Intersects 10.7m of 7.25 g/t Au, 10.2% Cu, and 163.5 g/t Ag At Paloma West
Chakana Copper Corp. (TSXV: PERU)has intersected promising mineralisation in the latest three holes drilled at its high-grade copper-gold-silver Paloma West discovery at the expanded Soledad Project in Ancash, Peru.
These results are part of the ongoing Phase 3 drill programme, a fully funded 15,000m drill program that started August 15, 2020. Phase 3 is testing a tight cluster of high-grade, gold-enriched tourmaline breccia pipe targets within the Paloma and Huancarama breccia complexes.
President and CEO David Kelley, said that 13 holes have now been reported from the Paloma targets for a total of 2,789 metres. Drilling is currently underway at Huancarama where seven holes have been completed thus far.
Significant intervals of mineralisation were encountered in all three holes.
- SDH20-143 was drilled as a step-out hole to test the eastern extent of breccia and drill beneath strong quartz-sericite altered volcanic rocks at surface. The outcrops are aligned along an east-northeast structural trend projecting toward Paloma East. The hole did not intersect breccia, but did cut strong mineralization hosted in narrow tourmaline-sulphide replacement zones. These are interpreted as mineralized structures peripheral to mineralised breccia bodies.
- SDH20-144 was drilled through the main breccia body, intersecting two narrow mineralised structures before two significant intervals of breccia with 21m of 1.05 g/t Au, 0.79% Cu, and 44.6 g/t Ag starting at 63m; and 27m of 0.19 g/t Au, 0.76% Cu, and 15.8 g/t Ag starting at 98m.
- SDH20-145 was drilled from a platform on the southwest side of the exposed breccia pipe. The hole intersected two zones of high-grade breccia, with the first zone averaging 2.17 g/t Au, 1.69% Cu, and 43.5 g/t Ag over 13m starting at 10m. The second zone averages 5.08 g/t Au, 6.75% Cu, and 109.3 g/t Ag over 16.3m starting at 31.7m, including 7.25 g/t Au, 10.2% Cu, and 163.5 g/t Ag over 10.7m from 32.4m.
“These are some of the highest grades we have ever seen on the Soledad project after 33,000m of drilling,” Mr Kelley said.
“Intersecting 10.7m with 7.25 g/t gold, 10.2% copper and 163.5 g/t silver demonstrates the high-grade potential of the tourmaline breccias at Soledad.
“In addition to the high grades at Paloma West we are seeing a much higher density of high-grade mineralisation hosted in structures and breccia dikes surrounding the breccia pipes. This is likely an indication of the strength and potential extent of the mineralising system in this part of the project. We have just started to explore these targets and the drill program continues to run smoothly. We look forward to releasing further drill results on Paloma West and Huancarama in the near future.”
The Paloma target area consists of two mapped outcropping breccia pipes, Paloma East and Paloma West and at least one breccia dike.
First-pass surface sampling encountered strongly anomalous gold at both Paloma breccia pipes as well as within several scattered small exposures of breccia and vein-like structures in the Paloma area.
The Paloma East and Paloma West surface expressions are located on the flanks of a prominent late-time electromagnetic conductivity feature. The anomaly extends beyond the limits of the survey grid and the Paloma area, representing an expanded area for future exploration.