Discovery adds spark to Vueltas del Rio

Drilling by Geomaque Explorations (GEO-T) has intersected gold-silver-zinc mineralization at El Zapotal, an exploration target near the company’s proposed Vueltas del Rio gold mine in northwestern Honduras.

The 13-hole program was designed to test the downdip extension of surface mineralization encountered in recent trenching. All the holes hit polymetallic mineralization in the area tested, which measures 600 by 120 metres.

Among the better results is hole 8, which intersected 15 metres (from 13.5 to 28.5 metres) grading 1.08 grams gold and 12.1 grams silver per tonne, plus 7.23% zinc, which includes 6 metres of 2.48 grams gold, 26.25 grams silver and 14.09% zinc. Hole 9 returned 9 metres (from 22.5 to 31.5 metres) of 4.27 grams gold, 10.66 grams gold and 4.14% zinc.

The higher gold and zinc values appear to be coincident with elevated silver values. The mineralization occurs in silicified sedimentary and intrusive rocks in the form of lenses of sheeted veins and breccia-stockwork zones. Geomaque notes that the mineralization appears to have occurred in two phases; base metals followed by gold.

“What we have here in an extremely interesting polymetallic deposit that combines good gold grades with potentially significant zinc values,” says Phillip Walford, Geomaque’s vice-president of exploration

Bottle-roll testing has shown that the mineralization is amenable to heap-leach extraction, he added. “We fully expect this area will be mined on the strength of the gold alone. The zinc values merit further investigation, and ongoing exploration will continue to evaluate additional gold and base metal potential in the area.”

Geomaque — one of the few juniors to have made the transition from exploration to a producing company — expects to begin mining at Vueltas de Rio by the end of this year. Reserves stand at 5.1 million tonnes grading 2.5 grams gold per tonne.

El Zapotel is a mere 2 km to the west, rendering it an obvious satellite deposit for the new mine.

Geomaque operates the San Francisco gold mine in Mexico’s Sonora state. In the latest quarter, the open-pit mined turned out a record 19,3000 oz., a 47% increase from a year ago. Reserves there stand at 18.7 million tonnes grading 1.03 grams gold per tonne. Recent drilling near the mine site extended the La Chicharra zone west of, and along strike with, the San Francisco deposit (T.N.M., May 31/99).

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