Absolut aims its drill at Pico Machay

Toronto-based Absolut Resources (ABS-V) will begin drill testing the central portion of a 400-by-1,400-metre resistivity anomaly on the Pico Machay gold project in central Peru in the second half of May.

The five-hole 1,000-metre reverse-circulation drill program is designed to test a 150-by-250-metre ridge where rock chip sampling by the company returned up to 2.3 grams gold per tonne over 20 metres. Absolut says much of the remainder of the anomaly is covered by shallow scree.

The holes will test the depth extent and orientation of the zone’s vuggy silica; geophysical surveying indicates the unit could stretch up to 150 metres in thickness.

Meanwhile, road rehabilitation and drill pad construction continues.

Absolut picked up an option to acquire a 75% stake in the 32-sq.-km project from London-listed Monterrico Metals earlier this year by buying privately held Peruvian company Calipuy Resources for 2.4 million shares.

Under a deal inked in January of 2003, Calipuy can earn an initial 60% interest in the project by spending at least US$2 million on exploration over four years; an additional 15% can be had by spending a total of US$4 million or completing a mine development plan before the deal’s fifth anniversary. Absolut has agreed to drill at least 2,000 metres, and spend $450,000 on exploration before the second anniversary.

Pico Machay is home to a large, high-sulphidation epithermal system with gold mineralization hosted by Tertiary volcanic rocks. The property is situated in Peru’s Andean Cordillera, and is centred on a 1-by-2.5-km area of advanced argillic alteration with elevated gold values.

The best result from eight holes (totalling 1,848 metres) sunk by Newcrest Mining in the mid-1990s was hole no. 1, which returned 62 metres running 0.8 grams gold at a depth of around 50 metres. The hole was collared on the silica-rich ridge, but failed to test the main felsic volcanic unit, which hosts the vuggy silica and dips to the south.

Previous rock chip sampling on the ridge returned an average of 1 gram gold. Rock chip sampling over a larger, 1-km-by-4-km area averages 0.43 gram gold. The area remains largely undrilled.

Absolut is currently reviewing all projects and targets inherited via its acquisition of Calipuy. It is also examining several other potential projects in Peru.