Yamana hits high grade in Argentina

Drilling by Yamana Resources (YRI-T) at its Martinetas property in southern Argentina has returned some high-grade values.

Hole 23 returned 20 metres grading 29.2 grams gold per tonne, including 2 metres of 247 grams gold.

The assay is based on the average results received from three labs: Yamana’s Bema Ranch lab; Acme Analytical Laboratories; and ALS Geolab. Both Acme and ALS are in Santiago, Chile.

Elsewhere on the 949-sq. km Martinetas property, core hole 21 returned 75 metres grading 1.29 grams, confirming the 98-Metre intercept of 1.22 grams encountered in hole 18, which it twinned.

The best intercept in hole 22 was 3.3 metres of 0.82 gram gold.

Beyond drilling, exploration at Martinetas saw 5,171 metres of trenching.

Trench 13, positioned above the high-grade intercept from hole 23, contained visible gold and a 41-Metre section averaging 1.17 grams gold.

Nearby, trench 16, which cut 243 metres of 0.59 gram gold, suggests continuity between two drill areas: Grid 1 to the north (holes 5, 6, 12 and 23) and Grid 2 to the south (holes 1, 2, 3 and 4).

Trenching, rock-float and outcrop sampling, along with air photo reconnaissance, have identified a swarm of seven or eight mineralized vein systems in the northern resource area of Martinetas.

The vein system that corresponds with the high-grade intercept and trench 13 has not been fully mapped, though it is known to be associated with a structural feature which may extend for some 2 km along strike.

Martinetas is one of 14 properties held by Yamana in the Vanguardia district of Santa Cruz province.

The latest drilling is part of a 103-hole exploration season that will total 16,092 metres. The program consists primarily of reverse-Circulation drilling for preliminary testing of several of the 21 targets already identified on the property.

Sixteen holes were completed this season at the Microonda property, adjacent to and west of Martinetas. The two properties appear related through a 12-km-wide caldera complex, the Spokane-based company says.

The latest drilling at Microonda intercepted 6 metres grading 1.89 grams gold in hole 46 and 0.5 gram in hole 50.

Rio Algom (ROM-T) can earn a half interest in the Santa Cruz properties by spending US$20 million on exploration over five years.

To increase its stake to 60%, Rio must complete a feasibility study on each property and make a production decision.