The Aldebaran property is held 49% by Bema and 51% by Arizona Star. Bema is the largest shareholder of Arizona Star, with a 30% interest.