Vancouver — Drilling by Mansfield Minerals (MDR-V, MFMNF-O) on its Lindero gold project in Salta province, northwestern Argentina, continues to encounter zones of blind, non-outcropping mineralization, suggesting a boost in the property’s resource tonnage is likely.
Consisting of a dozen holes, the latest round of drilling brings the total to 50, with most intersecting wide zones of low-grade gold mineralization in the porphyry body.
Hole LDH-50 cut 102 metres (from 34 metres down-hole depth) grading 1.1 grams gold per tonne, including a 66-metre interval of 1.22 grams gold. The hole was collared to undercut significant surface trenching results from last fall on the northwest body and encountered the zone at depth. It also appears to widen with depth.
Stepout and offset holes LDH-47 and 48 also intersected wide gold mineralized intervals including a 142-metre section (from 158 metres) averaging 1.06 grams gold with a 14-metre portion grading 2.25 grams gold at the bottom of the mineralized interval.
Mansfield now feels that the southwest and northwest bodies, originally thought to be separate zones, are contiguous, with the unmineralized core of the deposit appearing much smaller than previously modelled.
Gold mineralization at Lindero is mainly hosted in an intense magnetite and quartz-magnetite stockwork and correlates with a zone of strong potassic alteration.
Discovered by the company in 1999, the porphyry gold project caught the attention of Rio Tinto (RTP-N, RIO-L), which optioned it in 2002. However, after only 10 drill holes, the major dropped the property in 2003, believing it was unlikely to meet its size threshold.
An engineering study in late 2003 reviewed an inferred resource estimate of about 30 million tonnes grading 1.08 grams gold in the three main zones using a 0.6-gram gold cutoff grade, for just over 1 million contained ounces gold.
The Lindero deposit enjoys good geometry — as a roughly 200-metre-high hill, it would have a low strip ratio. Gold mineralization is mostly oxide and leachable with cyanide, with recoveries of about 70%.
The project is located about 12 km southeast of Mansfield’s Rio Grande gold property, where Antares Minerals (ANM-V, ANMFF-O) is earning up to a 60% interest.
Shares of Mansfield moved up 20 on the drill results to close at $2.85 apiece. The company posts a $98-million market capitalization given its 34.4 million shares outstanding, with shares trading in a 52-week range of 69-$3.60.
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