Vancouver — Partners Teck Cominco (TEK-T) and Miranda Mining (MM-V) have tabled a new resource estimate for the large Los Filos gold deposit in Mexico’s Guerrero State.
Based on 438 holes comprising 96,135 metres, the latest calculation pegs the overall resource at 49.4 million tonnes grading 1.41 grams gold per tonne, using a 0.5 gram gold cut off. Of this, 8.2 million tonnes grading 1.64 grams gold lie in the measured category, 30.2 million tonnes averaging 1.38 grams gold are classified as indicated and the remaining 11 million tonnes grading 1.35 grams gold are set in the inferred section.
Raising the gold cut off to 1 gram, the resource drops to 21 million tonnes averaging 2.41 grams gold. Of this, 4.1 million tonnes grading 2.59 grams gold are in the measured category, 12.5 million tonnes averaging 2.34 grams gold lie in the indicated section, and 4.4 million tonnes grading 2.44 grams gold fall in the inferred category.
Los Filos is located 350 metres east of the La Aguita open pit gold mine on the eastern margin of a large intrusion. Diamond drilling in 1997 determined that the Los Filos mineralization joined the previously dubbed Pedregal zone around the southeast margin of the stock. The deposit is buried under a cap of unmineralized marble and covers a 1,300-by-400-metre area. Mineralization is associated with clay, pyrite and iron oxides and is classified as “skarn-style” with several quartz-rich intrusive phases occurring.
Metallurgical test work indicate that over 70% of the gold can be recovered using heap leaching, while recoveries hit over 90% by using a carbon-in-pulp mill.
This year’s US$336,000 budget will be used for environmental and permit reviews, as well as a capital and operating cost study.
Teck Cominco holds a 70% stake in the project, while Miranda has a 30% carried interest.
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