The latest round of drilling has returned high-grade gold and silver values at the El Pluma-Cerro Saavedra project in southern Argentina for Minera Andes (MAI-A).
Four of 17 widely scattered holes showed significant values of precious metals, giving the company a better handle on the nature and size of its discovery.
Bruce Gavin, Minera Andes’ vice-president of exploration, said, “I am extremely pleased with results of our reconnaissance drilling program. We tested a wide variety of geochemical and geophysical targets with relatively few holes, and our strategy has paid off.”
The most significant intercept from the drilling came from the angled hole EP-12 on the Saavedra West target, where the company encountered 115 ft.
grading 0.12 oz. gold and 18 oz. silver per ton, starting at 120 ft., including 25 ft. grading 0.2 oz. gold and 47.5 oz. silver and 15 ft. grading 0.52 oz. gold and 43.9 oz. silver.
The drilling tested a northwesterly trending mineralized structure measuring 2,600 ft. in length. Mineralization is associated with sulphides, silicification, quartz stockwork veining and strong clay alteration hosted in a sequence of Jurassic lacustrine epiclastic tuffs interbedded with shales and siltstones within a possible caldera setting.
Andes hit significant mineralization in two additional holes at Saavedra West: EP-13 hit 45 ft. grading 0.03 oz. gold and 15.3 oz. silver, including 20 ft. of 0.04 oz. gold and 30 oz. silver; and EP-15 hit 15 ft. of 0.05 oz.
gold and 4.5 oz. silver. EP-14, also drilled at Saavedra West, hit only anomalous values.
At the La Sorpresa target, in the northern part of the 63,000-acre property, EP-1 encountered 10 ft. grading 0.15 oz. gold and 0.2 oz. silver, starting at a depth of 40 ft. Farther down the hole, at a depth of 110 ft., the drill hit 10 ft. of 0.08 oz. gold and 0.14 oz. silver.
Drilling on the El Pluma West target turned up only anomalous to negligible results.
In all, Andes completed 6,165 ft. of drilling, testing four targets including Saavedra Central.
“The property, discovered less than a year ago, has progressed rapidly,” said President Allen Ambrose. “Geological work is in progress to lay the foundation for our next round of drilling.”
About 20% of El Pluma-Cerro Saavedra has been tested thus far. Much of the area is covered by younger basalt flows that mask the underlying mineralization. Andes expects to begin its next round of reverse-circulation drilling by mid-April, hoping to finish before the Patagonian winter sets in.
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