Drilling program expands Escalones deposit in Chile

Partners General Minerals (GNM-T) and Grupo Mexico have received encouraging results from the first two holes of a 15-hole program at the Escalones copper-gold property, 100 km southeast of Santiago, Chile.

The holes extended the limits of mineralization more than 400 metres to the southeast though still within a large geophysical anomaly.

In a short stepout, hole 10 encountered 143 metres grading 0.56% copper plus 0.9 gram gold and 2.7 grams silver per tonne, 50 metres east of a mineralized hole.

The interval began within 34 metres of surface, beneath a post-mineral sill, and included two higher-grade zones in sulphide-rich skarn: 17 metres of 0.8% copper starting at a depth of 37 metres, and 14 metres of 1% copper at 117 metres.

Nearly half a kilometre to the southeast, General Minerals intercepted significant mineralization in hole 11. Starting at a depth of 55 metres, the hole hit 11.5 metres of 0.75% copper, followed immediately by 104 metres of 0.26% copper, and another 208.7 metres of 0.35% copper. The last interval included a 5-metre section (from 174 to 179 metres) grading 4.1% copper, 15 grams silver and 0.49 gram gold.

General Minerals plans to test the southeastern portion of the Escalones Alto zone for the third hole of the program, 350 metres northeast of hole 11 and 310 metres southeast of hole 10.

To date, the company has outlined mineralization in two rounds of drilling over a strike length of 1.4 km and a horizontal width of 400 metres.

Grupo Mexico inherited its stake in Escalones after a US$2-billion takeover of New York-based Asarco late last year. To earn 60% of the property, the Mexican miner must fund exploration through to the feasibility stage and pay $5 million after the study in completed.