Torlon Hill Small, But Rich

Vancouver — Firestone Ventures (FV-V, FSVEF-o) has proven up a small, high-grade zinc-lead resource at its Torlon Hill project in Guatemala.

The company has been exploring the project for two years and has pulled some strongly mineralized drill cores out of the small hill. For its efforts, Firestone has been rewarded with a first resource estimate for Torlon, which is in western Guatemala near the city of Huehuetenango.

In the near-surface oxide zone, the project hosts 1.9 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 7.32% zinc, 2.41% lead and 14.25 grams silver per tonne. Inferred resources add 169,710 tonnes grading 4.42% zinc, 1.96% lead and 12.53 grams silver to the oxide count.

In the deeper sulphide zone, measured and indicated resources came in at 76,050 tonnes grading 3.23% zinc, 2.6% lead and 12.5 grams silver, with inferred resources adding 36,290 tonnes of 2.79% zinc, 2.03% lead and 10.47 grams silver.

The company has drilled roughly half of Torlon Hill and expects to be able to expand this initial resource with more drilling, especially to the west and south. In addition, Firestone’s land package in Guatemala exceeds 50 sq. km, of which the vast majority remains essentially unexplored.

In terms of the new resource, the fact that the oxide tonnage is so much larger is not by chance — Firestone is interested in developing the project as an oxide deposit and recently completed the first round of metallurgical testing on the oxide ore.

Flotation test work recovered 79% of the zinc in an ore sample and 82% of its lead. The final lead concentrate graded better than 60% while the zinc concentrate graded between 30% and 40%. The company is now examining ways to produce an upgraded zinc product.

Mineralization at Torlon Hill is contained in a shallow, southeast-dipping body that measures 500 metres long and 20 to 200 metres in width. The body is thickest near its centre, at roughly 30 metres, and attenuates laterally as well as up and downdip. The main ore mineral is smithsonite (ZnCO₃), occurring as a replacement to limestone and in places grading in excess of 40% zinc.

On news of the resource estimate, Firestone gained 2.5 to close at 8.5. The company has a 52-week trading range of 6-60 and has 69 million shares issued.