Almaden expands Ixtaca zone

Prospect generator Almaden Minerals (AMM-T) continues to expand its wholly owned Ixtaca discovery as it works through a 20,000-metre drill program on the property.

In the latest results hole 41, a 115-metre step-out to the northwest, hit 132.2 metres grading 0.27 gram gold per tonne and 48.3 grams silver per tonne from 73 metres downhole, and included a 6.6-metre interval of 1.12 grams gold and 435.9 grams silver. Hole 3, drilled on the Caleva zone, cut 36.8 metres carrying 0.19 gram gold and 29.4 grams silver from 93 metres depth.

Hole 42, meanwhile, drilled as a 200-metre step-out to the southwest, did not hit mineralization and the company believes it was drilled off-trend.

Only two days before, on Aug. 15, Almaden released further results pushing known mineralization at the Ixtaca zone north. Hole 40 hit 35 metres at 1.75 grams gold and 4.5 grams silver from 151 metres depth within a longer interval of 155 metres grading 0.6 gram gold and 3.9 grams silver, and hole 39 returned 115.4 metres carrying 0.48 gram gold and 37.7 grams silver from 39 metres depth.

In early August, Almaden released yet more results from Ixtaca, which included 268.5 metres carrying 0.57 gram gold and 39.8 grams silver, 226.6 metres averaging 0.76 gram gold and 57.7 grams silver, and 129.3 metres carrying 0.69 gram gold and 53.7 grams silver.

“These new holes continue to show that the Ixtaca zone is a robust and wide system of veining,” said J.D. Poliquin, Almaden’s chairman, in a press release. “Drilling to date on the Ixtaca zone also shows good continuity of mineralization in both horizontal and vertical dimensions.”

The Ixtaca zone is unique for Almaden in that unlike most projects where it vends out its discoveries, the company has so far decided to go it alone. Almaden has already released assay results from more than 40 holes at Ixtaca since it announced the discovery hole in August 2010 and has three drills on the project.

Ixtaca was a near-blind discovery on the southwest corner of Almaden’s wholly owned Tuligtic project in Mexico’s Puebla state. Surface showings were obscured due to a heavy layer of volcanic ash in the region, while the epithermal gold-silver target occurs in deformed carbonate rocks and is characterized by extensively clay-altered and silicified volcanic rocks.

Elsewhere in Mexico, Goldgroup Mining (GGA-T) is advancing its 70%-owned Caballo Blanco gold project, with Almaden holding the remainder. The latest drill results extend the La Paila oxide gold zone to the southwest, as Goldgroup works to define and expand the eastern, southern and southwestern flanks of the zone.

The latest results included 85 metres grading 0.71 gram gold from 80 metres downhole, 95 metres averaging 0.53 gram gold from 150 metres downhole, 4 metres carrying 2.18 grams gold within a 72-metre interval carrying 0.51 gram gold, and 8 metres grading 1.04 grams gold.

The La Paila prospect at Caballo Blanco currently hosts 6.7 million indicated tonnes at 0.65 gram gold and 27.6 million inferred tonnes at 0.58 gram gold. Goldgroup is working on a 30,000-metre drill program to upgrade the resource, which was based on 7,000 metres of drilling.

At El Cobre, currently a 60/40 partnership between Almaden and Goldgroup, the joint venture is working through a 5,000-metre drill program for the year. The project was spun out of the Caballo Blanco project and the companies are targeting a copper-gold porphyry system.

Windstorm Resources (WSR-V), meanwhile, announced earlier this year that it was drilling 3,000 metres at the Caldera project in Mexico’s Pueblo state, which it optioned from Almaden. Results from the 11 holes, however, showed no economic gold grades.

Outside of Mexico, Almaden recently closed the sale of its Elk gold project to Gold Mountain Mining (GUM-V) for 37 million shares and a 2% net smelter return royalty. Almaden has already sold roughly 8.3 million of those shares for proceeds of $3 million.

Almaden’s share price closed up a penny at $3.18 on the day the latest drill results were released. The company has a 52-week trading between $1.70 and $5.25, and 57.7 million shares outstanding.