LATIN AMERICA — New drill results add lustre to Victoria project in Peru

Four holes drilled on the Victoria gold project in Peru have returned significant results for equal partners Pangea Goldfields (PGD-T) and Sundust Resources (SDST-C).

The holes, which were drilled on the Atenea prospect, are part of a 3,000-metre first phase of diamond drilling which is designed to follow up earlier trench results from the Atenea, Pacumina and Vein-4 epithermal gold structures. Recent drilling has been focused on Atenea, where more than 700 metres have been completed.

The Atenea occurs in Tertiary-aged volcanics and is described as a fissure vein or breccia within an andesitic unit. It is characterized by quartz veining, quartz stringers and varying amounts of sulphide mineralization in the form of pyrite, galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Gold mineralization occurs in veins, some of which also host base metal mineralization. The structure has an average width in the range of 12 metres and is known to outcrop for 300 metres along a northeast-southwest strike direction. An induced-polarization (IP) survey indicates 700 metres of continuation to the southwest.

Including the latest numbers, results have been received from six holes drilled over the outcropping portion of Atenea, with results from a seventh hole still pending. Each hole averaged 100 metres in length.

Drill highlights

Highlights from the latest four holes include: hole 3, which hit 6.23 metres (from 64.62 to 70.85 metres) of 6.92 grams gold and 17.92 grams silver per tonne; hole 4, which returned 3.6 metres (from 65.6 to 9.2 metres) averaging 1.93 grams gold and 3.67 grams silver; hole 5, which yielded 1.71 grams gold and 9.22 grams silver over 4.65 metres (from 58.39 to 63.04 metres); and hole 6, which graded 15.62 grams gold and 49.34 grams silver over 7.35 metres (from 99.4 to 106.75 metres).

Additional core-sampling of hole 1 resulted in an increase in the width and grade for a previously reported intersection of 12.7 metres (from 35 to 47.7 metres) grading 2.94 grams gold and 11.6 grams silver. With the new assays, the intersection now measures 15.35 metres (from 34.65 to 50 metres) averaging 3.25 grams gold and 10.25 grams silver, including 4.75 metres (from 45.25 to 50 metres) grading 5.11 grams gold and 5.26 grams silver. Hole 2, which was collared 50 metres to the southwest, averaged 6.36 grams gold and 13.89 grams silver over an interval of 6.08 metres (from 103.55 to 109.63 metres).

Gold-bearing

Based on the new results, Pangea believes gold mineralization increases both to the southwest and at depth. An old, 2-metre-wide adit, driven at the southwestern end of the structure, averaged 2.5 grams gold over its entire 156-metre length, while a crosscut at the end of this tunnel averaged 8 grams gold over 5 metres. Pangea’s vice-president of exploration, Claude Britt, says these results indicate the structure is gold-bearing.

Encouraging results have also been returned from 14 surface trenches dug across the Atenea structure. Highlights include: 38 metres of 3 grams gold in trench 14 (at the northeastern end of the structure); 11.8 metres averaging 14.8 grams in trench 12 (in the middle); and 7 metres grading 4.5 grams in trench 2 (at the southwestern end).

Along the IP anomaly, the company completed one hole and is drilling a second. The first hole represents a 100-metre stepout from the southwestern end of the outcropping section, whereas the second was stepped-out an additional 100 metres from hole 8.

Depending on the results of hole 9, the company will drill its next hole 200 metres north of the Atenea structure. The hole will test a separate, 150-metre-wide IP anomaly over an area containing little surface exposure.

“The big IP [anomaly] is like a wildcat, and if it hits, that will open the door to a whole new target area,” says Britt. “We were expecting to hit something at Atenea because of the trenching results. Similarly, we expect to hit something at the Pacumina epithermal gold structure. So far, the IP anomalies are from sulphides — we expect to hit some sulphides, and we hope they will be gold-bearing.”

Once results from hole 9 have been analyzed, the company will decide on whether to continue with stepout drilling and employ a second drill rig for some dip holes at Atenea, or, alternatively, begin testing the Pacumina and Vein-4 structures. Previous surface work at Pacumina outlined a 1.8-km-long, north-northwest-trending structure, which may represent the upper continuation of the Atenea structure. The structure has been tested by several surface trenches, of which 13 have returned potentially economic results. The Vein-4 structure lies 800 metres west of Atenea and is represented by a cross-shaped IP anomaly. It has been tested by two surface trenches, with the best results returning 12.8 grams gold over 2.4 metres.