Assay results from surface mapping and sampling at Castle Gold’s (CSG-V, CSGLF-O) 100%-owned La Fortuna concessions in the northwestern corner of Mexico’s Durango state have returned up to 41.1 grams gold per tonne in outcrop samples.
Initial work in the first phase of the exploration program, which began earlier this year, focused on mapping and sampling road cuts and outcroppings that appear to be related to the gold resource at the La Fortuna mine, about 70 km northeast of Culiacan. (Culiacan is about 270 km northwest of the port city of Mazatlan.)
The objective was to better understand the geology and structures outside the established mineralization of the historic La Fortuna mine. The underground mine has a National Instrument 43-101-compliant measured and indicated resource of 4.8 million tonnes grading 1.98 grams gold per tonne for 308,000 contained ounces gold.
The samples are within 300-700 metres of the historic Fortuna mine and the sampling work has the potential to further enhance its measured and indicated resources.
“The areas from which some of these samples originated could be part of an extension of the historic La Fortuna mine, or alternatively may have the potential to be satellite deposits of the mine,” says Thomas Atkins, the company’s president and chief executive.
Assay results from 18 samples graded in excess of 0.3 gram gold per tonne. Twelve of the samples exceeded 1 gram gold and seven exceeded 2 grams gold.
The best result (41.1 grams gold per tonne from FF-89) came from south of the La Fortuna mine in the Meloncita prospect. Other highlights from this area included FF- 86 through FF-88, which returned 6.02 grams gold, 3.87 grams gold, and 1.73 grams gold, respectively. FF-90 returned 1.77 grams gold.
Anomalously elevated results also came from an area northeast of the La Fortuna mine area, including samples FF-33 through FF- 36, which returned 3.98 grams gold, 8.79 grams gold, 1.29 grams gold and 2.03 grams gold, respectively.
The gold-silver-copper mineralization at the La Fortuna project occurs as disseminations, stock-work veinlets and fracture fillings. The orebody dips to the west at about 30. The deposit extends about 200 metres in a north-south orientation and 150 metres in an east-west orientation.
Castle Gold is also conducting a scoping study of the historic La Fortuna mine to look at its economics.
“We could be looking at either an open-pit, heap-leach scenario as metallurgical testing has demonstrated that the gold leaches well, or mining it in a similar manner to the historic methods which involved access to the ore through horizontal adits and sub-level shafts in an underground mine,” Atkins explains. “Metallurgical testing demonstrated recoveries of 60 per cent in a coarse ore cyanide leach, which would be analogous to heap leaching, and up to 96 per cent recovery of gold using a fine grind milling operation.”
Atkins noted that the economics of milling could be improved further, given that the testing of ore sorting so far has demonstrated that 90% of gold, following ore sorting, is contained in 30% of the ore rock mass. If that is the case, a 1,000- tonne-per-day mine, for example, might only require a 300-tonne-per-day mill and Castle Gold could be processing 90% of the gold from ore sorting with 96% gold recovery.
In addition to its La Fortuna gold-silver- copper project in Mexico, Castle Gold owns a 100% interest in the El Castillo gold mine in Mexico and a 50% interest in the El Sastre gold mine in Guatemala.
In the second quarter of the year, the El Castillo open-pit mine produced 6,421 oz. gold. New equipment (delivered to the site in the second quarter) will allow the mine to ramp up production and expand mining rates to 800,000 tonnes per month later this year from about 500,000 tonnes per month.
El Castillo has measured and indicated resources of 94.3 million tonnes grading 0.39 gram gold for total contained gold of 1.18 million oz. In the proven and probable reserve category, the mine has 46.8 million tonnes grading 0.5 gram gold for 752,000 oz. gold.
At presstime, Castle Gold traded at 66¢ per share. The company has a 52-week trading range of 15-80¢ and 75.5 million shares outstanding.
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