Minera Andes drills in southern Argentina

A drilling crew dispatched by Minera Andes (MAI-V) has completed a 10-hole program at the Huevos Verdes gold-silver target on the Cerro Saavedra property in southern Argentina’s Santa Cruz province.

Results are pending, though the Spokane, Wash.-based junior reports that this third round of drilling has already established continuity along the main vein system over a length of 2.2 km.

The program, which comprised 1,066 metres, encountered quartz veining with widths varying from 0.5 to 13 metres. The main vein was intersected at 120 metres below the surface, its deepest point to date. The average thickness of the vein in the holes was 5 metres.

The work focused on two areas:

a high-grade zone in the northern part of the main vein system, where Minera Andes had previously cut 5.4 metres grading 15.9 grams gold and 1,634 grams silver per tonne in hole EP-70; and

a previously untested zone in the central area, where the company recently cut 13 metres of the main vein, while, 150 metres to the west, it tested a subsidiary structure.

To date, Minera Andes has explored only 20% of its 163,000-ha land package in Santa Cruz. The Cerro Saavedra property comprises 88,000 ha.