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The Southwest zone, outlined during the recent 40,000-metre program, is described by the company as “similar in nature to the Main zone and [apparently] part of the same graben structure.” The Main zone’s TG-1 oxide deposit has a resource of 8 million tonnes grading 5.2 grams gold and 48 grams silver per tonne.
The Southwest zone was tested by eight drill holes and remains open to the south. Significant intercepts include: 6.7 metres grading 3.5 grams gold and 9 grams silver; 3 metres grading 0.8 gram gold; and 8.1 metres grading 4.5 grams gold and 94 grams silver. These intercepts were pulled from depths of between 21 and 27 metres.
Current drilling is testing for extensions of the TG-1 oxide gold deposit, while defining the TG-3 deposit. Also, infill drilling at the sulphide portion of the TG-1 deposit is attempting to confirm the size and continuity of the resource.
“TG-1 drilling is confirming that the gold deposit is very good grade, with expansion potential to the south rather than the north, as originally expected,” says Graham Clow, president of Manhattan. “The sulphide drilling continues to surprise us with significant high-grade copper intersections.”
Five drill rigs are spinning at the TG-1 deposit, and infill drilling is expected to be finished by April.
Highlights from the latest round of drilling at TG-1 include:
– 42 metres grading 5.1% copper, 0.1% zinc, 0.4 gram gold and 17 grams silver in hole 144;
– 74.9 metres grading 1.6% copper, 0.8% zinc, 0.8 gram gold and 34 grams silver in hole 151; and
– 63.6 metres grading 1.6% copper, 2.1% zinc, 1.1 grams gold and 53 grams silver in hole 161.
Based on these and other drill results, the copper grade of the TG-1 sulphide resource is expected to increase. The current resource is 64.2 million tonnes grading 1.7% copper, 1.4% zinc, 0.7 gram gold and 31 grams silver.
Drilling is also under way at the B5 geophysical anomaly, 11 km south of Tambo Grande. The discovery hole returned 142 metres of massive sulphides grading 0.5% copper, 0.9% zinc, 0.6 gram gold and 17 grams silver (including 2% copper, 3.5% zinc, 1 gram gold and 56 grams silver over 23 metres). A second hole, a 300-metre stepout, tested the northern edges of the anomaly, cutting 5 metres of sulphides. Assay results are pending. A third hole has been collared on the centre of the geophysical anomaly, 200 metres south of the discovery hole.
Clow says the B5 deposit could be as large as the TG-3 deposit, which hosts a resource of 110 million tonnes grading 0.7% copper, 1% zinc, 0.7 gram gold and 19 grams silver. He adds that metallurgical work at Tambo Grande is expected to continue until August: “We are pleased so far with the metallurgical results. Volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits are typically more difficult to treat than other ores, so the liberation studies and successful bench-scale work are encouraging at this early stage.”
Manhattan can earn a 75% stake in Tambo Grande from the Peruvian government by completing a feasibility study in three years. The company plans to have a prefeasibility ready by July and a full feasibility study in the first quarter of 2001.
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