Vancouver-based
The junior encountered significant gold-silver mineralization in 13 of 15 holes completed in a first round of drilling on the Main zone. The 1,429-metre program tested beneath an area of high-grade mineralization outlined by previous trenching, and its eastern extension under post-mineral volcanic ash cover, for some 300 metres of strike length.
Initial drilling has identified a near-surface, oxidized, mineralized horizon averaging a true thickness of 25-30 metres. The horizon dips gently to the south at 20-30. The holes were drilled primarily in a northwest direction at a dip of 55-60 along an axis striking in an east-west direction. This strike direction sub-parallels the direction of the ridge on which the Main showing sits.
The Main showing is a low-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver system hosted in an andesitic package cut by latite dykes. The Main zone is an oval-shaped area measuring 350 by 200 metres, from which 305 grab samples averaged 6.06 grams gold and 71 grams silver.
Previous trenching in the Main zone outlined a high-grade core averaging 11.06 grams gold and 100 grams silver per tonne in a 125-metre-sq. area. Trench results included 102 metres averaging 8.18 grams gold and 62 grams silver in C-10, which was dug by hand, plus 118 metres in the parallel hand trench T-5, which averaged 13.34 grams gold and 232 grams silver in T-5. These two trenches were crosscut by another hand-dug trench, which yielded 121 metres averaging 11.95 grams gold and 70 grams silver in TT-1.
Trench samples were taken at continuous 2-, 3- and 5-metre intervals.
Francisco undertook a due diligence technical review of the previous sampling results, which included mechanized backhoe trenching and check-sampling Comparative assay results from the TT-1 trench included 37 metres of 13.4 grams gold and 28.7 grams silver in TT1 North, and 30 metres of 15.8 grams gold and 92.4 grams silver in TT1 South.
The rocks exposed in the trenches consisted principally of weathered, partially oxidized breccia, with quartz pods, veins and stockwork contained in a softer, clay-altered breccia mix. The high-grade trench values may, in part, be related to surface enrichment.
The 15 holes scissor a portion of the Main zone and its eastern extension on sections spaced at roughly 40 metres. Most sections had two holes oriented in a scissor-like fashion.
Francisco collared the first two holes in the middle of the core area, close to where trenches TT1 and C-10 crossed. Hole 1 was oriented to the north and hit 37.5 metres grading 2.9 grams gold and 33.3 grams silver starting from surface, followed by 40.5 metres of 0.4 gram gold and 6.3 grams silver. The hole was completed to a down-hole depth of 87 metres
Hole 2 was directed to the south and cut 78 metres grading 2.4 grams gold and 37.4 grams silver from surface, before passing through 37.5 metres of 0.41 gram gold and 8.1 grams silver. This was followed by 24 metres averaging 2.31 grams gold and 34.8 grams silver. The hole ended at a down-hole depth of 160 metres.
Stepping out on-section to the east, hole 3 was drilled to the south and intersected 24 metres averaging 12.92 grams gold and 257 grams silver between 16.5 and 40.4 metres down-hole, followed by 16.5 metres of 0.39 gram gold and 20.2 grams silver. Hole 4 was swung to the north and pulled 21 metres averaging 7.1 grams gold and 95 grams silver at between 9 and 30 metres down-hole, followed by 9 metres of 0.31 gram gold and 14.3 grams silver.
On the next section, hole 5 was aimed to the north and cut 24.5 metres grading 2.12 grams gold and 10.3 grams silver, starting at 13.5 metres down-hole. Hole 6 was directed to the south, intersecting 18 metres of 1.36 grams gold and 30.5 grams silver at 18 metres of depth down-hole, followed by another 18 metres of 0.44 gram gold and 15.3 grams silver.
Sample recovery in the first six holes using HQ-sized (63.5-mm diameter) core was poor, at anywhere from 30% to 50%, in the mineralized zone. The company blames the poor recoveries on the highly fractured nature of the host rock and suggests that the first six holes significantly underestimated the gold grades.
A triple-tube HQ3 core barrel method was subsequently implemented, and President Randy Reifel says this technique improved core recovery to about 60-70%. A twin hole, drilled to check hole 2, showed an 82% increase in the gold grade. Hole 2A returned 63 metres from surface averaging 4.42 grams gold and 37.9 grams silver, versus 63 metres grading 2.43 grams gold and 40.4 grams silver in the original hole.
Francisco is considering driving an underground decline to collect a more representative bulk-sample.
The remaining drill holes were collared along strike to the east and confirmed that mineralization continued under a post-mineral cover. Aimed to the south, hole 7 intersected 27.5 metres grading 2.2 grams gold and 50.4 grams silver, beginning at a down-hole depth of 31.5 metres.
Hole 8 was swung to the north and cut 10.5 metres of 0.52 gram gold and 12.9 grams silver at 18 metres down-hole. Hole 9, collared 25 metres north of holes 7 and 8, failed to cut any significant values.
