Good widths at Morro do Vento

The first three holes drilled by Desert Sun Mining (DSM-T) at the Morro do Vento prospect in the Jacobina area of Bahia state, Brazil, have intersected multiple zones of gold mineralization.

Desert Sun is earning a 100% interest in the Jacobina property from William Multi-Tech, formerly William Resources. William Multi-Tech is testing a series of prospects along the strike of the Serra do Corrego formation, which hosted the large Itapicuru and Joao Belo gold deposits, previously mined by Anglo American (AAUK-Q).

The recent drilling tested the Morro do Vento prospect, 1.5 km from the existing Jacobina mill. Hole MVT-289, collared at the southern end of the prospect, cut a 20.4-metre core length grading 4.4 grams gold per tonne. The intersection represented a true width of around 11.8 metres and had a vertical depth of about 80 metres.

A second intersection at about 96 metres vertical depth ran 1.4 grams per tonne over 27.1 metres, including a 10.5-metre interval grading 2.8 grams per tonne.

Another hole, MVT-290, tested the same horizon about 150 metres farther north. It encountered 5.6 metres grading 2.9 grams gold per tonne. The intersection came at a depth of around 90 metres and represented a 4.9-metre true width.

At the northern end of the prospect, about 500 metres north of MVT-289, hole MVT-291 intersected three separate mineralized horizons with generally lower grades. A 2.8-metre intersection at 40 metres vertical depth graded 1.4 grams gold per tonne, and a 7.6-metre intersection at 58 metres depth graded 1.7 grams.

The deepest intersection, at around 106 metres vertical depth, averaged 1.5 grams per tonne over a core length of 54 metres (or 44 metres true width). This included a zone 21 metres long grading 2.6 grams.

Previous operators at Jacobina have concentrated on north-striking conglomerate horizons, similar to the Witswatersrand and Tarkwa gold deposits in Africa, where grades of 4-5 grams per tonne were common but where the minable widths were only 2-2.5 metres wide. Desert Sun’s sampling suggests that interbedded quartzite units between the conglomerate horizons can also be gold-bearing.

The “reef” structure of the gold-bearing horizons and their position on prominent west-facing ridges offer the possibility of open-pit mining on any economic gold zones.