Exmin secures district-scale projects in Mexico

Vancouver A series of newly executed deals have provided Exmin Resources (EXM-V) with a large land package in the Moris and Arechuyvo districts of western Chihuahua State. Two of the project areas are prospective for gold and host drill-ready targets, while the third is prospective for both precious and base-metal mineralization.

The newly acquired holdings cover 47,280 hectares in the Sierra Madre mineral belt, and were acquired for modest staged payments. Most of the ground is in the Moris district, which adjoins the Ocampo district where Gammon Lake Resources (GAM-T, GRS-X) recently poured its first gold-silver bar from the Ocampo heap-leach mine. Mineralization in the district consists of low-sulphidation epithermal vein systems within several regional-scale mineralized structural zones.

Exmin’s holdings cover portions of three separate mineralized areas known as La Cienga, Mesa de Las Tunas/El Pilar and El Tecolote, each of which has some history of past production.

The areas of interest include two vein and breccia targets, La Fe and Balleza, described as “nearly drill-ready,” and at least seven vein systems in an area that measures 2 km by 4 km. Several of the veins were exploited by shallow workings, generally less than 50 metres in depth. One of the mines, La Blanca, was studied by a Mexican government mining agency in 1993. Nineteen samples taken at the La Blanca vein averaged 38.2 grams gold and 472 grams silver per tonne, while seven samples from the Templar vein ranged from 2.8 grams to more than 100 grams gold and 31 to 153 grams silver.

Exmin carried out preliminary mapping and sampling at the advanced La Fe and Balleza targets, with encouraging results. The vein system at La Fe was traced for more than 800 metres along strike, and over a vertical extent of more than 500 metres. Individual samples from the upper levels of the mineralized system returned values of up to 21.8 grams gold, while a 12-metre continuous section taken about 500 metres below ran 4.4 grams gold.

Balleza consists of a silicified rhyolite dyke that hosts quartz-matrix breccias. The dyke is exposed over a vertical elevation of about 100 metres, and at least 500 metres along strike, and is open in both directions. Forty-two rock-chip samples were collected by the company, with more than half returning grades of more than 0.5 gram gold, ranging up to 2.9 grams gold and 461 grams silver. Other targets, including some mined in the past, are being tested by a reconnaissance mapping and sampling programs.

The exploration targets are all accessible by road.