New high-grade zinc assays are cause for excitement for Solitario Resources (TSE) at its Bongara zinc project in northern Peru.
The project is in an advanced stage, and exploration continues to increase the value of the deposit.
Solitario has been working on the 14,165-hectare property for the last eight months. A 40-man crew is at work.
Exploration — all by hand — has unearthed extremely high-grade mineralization (up to 33% zinc). Many of the pits bottom in mineralization, and work continues to deepen them.
Some 300 hand-dug pits have been excavated in all, some as deep as 25 metres. Of these, 72 contain at least a 1-metre width in excess of 10% zinc. Despite the monumental amount of labor involved, the company feels it is more economical to dig by hand. The property is 10 km from the nearest road. However, at some point, better access into the project area is planned. The pits are dug in lateritic soils, and mineralization occurs as oxide material. The company considers this deposit to be a Mississippi Valley type, and sees evidence for the possible discovery of more deposits in the area. Solitario was not the first to recognize the potential for zinc in the area. Noranda (TSE) began exploration on the property in the mid-1970s. The company drilled 4 holes and began the process of hand-digging pits.
Calculations based on previous work came up with a surface deposit of 320,000 tonnes grading 28% zinc; however, Solitario, based on its own efforts, expects to release grade and tonnage estimates higher than this A plan for metallurgical recovery has not been announced, although testing will be conducted during the next several months.
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