Mudslide proves fortuitous for Colombian Mines

A mudslide proved a blessing for Colombian Mines (CMJ-V) at its El Dovio project in Colombia.

The mudslide occurred on a ridge above what is known as the Sabana Blanca adit, exposing bare rock that Colombian was quick to attack with the saws.

A channel sample from the area rewarded the companies opportunism with an assay of 10.42 grams gold, 20.7 grams silver, 2.34% copper and 2.23% zinc over 9 meters.

The severe slope, deep soil cover and limited outcrop exposure, however, mean that the channel sample had to cut mineralization at an oblique angle and represents roughly 4 metres of true width.

Beyond the high-grades, the results are also important because they are the up dip extension of high grade mineralization from the Sabana Blanca adit itself. Results from Sabana were released in July of this year and were highlighted by 9.18 grams gold, 15.14 grams silver, 2.46% copper and 2.04% zinc over 21 meters.

The company has also been doing extensive soil geochemistry at the project and says it has identified two semi-parallel gold and copper anomalies, each roughly 1,000 meters long and 100 meters wide.

The first anomaly is coincident with the Sabana Blanca zone mineralization and covers the entire extent of the known mineralization, pointing to the potential to expand Sabana through drill testing.

The second anomaly sits 200 metres up slope and is coincident with a newly identified geologic contact between the marine volcanic rocks that host the Sabana Blanca mineralization and overlying marine sediments. Colombian says such sedimentary contacts are generally favorable for the formation of bedded Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) deposits.

The solid results have Colombian more bullish on El Dovio that ever – and with extensive surface sample and mapping being done over the last year it’s confident it has identified some key targets for its upcoming drill program.

That program is slated to get underway in the second half of next year once the company gets the required permits.

El Dovio saw roughly $335,000 of the company’s exploration funds for the year, while its flagship project, Yarumalito got roughly $1.15 million. Yarumalito sits in the same central gold belt that hosts Medoro Resources’ (MDR-V) Marmato project and AngloGold Ashanti’s (AU-N) La Colosa project. The belt is defined by gold porphyry systems.

In contrast, El Dovio lies directly to the west on a separate, but parallel belt, known for VMS deposits.

In Toronto on Nov. 25 the company’s shares were up 7% or 2¢ to 33¢ on 37,000 shares traded.