Mar 6 2019
Sonoro Metals Corp., recently stated that it has commenced its Phase two drilling campaign at its 1,400-hectare Cerro Caliche project in the Cucurpe Mining District of Sonora State, Mexico. Phase two follows a very fruitful Phase one drilling program which was accomplished in January 2019 and is the continuation of the company’s complete 10,000 m drilling program which was started in October 2018. The Phase two drilling program will comprise of approximately 5,000 m of reverse circulation drilling and would require around four months to finish, complementing the newly-finished 45-hole Phase one program, which yielded 4,604 m of drilling.
Phase one results established a series of eight northwest trending gold-dominant structures encircled by parallel sheeted veinlets and stockwork veinlets. The drilling further revealed shallow, low-grade, bulk tonnage gold mineralized zones in supergene oxidized sedimentary and igneous rock units. Based on additional metallurgical confirmation, the gold mineralized zones seem pliable to heap leach extraction of precious metals with deep oxidation. The average gold grade of intervals stated was 0.55 g/t which, besides being shallow, oxide, and potentially heap leachable, indicate the Cerro Caliche mineralized zones are similar to other adjacent gold deposits presently being mined.
We are excited to commence Phase two and build on the success of Phase one as we further assess whether Cerro Caliche will be amenable to the development of a heap leach extraction operation.
Kenneth MacLeod, President and CEO, Metals Corp.
During the Phase two program, Sonoro expects to increase the gold mineralization inventory by drilling in other zones recognized as having the possibility to yield results of a size and continuity adequate to support the definition of a resource on the property appropriate for a probable mining operation. This phase will also comprise of deeper drill hole testing in potential mineralized zones for the deeper potential frequently observed in other epithermal vein zones and will include drilling to cover the high-grade gold around drill hole 44 in the El Colorado zone which intercepted 12.19 m with an average grade of 11.21 g/t Au and 5.9 g/t Ag.
Based on the fruitful conclusion of Phase two, Phase three is scheduled to consist mainly of approximately 7,000 m of infill drilling to determine confidence and expansion of the results drawn in the earlier phases. Metallurgical testing will continue to be integrated.
Altogether, the Cerro Caliche gold project has undergone more than 17,000 m of drilling from historic and present exploration programs, including 161 drill holes and over 6,000 surface samples. The company hopes that it will commission and publish an NI 43-101 technical report, including a preliminary resource estimate in the next two months.