Continental advances Buritica in Colombia

Continental Gold (TSX: CNL; US-OTC: CGOOF) released a slew of drill results in early October from its Buritica gold project in Colombia’s Antioquia state.

The company released assays from 28 drill holes to go along with underground sampling. The results came out of the project’s Yaragua and San Agustin vein systems.

Results from Yaragua were of particular interest, as that vein system makes up most of the project’s current resource. San Agustin lies adjacent to Yaragua on the north side.

Stepout drilling west of the Yaragua resource returned true-width highlight intercepts of 2.7 metres grading 830.6 grams gold and 65 grams silver, and 3.5 metres grading 27.1 grams gold and 11 grams silver.

Underground channel sampling in the historical workings of Yaragua showed continuous high grades, with highlights of 121.4 grams gold and 775 grams silver over 0.5 metre, and 371.5 grams gold and 2,950 grams silver over 0.4 metre.

Continental says the samples were limited by the narrow tunnel widths, but returned greater grades and thickness than the current resource model.

Intercepts at Yaragua average 16.3 grams gold over 1.5 metres, compared to 14.5 grams gold in measured and indicated resources and 8.9 grams gold in inferred.

Continental says the results — along with more to come from eight drill rigs turning on-site — will go towards expanding resources in an upcoming resource update, and help push more inferred resources into the measured and indicated categories.

Buritica has a measured and indicated resource of 3.7 million tonnes grading 13.6 grams gold, 38 grams silver and 0.7% zinc for 1.6 million oz. gold and 4.6 million oz. silver. The inferred resources are just as eye-catching: Buritica boasts inferred resources of 13.3 million tonnes grading 8.8 grams gold and 33 grams silver for 3.76 million oz. gold and 14.2 million oz. silver.

At San Agustin, the company has hit mineralization in veins that weren’t even in its model.

Highlights from the area include 3 metres grading 11.4 grams gold and 21 grams silver, and 4.2 metres grading 7.7 grams gold and 48 grams silver.

The results were encouraging enough to prompt Continental to plan an underground drilling campaign at San Agustin by year-end.

Buritica is wholly owned by Continental and contains several areas of high-grade gold-and-silver mineralization. The two most tested areas, however, are the Yaragua and Veta Sur systems.

Yaragua has been drill-outlined along 900 metres of strike, with 1,300 vertical metres of underground developments. At Veta Sur, Continental has outlined 700 metres of strike and 1,300 vertical metres.

Continental says both systems are characterized by multiple, steeply dipping veins and broader, more disseminated mineralization, and both remain open at depth and along strike, at high grades.

Continental Gold shares last traded at $4.17, within a 52-week range of $2.71 and $10.03. With 126.6 million shares outstanding, Continental has a market capitalization of $528 milllion.