Maracote dumps Halley

Following lacklustre drill results, Maracote International Resources (MCE-V) has dropped its option to acquire an interest in the Halley gold-silver property in south-central Peru.

Assay results from the latest drill hole failed to meet the company’s expectations. The 432-metre hole tested the entire thickness of the mineralized section at the centre of the Quilca trend.

The Quilca breccia represents one of a series of extensive breccia bodies that trend to the northeast along a linear structure. Maracote says the drill results confirmed the presence of anomalous gold and silver mineralization in a highly altered, fractured and oxidized stratigraphy. However, the grade of this mineralization failed to correlate with results from surface sampling (except over narrow widths).

The most significant results from the hole are:

• 3.5 metres averaging 26.61 grams gold and 6.3 grams silver per tonne, starting at 157.1 metres down-hole; and
• 4.6 metres averaging 1.43 grams gold and 1.7 grams silver starting at a depth of 406.6 metres down-hole.

Maracote had stood to earn a 65% stake in the property from Denver, Colo.-based Auric Resources (ARU-V).