Dec 16 2010
Torex Gold Resources Inc. (TSX:TXG) announced today that step-out drilling on the El Limon deposit at the Company's Morelos Gold Project in Mexico has intersected high grade gold mineralization outside the known resource area and extended the deposit some 250 m to the east and 50 m to the west.
The ongoing detailed drill program at the El Limon deposit, which is open in several directions, will continue to mid 2011 and is designed to grow the resource and add significant new ounces with step out boreholes and to upgrade the known resource with in fill boreholes.
Fred Stanford, President and CEO of Torex stated "We are aggressively drilling at our Morelos property and plan to complete 100,000 m by mid 2011. We currently have 9 drill rigs operating on site and expect to have 11 drill rigs running early in the new year. We are conducting step out and infill drilling on our known deposits; the El Limon, Los Guajes West and Los Guajes East deposits and are drilling to test the possibility of some of the known deposits connecting near surface and at depth. The initial drill results are very encouraging with several high grade gold intercepts over mineable widths being intersected outside the known resource boundaries. The early drill results have already allowed us to extend the El Limon deposit at least 250 m to the east and 50 m to the west."
Mr. Stanford added, "Our aggressive 2010/2011 drill program is designed to significantly increase the number of ounces in the known deposits and has the potential to add some one million ounces to the resources and the potential to bring the total resources on the property to about five million ounces. In addition, we are also aggressively exploring to discover new gold deposits outside our known deposits and to further test the positive results we previously announced in the Los Mangos area and south of the Balsas River."
The mineralization encountered up to 250 m to the east of the existing El Limon resource indicates that the skarn alteration and gold mineralization continues up-dip a significant distance to the east. The mineralization in drill hole T10-047C is particularly noteworthy as it indicates that the structurally controlled mineralization seen in the intrusive and hornfels rocks can be an important mineralization style. The gold grades in this geological environment can be similar to those seen in the skarn rocks and the Company believes that there is significant potential to find additional similar type mineralization. Initial step-out drilling up to 50m to the west of the existing El Limon resource also encountered encouraging intercepts and additional drilling is planned to further extend the mineralization in the upcoming months.
In-fill drilling at El Limon has continued to confirm the geological interpretation that an envelope of skarn-related alteration, in both the marble of the Morelos Formation and the overlying biotite and pyroxene hornfels of the Mezcala Formation, is the primary ore host at Morelos. The contact between these two lithologies is an especially important control on alteration and mineralization and there are significant areas to both the east and south of the existing resource where this contact is yet to be drill tested. As an example of this potential, there are two intrusive bodies, approximately 125m and 275m north of T10-037C, with the potential to expand the deposit further, thus drill hole testing is planned for these sites. In-fill drilling has also encountered significant thicknesses of lower grade gold mineralization (0.6 to 0.9g/t Au) in hornfels, which could be important in an open pit mining operation.
Logistics Update
Currently, nine drills are operating at the Morelos Gold Project, four of which are at the El Limon deposit. There have been approximately 2.1km of new roads constructed to support the drilling efforts at El Limon. A large permanent water sump (piscine) has been constructed on the top of the El Limon hill to allow gravity distribution of the approximately 160,000 liters per day of water required for the drilling.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
At the Morelos Gold Project, all of the analytical work is performed by SGS de Mexico S.A. de C.V. ("SGS") in Mexico. Sample preparation is done at a dedicated sample preparation laboratory operated by SGS at the project site in Nuevo Balsas, Guerrero, Mexico. The Au analyses (fire assay with an atomic absorption or gravimetric finish) and multi-element geochemical analyses are completed by SGS at their analytical facilities in Durango, Durango, Mexico. Torex has a Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") program in place that includes 5% each of the Certified Reference Materials, blanks, field duplicates and preparation duplicates. The QA/QC program as designed has been approved by AMEC E&C Services, Inc. and is overseen by Dr. Jeffrey W. Brooks, Chief Geologist for Torex.
The Company follows strict QA/QC protocol measures in keeping with industry standards and regulatory reporting requirements. Mr. Jerry E. Snider, B.Sc. Mining Engineering, MBA, Project Manager of Torex, is the Qualified Person who has reviewed this news release, and is responsible for the technical information reported herein, including verification of the data disclosed, the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the technical information.
Further information regarding the Morelos Gold Project is contained in the Technical Report effective October 6, 2009 and entitled "Gleichen Resources Ltd., Morelos Gold Project, Guerrero, Mexico, NI 43-101 Technical Report".
Source:
Torex Gold Resources Inc.