Rio Narcea drills new discovery west of El Valle gold deposit

Two holes drilled by Rio Narcea Gold Mines (TSE) in northern Spain have intersected the yellow metal.

The discovery was made west of the deposit known as El Valle, on the Rio Narcea gold belt.

Hole Val-56 intersected 11 metres averaging 3.5 grams gold per tonne and 3.5 metres averaging 14 grams at downhole depths of 262 metres and 281 metres, respectively.

Hole Val-63 cut 38 metres averaging 2.2 grams, including a 15-metre interval that averaged 3.45 grams, at a downhole depth of 109 metres.

The recent drilling has induced Rio Narcea to begin reinterpreting the area’s geology.

Previously, it was thought oxide mineralization in the Valle deposit was related to fracturing along a single finger of granite that pinches out to the northeast. The deposit is now seen as a small portion of a multi-fingered intrusive cut by a series of parallel, mineralized fractures.

This newly discovered El Valle West zone is believed to have a width of 300 metres, with gold associated with skarn material around the intrusives and along the mineralized fractures.

Rio Narcea expects the abundance of mineralization will increase to the northeast, where the intrusive thins and the amount of carbonate sediments present increases.

Two additional rigs are being mobilized to continue exploration.