IMA cuts bonanza gold grades

Vancouver — The assay results from last 18 holes of a newly completed 1,600-metre drill program by IMA Exploration (IMR-V) have confirmed high-grade gold values associated with a fault structure on the Rio Tabaconas property in northwestern Peru.

Targeting the main Cerro Tablon target, which is defined by rock-chip and soil sampling over an area measuring 600 by 200 metres, the best hole of the program, no. 29, returned 18 grams gold per tonne over 16.4 metres (estimated true width of 7 metres). Included in this interval was a bonanza grade section running 118 grams gold over 2.2 metres. Other highlights from the program include:

• Hole 16 — 3.9 metres grading 13.18 grams gold from 16.2 metres down-hole,
• Hole 21 — 1.4 metres grading 17.6 grams gold from 1.9 metres down-hole,
• Hole 22 — 2.9 metres grading 15.22 grams gold from 47.4 metres down-hole,
• Hole 28 — 2.4 metres grading 5.99 grams gold from 23.3 metres down-hole,

Cerro Tablon is believed to be the source of gold-rich massive sulphide boulders, ranging up to 8 metres in diameter, and which cut a 400-metre wide swath across the hillside and extend some 700 metres to the valley floor. Grab samples from 22 of the boulders returned gold values ranging from 0.07 to 30.12 grams, for an average of 9.3 grams.

At the Tablon West zone, hole 25 returned 1 metre grading 33.3 grams gold from 33 metres down-hole, while hole 26 yielded 6 metres grading 6.95 grams gold from surface. Hole 27 cut lower grade mineralization of up to 1.49 grams gold over 2.2 metres from 9.8 metres down-hole.

Holes 17, 18, 23, 24 and 30 through 33 failed to cut any significant values, while hole 19 was abandoned before hitting the expected target depth.

IMA is currently planning a second round of drilling aimed at testing the Tablon fault structure along strike.

The Rio Tabaconas property covers 90 sq. km in the northern section of the Cajamarca gold-copper belt, 30 km from the border with Ecuador. The property lies at a moderate elevation of 1,400 to 2,200 metres above sea level. The package of concessions centres on 28.9 sq. km of optioned ground, in which IMA, through its Peruvian subsidiary, can earn a 100% interest by paying US$1.5 million over seven years and spending US$525,000 on exploration over three years.