Almaden begins to step out on Ixtaca gold-silver discovery

Almaden Minerals (amm-t, aau-x) has added a second drill rig to its Tuligtic project in Mexico’s Puebla State as its works to prove up and better understand the orientation of a new gold-silver grassroots discovery called the Ixtaca zone.

Two new holes have re-tested the mineralized veins encountered in discovery hole 1 from a different position. Holes 4 and 5 have crossed hole1 from another direction, confirming the previous results.

“We are very pleased to have confirmed the broad zone of veining at Ixtaca with the two holes reported today,” said Duane Poliquin, chairman of Almaden, in a prepared statement.

In August, the junior announced it had intersected a broad zone of multiple quartz-carbonate-sulphide veining over the entire length of the first ever hole into the Ixtaca target. Hole-1 averaged 1.01 grams gold and 48 grams silver per tonne across 302 metres, starting from the base of the overburden at 47.5 metres down-hole.

The hole cut several higher-grade vein sections included 0.7 metre of 129 grams gold and 4,288 grams silver within a 4.1-metre interval averaging 25.7 grams gold and 936 grams silver.

The first pass of drilling on Ixtaca was limited to just three holes, which were fanned out in a small area, each aimed in a different direction to test the prospect. The site area chosen for this initial drilling was also constrained by topography.

Aimed at the centre of a resistivity anomaly, hole-1 was angled at -55 degrees along an azimuth of 110 degrees. The second hole was swung away from hole-1 and pointed along an azimuth of 330 degrees and a dip of -55 degrees. It intersected 32.7 metres averaging 0.15 gram gold and 32 grams silver, beginning at 172 metres down-hole.

The third hole was positioned south of hole-1 and drilled along an azimuth of 150 degrees at an angle of -50 degrees. It encountered a broad zone averaging 0.36 gold and 34 grams silver across 232 metres, starting from below the overburden base at 21.5 metres down-hole.

Of the three holes, Almaden believes the first hole to have best crossed the zone’s core. Holes 2 and 3 are thought to have been collared closer to the hangingwall and footwall of the zone, respectively.

Almaden resumed drilling on Ixtaca this fall. The first holes were designed to better determine the veins’ orientation, which are thought to have a northeasterly trend. Hole 4 was positioned to cut the area of hole 1 at right angles to what was interpreted to be the strike of the vein system.

Hole 4 was collared at a -48 degree angle on an azimuth of 150 degrees and hit 158 metres averaging 0.94 gram gold and 61.1 grams silver, starting at a down hole depth of 189 metres. Multiple higher-grade sections included 0.8 metre of 8.83 grams gold and 1,337 grams silver, within a 94.6-metre-long interval grading 1.33 grams gold and 79.9 grams silver.

Steepened to -55 degrees, the fifth hole of the program was positioned beneath hole 4 and intersected 230 metres averaging 0.51 gram gold and 42 grams silver, beginning at 146 metres down-hole. Higher-grade bonanza sections included a 0.5-metre interval of 37.4 grams gold and 466 grams silver occurring some 402 metres down-hole.

Four additional holes have since been completed along strike of the discovery area. Results for hole 6, a 100-metre step-out to the northeast, are expected later this week.

Based on the ongoing drilling, Almaden believes there are at least two major sets of veins; one along bedding that strikes roughly 150 to 170 degrees and one perpendicular to bedding, striking 50 to 70 degrees. The overall vein zone is still thought to have a northeasterly trend but the company cautions that true widths cannot be determined with confidence at this time.

“Further holes are necessary to be confident with the orientation of the veins in this blind discovery but we are very encouraged with the results received to date,” stated Poliquin.

Almaden has resumed drilling on a 100-degree azimuth direction, an orientation currently thought to best intersect both sets of veining. A second drill rig with more depth capacity arrived on the property in mid-October. The drill program is expected to continue until the Christmas break and to re-start in the New Year.

The Ixtaca discovery lies in the southwest portion of the 50-sq.-km Tuligtic project, 100 km north of Puebla City and 150 km east of Mexico City. The project covers an area of intensely altered rocks roughly 5 by 5 km in size. The Ixtaca mineralization is 2 km southwest of a porphyry copper-gold zone that had been drilled in 2009.

Almaden first acquired the Tuligtic property by staking in 2002 after conducting prospecting work in the area. Since that time, Almaden has optioned the property to three separate partners, all of whom have walked away.

The Ixtaca zone occurs in deformed carbonate rocks. The veins are composed of banded fine-grained quartz, calcite, rhodochrosite and sulphides which display textures typical of classic low-sulphidation epithermal veins.

The Ixtaca vein zone is a blind target with little surface exposure. Most of the area is covered by a thin layer of recent volcanic ash. Almaden says the discovery was made as the result of its interpretation of the surface geology using epithermal models of mineralization as a guide.

The target area is characterized by extensively clay-altered and silicified volcanic rocks. Almaden notes the alteration is indicative of the upper parts of an epithermal system and includes replacement silicification and hot spring sinter. Quartz-calcite veins showing textural evidence of boiling were found outcropping in limestone roughly 100 metres beneath the exposed sinter.

Ixtaca’s kaolinite and replacement silica alteration zones are typical of a surface showing of an ancient hot spring environment. Within the feeder zones that channel hot mineral solutions from depth to surface, deposits of quartz, carbonate, gold and silver can form.

In a deep gully cut, Almaden discovered some very narrow veinlets (0.1 to 3 cm) in a small outcropping exposure. These veinlets, ranging from 0.1 to 3 cm in width and displaying epithermal textures, assayed up to 1 gram gold and 110 grams silver. Small cobbles of float found in the creek bed returned values of up to 600 grams silver and 6.1 grams gold.

Exploration work prior to drilling included a single induced polarization geophysical line across this area which detected a resistivity anomaly. In addition, several short geochemical soil sample lines showed anomalous gold and silver values.

Almaden’s cash position at Sept. 30 was $17.8 million. With 55.1 million shares outstanding, the company closed up 89 cents on the day to $3.88 on the latest batch of numbers.