Almaden expands Ixtaca gold-silver zone

Almaden Minerals (AMM-T, AAU-X) has extended the Ixtaca gold-silver zone by more than 100 metres along the interpreted strike with the latest drill results from its Tuligtic project in Puebla state, Mexico.

Hole 6, collared 110 metres northeast of the discovery area, intersected multiple quartz-carbonate-sulphide veining averaging 0.86 gram gold and 61.7 grams silver per tonne across 126.2 metres, starting from 296 metres downhole. Multiple higher-grade intercepts included 2.2 metres of 6.66 grams gold and 475 grams silver within a 19.2-metre section of 2.84 grams gold and 160 grams silver.

“Stepout drilling in hole 6 has confirmed the presence of the broad zone of epithermal veining at Ixtaca 100 metres northeast of the most recently reported section (holes 4 and 5),” stated Almaden’s chairman Duane Poliquin in a prepared statement.

“While further holes are necessary to be confident with the orientation of the veins in this blind discovery, drilling continues to expand this zone of veining and we are very encouraged with the results received to date,” Poliquin added.

The sixth hole of the program was angled -50 degrees to the southeast along an azimuth of 150 degrees. It was designed to cut the interpreted northeasterly trend of the mineralized zone at a right angle.

However, concerns about the actual orientation of the veins have prompted Almaden to change the direction of future holes. Based on the information obtained from the drilling to date, the company believes there are at least two major sets of veins: one strikes perpendicular to bedding at roughly 50 to 70 degrees, which is to the northeast; and the second is parallel to bedding at 150 degrees azimuth.

Holes 2 through 8, as well as hole 11, were drilled parallel to bedding at 150 degrees azimuth.

“While this orientation was deemed best to intersect the 50-degree striking vein set, management now interprets that this drilling azimuth may in fact be parallel to the other vein set,” Almaden reported. “The overall vein zone is thought to have a northeasterly trend but true widths cannot be calculated with confidence at this time,” the company cautioned.

Almaden has added a second drill rig to Tuligtic as its works to prove up and better understand the orientation of this new grass-roots discovery.

With two rigs turning, drilling is now being done at a 100-degree azimuth, the same direction as discovery hole 1, which averaged 1.01 grams gold and 48 grams silver across 302 metres, starting from the base of the overburden at 47.5 metres downhole.

Hole 1 cut several higher-grade vein sections including 0.7 metre of 129 grams gold and 4,288 grams silver within a 4.1-metre interval averaging 25.7 grams gold and 936 grams silver.

The junior discovered Ixtaca in August when it hit the multiple quartz-carbonate-sulphide vein zone over the entire length of the first hole into the Ixtaca target.

The first pass of drilling on Ixtaca was limited to just three holes, which were fanned out in a small area, each aimed in a different direction to test the prospect. The site area chosen for this initial drilling was also constrained by topography.

Aimed at the centre of a resistivity anomaly, hole 1 was angled at -55 degrees along an azimuth of 110 degrees. The second hole was swung away from hole 1 and pointed along an azimuth of 330 degrees and a dip of -55 degrees. It intersected 32.7 metres averaging 0.15 gram gold and 32 grams silver, beginning at 172 metres downhole.

The third hole was positioned south of hole 1 and drilled along an azimuth of 150 degrees at an angle of -50 degrees. It encountered a broad zone averaging 0.36 gold and 34 grams silver across 232 metres, starting from below the overburden base at 21.5 metres downhole.

Of the three holes, Almaden believes the first hole to have best crossed the zone’s core. Holes 2 and 3 are thought to have been collared closer to the hangingwall and footwall of the zone, respectively.

Almaden resumed drilling on Ixtaca in September. Two new holes, 4 and 5, re-tested the mineralized veins encountered in the discovery hole from a different direction, confirming the previous results.

Hole 4 was collared at a -48 degree angle on an azimuth of 150 degrees and hit 158 metres averaging 0.94 gram gold and 61.1 grams silver, starting at 189 metres downhole. Multiple higher-grade sections included 0.8 metre of 8.83 grams gold and 1,337 grams silver, within a 94.6-metre-long interval grading 1.33 grams gold and 79.9 grams silver.

Steepened to -55 degrees, the fifth hole of the program was positioned beneath hole 4 and cut 230 metres averaging 0.51 gram gold and 42 grams silver, beginning at 146 metres downhole. Highergrade bonanza sections included a 0.5-metre interval of 37.4 grams gold and 466 grams silver at 402 metres depth.

Four more holes have since been completed along strike of the discovery area, with results pending. A second drill rig with more depth capacity arrived on the property in mid-October. The drill program is expected to continue until the Christmas break and to re-start in the New Year.

The Ixtaca discovery lies in the southwest portion of the 50-sq.-km Tuligtic project, 100 km north of Puebla City and 150 km east of Mexico City. The project covers an area of intensely altered rocks roughly 5 by 5 km in size. The Ixtaca mineralization is 2 km southwest of a porphyry copper-gold zone that had been drilled in 2009.

Almaden first acquired the Tuligtic property by staking in 2002 after conducting prospecting work in the area. Since that time, Almaden has optioned the property to three separate partners, all of whom have walked away.

The Ixtaca zone occurs in deformed carbonate rocks. The veins are composed of banded fine-grained quartz, calcite, rhodochrosite and sulphides which display textures typical of classic low-sulphidation epithermal veins.

Ixtaca is a blind target with little surface exposure. Most of the area is covered by a thin layer of recent volcanic ash. Almaden says the discovery was made as the result of its interpretation of the surface geology using epithermal models of mineralization as a guide.

The target area is characterized by extensively clay-altered and silicified volcanic rocks. Almaden notes the alteration is indicative of the upper parts of an epithermal system and includes replacement silicification and hot spring sinter. Quartz-calcite veins showing textural evidence of boiling were found outcropping in limestone roughly 100 metres beneath the exposed sinter.

Ixtaca’s kaolinite and replacement silica alteration zones are typical of a surface showing of an ancient hot spring environment. Within the feeder zones that channel hot mineral solutions from depth to surface, deposits of quartz, carbonate, gold and silver can form.

In a deep gully cut, Almaden discovered some very narrow veinlets in a small outcropping exposure. These veinlets, ranging from 0.1 to 3 cm in width and dis-p laying epithermal textures, assayed up to 1 gram gold and 110 grams silver. Small cobbles of float found in the creek bed returned values of up to 600 grams silver and 6.1 grams gold.

Exploration work prior to drilling included a single induced polarization geophysical line across this area which detected a resistivity anomaly. In addition, several short geochemical soil sample lines showed anomalous gold and silver values.

Almaden’s cash position at Sept. 30 was $17.8 million. With 55.1 million shares outstanding, the company’s stock was trading at $3.90 apiece on the latest batch of drill assays in a 52-week range of 77¢-$4.30.