A large circular hill, or domal feature, on the San Martin concession in central Honduras is being trenched by Mar-West Resources (MSR-V) in preparation of a 3,000-metre drill program, to begin this month.
The 14,100-ha concession is held 80% by Mar-West and 20% by joint-Venture partner Curion Ventures (CUV-V), and covers more than 20 km of the Siria graben — a northwest-Trending regional fault zone that has been the focus of geothermal and intrusive activity.
The domal feature measures 1 km in diameter and 170 metres in height, and is believed to be a manifestation of a hot spring environment. The hill is circled by active hot spring vents.
Initial prospecting identified a broad area of alteration. Soil geochemical sampling outlined a gold anomaly of 100 parts per billion covering a 900-by-500-metre section of the hill.
Preliminary channel sampling of limited rock exposure along road cuts and creek beds returned: 83 metres averaging 1.65 grams gold per tonne in trench 1; 105 metres averaging 1.62 grams (including 50 metres of 2.5 grams) in trench 2; 60 metres averaging 1.45 grams (including 20 metres of 2.3 grams) in trench 3; 45 metres of 0.77 gram in trench 4; and 2 metres of 6.34 grams in trench 5.
An ongoing program of mechanized trenching continues to test the extent of the mineralization underlying the soil anomaly.
Results from a further seven trenches include: 20 metres averaging 1.62 grams in trench 6; 20 metres of 1.91 grams in trench 7; 10 metres of 1.22 grams in trench 8; 20 metres of 0.6 gram in trench 9; 42 metres of 0.67 gram in trench 10; 12 metres of 2.28 grams in trench 11; and 31 metres of 0.8 gram in trench 12.
Mar-West says the length of the recent trenches is limited, and that this is due to the type of equipment used, and not to the extent of the mineralization. The trenches are open in all directions.
The target area is underlain by strong, argillic-altered Paleozoic schists and chalcedonic veins and breccias, which, for the most part, are flat-lying with a melange of high-angle feeders. Sampling results indicate the gold mineralization is disseminated throughout the veins and schists.
Dense silica lenses completely replace the schists lower in the system and are believed to represent a hotter deposition of quartz.
Sampling of a silica sinter (low-Temperature quartz) at the base of the hill, in the immediate area of an active hot springs vent, yielded low gold grades, with a peak value of 1.1 grams. Robert Wasylyshyn, Mar-West’s vice-president of exploration, says this demonstrates that the hot spring vents are still actively depositing gold at depth.
Other projects
Mar-West controls a land position of 40 concessions totalling 350,000 ha, both in Honduras and parts of neighboring El Salvador.
In southern Honduras, near the Nicaraguan border, Mar-West has wrapped up a 23-hole program comprising 2,500 metres of diamond drilling at the Choluteca project.
Choluteca is a 50-50 joint venture with Battle Mountain Gold (BMG-N). The objective of the drill program was to test three priority target areas within the 40,485-ha concession for high-grade, bonanza-Type gold-silver veins. The partners are reviewing the drill results.
A reconnaissance exploration program on the wholly owned Sabana Grande property in the southern part of the country, near the Salvadoran border, has discovered several high-grade silver targets, with multi-ounce grades.
Mar-West recently completed a private placement financing of 1.5 million special warrants at a price of $2 each, for net proceeds of $2.8 million. The funds are slated for property acquisitions in Guatemala and El Salvador.
Mar-West has 13.1 million shares outstanding and working capital of $5 million.
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