MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA — Link Mineral seeks Honduran silver, gold

Mississauga-based Link Mineral Ventures (LMVL-C) reports that drilling is winding down on one of its Honduran properties and winding up on another.

At the Pionero property in western Honduras, a 3,100-metre program has been testing the Pinolapa silver-copper target. By mid-October, Link had completed 20 vertical holes, for 2,800 metres, and was anticipating its first batch of results.

A previous program of soil sampling outlined a silver anomaly (mirrored in copper and other indicator elements) measuring 2,600 by 1,300 metres. The mineralization appears to be stratabound in limestone.

Past work carried out in a 380-metre-long adit in the central portion of the anomaly indicates frequent grades of more than 250 grams silver per tonne and 0.35% copper. The soil expression of the mineralization near the sampled adit areas returned grades in soil of more than 3 grams silver, while the newly sampled areas in the western end of the anomaly returned grades exceeding 15 grams. Mineralization is also present in younger, flat-lying limestone 1 km north of Cerro Pinolapa.

Reconnaissance work on the 2,800-ha Pionero property has uncovered evidence of extensive hydrothermal activity at the Penon area, in the northwestern corner of the concession. Geologists believe this activity is related to intrusive activity similar to that found near the Pinolapa mineralization.

Consequently, Link applied to expand the concession by 500%, to 17,000 ha.

Meanwhile, at the 6,850-ha Hombre Libre gold-silver property in extreme southwestern Honduras, Link has completed the first three holes of a 2,250-metre program of core drilling. The work is focused on three target areas.

Soil geochemistry on samples from the Pochotas-Potosito target area shows that the vein sets extend over at least a 3-km distance between two old mines. This target area will receive the bulk of the drilling (1,500 metres in 10 holes).

At the Ojo de Agua target area, geological mapping has shown extensive hydrothermal alteration. Also, follow-up soil sampling has outlined a 500-by-200-metre gold anomaly, open to the south, as well as three other anomalies apparently caused by the presence of veins.

At Mahoma, a single vein, 800 metres long and 1.5-2 metres wide, has returned surface samples of 2-6.5 grams gold and up to 31 grams silver. The vein’s isolated location will restrict Link from drilling more than two shallow surface holes during the current program.

The gold and silver mineralization of the Hombre Libre area is associated with numerous quartz veins and areas of hydrothermal alteration in andesitic volcanics of the Tertiary-age Padre Miguel formation. To date, eight veins totalling 3.4 km in length and up to 15 metres wide have been mapped, with a further 18 veins inferred from soil geochemical anomalies. Soil sampling has been carried out on only one-eighth of the concession, returning values of up to 0.94 gram gold and 153 grams silver.

The next most advanced of Link’s Honduran properties is the 17,400-ha Zamorano concession in the central part of the country. This concession overlies a graben boundary, where tensional faulting combines with a variety of rock types to give what Link believes is strong potential for epithermal, Carlin-type gold mineralization. A stream sediment survey has defined two areas that warrant soil sampling.

Link also holds an interest in four grassroots projects in Honduras. On the San Fermin concession (50% of which is held by Link), stream sediment exploration carried out for the United Nations outlined extensive gold-silver anomalies, while at San Genaro (wholly owned by the company), stratigraphic and stream sediment work uncovered a gold anomaly apparently associated with skarns around a granodiorite intrusive.

The last two concessions, Rio Yamale and Las Angeles (both wholly owned by Link) remain unexplored.