Minera Andes cuts new gold-silver zone at San Jose

Vancouver — Spokane-based Minera Andes (MAI-V) cut a new zone of high-grade gold and silver at its San Jose project in southern Argentina.

The best drill intercept cut 1.04 metres averaging 53.75 grams gold per tonne and 1,711.6 grams silver per tonne in drill hole SJD-31. This intercept is part of a 12.5-metre interval that hosted numerous zones of high-grade gold and silver mineralization.The new discovery is located on a parallel vein trend at Huevos Verdes East about 2 km northeast of the Huevoes Verdes resource.

The San Jose property comprises the Huevos Verdes and Saavedra West gold and silver zones, as well as seven early-stage targets: El Pluma West, South, Huevos Verdes East, La Sorpresa, Eastern Windows, Roadside, West Portuguese, and La Rosalia.

These prospects are associated with four parallel, northwest-trending, resistivity and chargability anomalies that appear to represent vein systems.

The Huevos Verdes East target is a 6 km long vein trend that has a 3 km-long geophysical anomaly in the north. Intermittent quartz veining and/or high-grade gold and silver mineralization have been identified in areas not covered by overburden in the south. Minera Andes states that these characteristics are similar to those found at the Huevoes Verdes vein.

The Huevos Verdes vein system currently hosts an indicated resource of 1.5 million tonnes averaging 211.8 grams silver and 2.6 grams gold per tonne. The inferred portion is pegged at 2.1 million tonnes of 251.8 grams silver and 2.8 grams gold. These calculations are based on a cutoff grade of 50 grams silver per tonne.

At Saavedra West, the indicated resource stands at 382,000 tonnes grading 225 grams silver and 0.4 gram gold, based on the same cutoff grade. Also calculated was an inferred resource of 579,000 tonnes grading 259.7 grams silver and 1.4 grams gold.

The discovery holes were collared at the south central portion of the 3 km-long geophysical anomaly. Drill hole SJD-32 is located 100 metres north of SJD-31 and drill hole SJD-21 is situated 50 metres southwest of SJD-31. Highlights of the drill results are as follows;

• Hole SJD-21 cut 1.95 metres averaging 12.6 grams gold and 579 grams silver, starting 86.75 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 1.25-metre interval that averaged 1.5 grams gold and 136 grams silver, starting 155.05 metres down-hole.
• Hole SJD-31 cut numerous mineralized intervals starting 188.1 metres down-hole. These include; 0.43 metres averaging 2.5 grams gold and 100 grams silver; 0.2 metre averaging 12.4 grams gold and 1,882 grams silver; 0.7 metre averaging 4.19 grams gold and 461 grams silver; 0.5 metres averaging 1.57 grams gold and 145 grams silver and 1.04 metres averaging 53.75 grams gold and 1,711.6 grams silver, starting 246.06 metres down-hole.
• Hole SJD-32 cut 1.05 metres averaging 2.36 grams gold and 231.2 grams silver, starting 91.8 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 2.75-metre interval that averaged 1.77 grams gold and 301.90 grams silver, starting 123.30 metres down-hole.

Minera Andes feels that the results provide further evidence that the San Jose project has district-scale potential. The company’s joint venture partner, Mauricio Hochschild & Cia., a private Peruvian company, completed the 15-hole, 2,572 metre, reconnaissance drilling campaign in February. The drill program targeted several different vein trends on the property situated between 1 and 6 km from the Huevos Verdes resource. A large portion of the known 32 km of vein trends remain open for exploration due to the fact that the project area has in excess of 50% post mineral cover that masks the prospective ground.

Drill assays are still pending from previously announced drill hole SJD-15 which revealed intermittent mineralization over 2.7 meters with silver values ranging from 31 to 207 grams per tonne. Drill holes SJD-14, 16 to 20, and SJD-22 to 30 had non-significant assay results.

Mauricio Hochschild & Cia. has an option to earn a 51% stake in the San Jose property. According to the terms of a joint-venture and operating agreement signed in 2001, Hochschild must US$3 million on exploration over three years, and well as a minimum of US$100,000 on other targets in the land package, and pay Minera Andes US$400,000 per year.

Minera Andes controls 10 projects that cover 1,630 sq. km of mineral exploration land in Argentina. The corporation is currently pursuing the development of the San Jose project and is prospecting in other Argentine provinces.