Altoro expands Esbarro prospect

The remaining 13 holes of an 18-hole drill program at the Pedra Branca platinum-palladium project in northeastern Brazil have returned encouraging values for Altoro Gold (ATG-V).

Targeting near-surface mineralization amenable to open-pit mining, Altoro drilled eight holes on the Esbarro zone; three on the Trapia West zone; and two on the Ipueiras zone.

The most northerly chromitite occurrence at Pedra Branca is a pair of showings known as Esbarro 1 and 2, which lie within 400 metres of each other and consist of tremolite schists, olivinites and serpentinites that dip gently to the south.

In 1987, Rio Tinto (RPT-N) explored for nickel by drilling 42 shallow diamond drill holes into the Esbarro prospects. Highlights included:

– 32 metres grading 1.15 grams combined platinum and palladium (Pt+Pd), including a 5-metre section of 6.27 grams Pt+Pd; and

– 35 metres of 1.52 grams combined Pt+Pd, including 3 metres of 9.44 grams.

The latest drill results from the Esbarro zone are as follows:

– Hole 1 cut 6.8 metres averaging 1 gram platinum and 1.8 grams palladium per tonne, starting at a down-hole depth of 28.4 metres. Included in the intersection were 5 metres of 1.2 grams platinum and 2.2 grams palladium.

– Hole 4 hit 22.3 metres of 1.1 grams platinum and 1.8 grams palladium, starting at a down-hole depth of 11.1 metres. This included a 2.3-metre interval of 4.1 grams platinum and 5.2 grams palladium.

– Hole 5 intersected 41.3 metres of 0.4 gram platinum and 0.9 gram palladium, starting at a down-hole depth of 25.2 metres. The intercept included a 13-metre section of 0.7 gram platinum and 1.5 grams palladium, as well as 2.3 metres grading 2.4 grams platinum and 3.1 grams palladium.

– Hole 6 cut 27.7 metres grading 0.9 gram platinum and 1.9 grams palladium, starting at a down-hole depth of 5.1 metres. Included here were 6.5 metres of 2.6 gram platinum and 4.1 grams palladium.

– Hole 8 returned 14.2 metres grading 0.8 gram platinum and 1.4 gram palladium, starting at a down-hole depth of 19.6 metres. The hole included a 6.1-metre section that assayed 1.5 grams platinum and 2.4 grams palladium.

These latest results have increased the Esbarro zone by 300 metres to the west and confirmed the downdip continuation of previously drilled high-grade mineralization.

The Trapia West prospect is an ultramafic outcrop, which has been traced for 700 metres along a north-southerly strike length with a width of up to 150 metres. The general trend of the stratigraphy strikes toward the northeast; however, chromitite layers strike east-west, suggesting local folding. Altoro excavated a north-south trench perpendicular to the chromite layers, with assays averaging 2.8 grams Pt+Pd over 84 metres, including 51 metres of 4.4 grams.

Results from the last three holes drilled at Trapia West are as follows:

– Hole 5 hit 6.9 metres grading 0.4 gram platinum and 0.4 gram palladium, starting at 10.5 metres down-hole.

– Hole 6 returned 8.2 metres of 0.3 gram platinum and 0.5 gram palladium, starting at 23.2 metres down-hole.

– Hole 7 hit 19.4 metres of 0.7 gram platinum and 0.9 gram palladium, starting at 22.3 metres down-hole (including a 3.4-metre section of 0.7 gram platinum and 2.7 grams palladium).

The drilling at Trapia West intercepted potentially economic results over a strike length of about 500 metres, Altoro reports, whereas drilling of the Ipueiras zone returned sub-economic values.

Drilling to date represents less than 1% of the potentially mineralized horizon seen at the surface.

The platinum-palladium mineralization is associated with two main units — a tremolite schist and an overlying serpentinite — and the highest grades are associated with chromitite-rich horizons within these units.

Altoro has not yet tested for the presence of rhodium, though Rio Tinto had a few samples from the Cedro prospect analyzed in 1997 and the result was an average value of 0.41 gram rhodium per tonne. The current price of the metal is US$1400 per oz.

Mapping and trenching are ongoing at Pedra Branca, and Altoro intends to carry out an airborne geophysical survey of the entire property.

The junior can acquire a 70% interest in the project from Eldorado Gold (ELD-T) by spending US$2 million over three years. The land package comprises 150 sq. km of the layered sequence known as the Pedra Branca complex.

Pedra Blanca is 250 km southwest of the port city of Fortaleza in Ceara state.