On the next section over, hole 10 was directed to the south and hit a 19.5-metre interval grading 1.26 grams gold and 6 grams silver at 3-22.5 metres down-hole.
Steeping out again to the east, hole 11, aimed to the north, returned 19 metres grading 2.25 grams gold and 10 grams silver from 25.5 to 43.5 metres down-hole, as well as 10.5 metres averaging 4.06 grams gold and 72.9 grams silver at 57-67.7 metres of depth. Hole 12 was swung to the south and pulled 27 metres of 1.5 grams gold and 12.2 grams silver, starting at 21 metres down-hole.
On the final section, hole 13 was directed to the south and intersected 27 metres grading 1.96 grams gold and 21.9 grams silver at 48 metres of depth down-hole. Hole 14 was steepened and drilled vertically, cutting 12.5 metres of 0.83 gram gold and 5.2 grams silver, beginning at a depth of 34.5 metres.
The drill holes were sampled in 1.5-metre intervals and assayed by Rocky Mountain Geochemical’s laboratory in Reno, Nev. Chemex Labs in Vancouver is conducting check assays.
The gold-silver mineralization is mainly associated with quartz stockwork veining that is strongly oxidized, fractured and faulted. The higher-grade mineralization found in holes 3 and 4 are said to be associated with more massive, bladed, lattice-texture quartz veins.
The Main zone remains open to the east and west along strike, and to the south. “We think we’ve got fairly good extension heading east-southeast [where there are bits and pieces of exposed mineralized outcrop],” says Reifel. “We know we’ve got good extension going west because we’ve got trench results going 50-60 metres to the west that are fairly high-grade.”
The Marlin property is part of a package of properties held by Montana Gold, a privately owned Canadian company. Montana Gold has staked more than 6,000 sq. km of mineral concessions along a major structural trend in western Guatemala since beginning exploration work in that country in 1996. Francisco has agreed to acquire Montana Gold by issuing an initial 650,000 shares upon closing, and up to an additional 1.4 million shares should 1.5 million proven and probable ounces gold-equivalent be defined. The Canadian Venture Exchange has approved the deal.
The Marlin property is 140 km northwest of capital of Guatemala City. The property is accessible by a series of dirt roads from the town of Huehuetenango, some 30 km distance to the east. Montana Gold first discovered precious metal mineralization in a road-cut along the crest of a 1.5-km-long ridge trending east-west at elevations of 2,200-2,300 metres.
Initial work identified gold-silver values in quartz veins, stockwork and zones of brecciation exposed in limited windows through the overlying post-mineral cover.
The area of interest extends eastward from the Los Cochis zone, past the Main zone to the Don Tello showing. The mineralization appears to be controlled by two intersecting regional structures that coalesce around one, or possibly two, brecciated sub-volcanic plugs.
The Marlin property is underlain by a series of Tertiary-aged felsic volcanic, sub-volcanic and dyke rocks exposed within an erosional window of a younger Quarternary ash-flow blanket.
An independent technical report prepared by Hatch (formerly Rescan Engineering) revealed that the gold-silver mineralization is typically fine-grained and associated with small amounts of pyrite, or as discrete grains of electrum in a silica-rich gangue. The gold-silver occurs with few byproduct elements, apart from some silver minerals, such as acanthite, identified in thin section.
Preliminary metallurgical bottle-roll tests on six composite trench samples from the Main zone show recoveries of more than 90% for gold and 85% for silver after 96 hours, but, again, results may be skewed by surface enrichment.
“There are no nasties in the system,” says Reifel. “No arsenic, no mercury and no antimony.”
In addition to the Main zone, a second area of interest sits 600 metres to the west in the Los Cochis zone. There, an initial 82 grab samples reveal a patchy but anomalous area averaging 1.15 grams gold and 12 grams silver.
Running along the southern flank of the Marlin ridge is the Los Tomates-Don Pacho-Do Tello structural corridor, which extends for more than 900 metres along strike, with a width of 10-50 metres. This system lies at a lower elevation in the epithermal system and may represent a more vein-like structure. More than 100 grab samples from this corridor yielded values averaging 3.47 grams gold and 183 grams silver.
Chip samples from this southern corridor reveal vein swarms with gold grades of 0.75-1 oz.
The next round of drilling, in November, will test the Main zone along strike and to the south. Reifel is hoping to drill another 15-20 holes before mid-December.
The company has $35 million in working capital, and, upon closing the Montana Gold deal, will have about 16 million shares outstanding, or 17 million fully diluted.
In addition to Marlin, Francisco holds a 100% interest in the El Sauzal gold deposit, in Mexico’s Chihuahua state, where 2 million oz. of open-pit material sits in a total reserve of 20.9 million tonnes grading 3.01 grams.
Be the first to comment on "Francisco pulls hot values from Marlin"