VANCOUVER, May 9, 2016 /CNW/ - Mirasol Resources Ltd.
(TSX-V: MRZ, "Mirasol") is pleased to announce that drilling
has been initiated at Mirasol's 100% owned Claudia gold-silver
project in Santa Cruz province
Argentina by Mirasol's Joint
Venture partner Cerro Vanguardia
S.A. (CVSA - 92.5 % owned by AngloGold Ashanti, the
controlling shareholder, and 7.5 % by Fomicruz S.E., the
Santa Cruz provincial mining
company). CVSA operates the multi-million ounce Cerro
Vanguardia Au+Ag mine which abuts Mirasol's 127,680 ha Claudia
project which hosts a series of large-scale Au+Ag silver prospects
within reasonable trucking distance of the Cerro Vanguardia mill
and processing facilities. The Claudia - CVSA JV targets the
discovery and rapid delineation of Au + Ag resources that could be
developed as satellite pits to the Cerro Vanguardia operation (see
news release 1st March
2016).
This first phase of drilling is designed to provide an initial
test of a portion of the Curahue prospect, one of five precious
metal prospects outlined by Mirasol at the Claudia project (Figure
1, and refer to the Mirasol Claudia Presentation). The Curahue
prospect is a 15 km long Au+Ag bearing epithermal vein corridor
where Mirasol's mapping, geophysics and trenching has outlined six
large, undrilled, vein trends that are mostly concealed beneath
thin (1 to 5 m) unconsolidated post-mineral cover.
CVSA has planned an initial 3,500 m, 22 hole,
reverse-circulation (RC) drill program as a shallow (25 to 100 m
depth) test of the Curahue prospect's Io, Europa and Calisto vein
trends. Previous work here by Mirasol trenched through the
cover exposing large Au+Ag epithermal veins (see news release
27th July 2015). The
results from this initial RC program will be used to prioritize the
higher-grade segments of these vein trends for follow-up diamond
core (DD) and additional RC drilling. Two splits of samples
will be assayed for gold and silver from the initial RC
drilling: One sample split will be submitted to an
independent accredited laboratory as per standard industry practice
for purposes of database integrity; the other split will be assayed
at the CVSA mine site laboratory which is able to deliver quick
turnaround Au+Ag results which can be feedback into the active
drilling campaign to guide follow-up drilling. Future
systematic exploration drilling of the remaining Curahue vein
trends and other prospects at Claudia will follow-on from
successful results of this phase of exploration.
Mirasol's management is pleased with the rapid progress that has
been made by CVSA in completing drill permitting and initiating
this drilling within 2 months of signing the Claudia – CVSA
JV. The initial 3,500 m RC program signals a strong
commitment to the project that predicates a minimum of 6,000 m of
drilling and a US$2 million
exploration spend by the 12-month anniversary of the JV.
Successful delineation of a minable deposit at Claudia could
expose the company to a relatively low-cost, rapid development
scenario leveraging the existing CVSA mine infrastructure and
potentially providing near term cash flow to
Mirasol.
The Cerro Vanguardia Mine produced 300,000 oz of Au during 2015
and over 1.25M oz Au in the last five years, mining from a series
of open-pits, heap-leach and underground operations. Cerro
Vanguardia is one of AngloGold Ashanti's lower-cost gold producers,
with all-in sustaining costs in 2015 of USD $873/oz (AngloGold Ashanti Q4-2015 report), with
total district resources and past production of 8.6M oz Au and 135M
oz Ag.
Mirasol is a project generation company focused on the discovery
of precious metals and copper resources in the Americas. Strategic
joint ventures with metal producers have enabled Mirasol to advance
its priority projects, focused in high-potential regions in
Chile and Argentina. Mirasol employs an integrated
generative and on ground exploration approach combining leading
edge technologies and experienced exploration geoscientists to
maximize the potential for discovery. Mirasol is in a strong
financial position and has a significant portfolio of drill ready
gold-silver exploration projects located in Chile and Argentina.
Stephen Nano, President and CEO
of Mirasol, has approved the technical content of this news release
and is a Qualified Person under NI 43 -101.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control of the Claudia exploration
program:
Under the terms of the CVSA-Claudia Agreement, all new
exploration is managed by CVSA. All previous exploration on the
projects was supervised by Mirasol CEO Stephen C. Nano, who is the Qualified Person
under NI 43-101. All information generated from the Joint
Venture program is reviewed by Mirasol prior to release. The
technical interpretations presented here are those of Mirasol
Resources Ltd.
CVSA applies industry standard exploration methodologies and
techniques. All geochemical rock and drill samples are collected
under the supervision of CVSA's geologists in accordance with
industry practice. Geochemical assays are obtained and reported
under a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program.
Samples are dispatched to an ISO 9001:2008 accredited laboratory in
Argentina for analysis. Assay
results from drill core samples may be higher, lower or similar to
results obtained from surface samples due to surficial oxidation
and enrichment processes or due to natural geological grade
variations in the primary mineralization.
Forward Looking Statements: The information in this news release
contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in
our forward looking statements. Factors that could cause such
differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity
markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining
industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting
the mining industry. Forward-looking statements in this release
include statements regarding future exploration programs, operation
plans, geological interpretations, mineral tenure issues and
mineral recovery processes. Although we believe the expectations
reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, results
may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements. Mirasol disclaims any
obligations to update or revise any forward looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
except as may be required by applicable law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Mirasol Resources Ltd.