Gitennes finds new gold zone at Virgen

Drilling by Gitennes Exploration (GIT-A) has identified a new zone of mineralization at its Virgen gold property in north-central Peru.

Hole 97-24 intersected four separate gold-bearing zones while testing a series of deep geophysical anomalies. The discovery was made 900 metres southeast of the advanced Rio Suro exploration target in an area of underlying, intensely altered volcanic rock known as the Alumbre zone.

Results from that program include: 14.9 metres (from 158.2 to 173.1 metres) of 18.33 grams gold per tonne; 3.1 metres (from 186.8 to 189.9 metres) of 8.54 grams; 26.8 metres (from 235 to 261.8 metres) of 3.46 grams; and 21.3 metres (from 261.8 to 283.1 metres) of 1.64 grams. Core recovery of the final 16.7 metres of the last interval was poor, and 4.8 metres of the intersection had an average grade of zero.

Geologically, the first intersection is in an oxidized volcanic unit characterized by silicification, brecciation and minor veining, along with remnant sulphide minerals. The remaining intervals are situated in a zone of strongly altered and brecciated siltstone and intrusive rock mineralized with disseminated pyrite and chalcocite. According to Gitennes, mineralization in the first interval is epithermal in nature, whereas that of the remaining interval is porphyry-style.

Four additional holes, drilled 150 metres east, 250 metres west and 600 and 670 metres north of hole 24, failed to return significant results. Of these, one stopped short of the target, two failed to reach the intended target and one returned only weak mineralization. The company will continue testing the area with an eye to future drilling.

An independent scoping study at the Rio Suro zone will examine possible pit designs, cutoff and deposit grades, reserves and project economics. Site engineering will also be carried out, with a tunnel driven through the southern portion of the zone.

Recently, Gitennes announced results from six 20-kg bulk samples taken from Rio Suro. Recoveries from a cyanide leach bottle-roll method ranged from 83.3% for the lowest-grade sample (0.78 gram) to 95.6% for the highest-grade sample (41 grams).

Although samples were tested over two days, gold extraction is said to have been essentially complete within four hours. Furthermore, analysis indicates that potentially problematic metals in rock samples and leach solutions are negligible.

Future metallurgical tests involving larger samples of coarsely crushed rock will, in turn, provide numbers with which to evaluate a potential heap-leach operation.

The results from another 10 holes at Rio Suro also have been released.

Reverse-circulation (RC) and diamond drill holes returned assays similar to those found over comparable widths in holes previously drilled along the zone.

Results from RC drilling include: 93 metres (from 9 to 102 metres) grading 1.85 grams in hole 97-15; 39 metres (from 4 to 43 metres) grading 11.08 grams and 64 metres (from 43 to 107 metres) grading 0.54 gram in 97-17; 56 metres (from 40 to 96 metres) grading 0.85 gram in 97-14; and 85 metres (from 55 to 140 metres) of 2.9 grams in hole 97-18.

Results from core drilling include: 43.6 metres (from 36 to 79.6 metres) grading 0.57 gram, including 13.7 metres of no core recovery at zero grade, in hole 97-20; 33.9 metres (from 46.3 to 80.2 metres) grading 1.74 grams in 97-21; and 1.65 grams over the 15.2 metres (from 42.7 to 57.9 metres). No intact core from that hole was recovered between 27.3 and 42.7 metres.

In all, three holes were drilled in the southern end of the zone, three in the central portion, and the remainder in the zone’s northern end. With the exception of RC hole 97-15 (an infill between previously drilled core holes 97-17 and 97-18), each such hole was drilled to undercut or twin previously drilled holes.

According to Gitennes, information gleaned from drilling in the central and northern areas has revealed a more complex mineralized system than expected.

The system is characterized by oxide mineralization to the west and copper-gold sulphide mineralization to the east. All samples from holes drilled in the east of these two sections are being analyzed for copper, with initial results indicating strongly anomalous values.

Mineralization at Rio Suro remains open to the south, west and at depth.