Oct 21 2010
Colossus Minerals Inc. (TSX:CSI) has announced the first results of diamond drilling for the extension of the Central Mineralized Zone into the newly acquired land package of the Serra Pelada Gold-Platinum-Palladium Project, the Colossus-COOMIGASP joint venture located in Para State, Brazil.
HIGHLIGHTS
Three step-out drill-holes have confirmed the continuation of the CMZ onto the newly acquired land package, some 450 metres southwest of the historical Serra Pelada open pit.
- SPD-072 intersected 8.35 metres at 53.13 g/t gold and also 25 metres at 30.19 g/t gold, 3.53 g/t platinum and 4.25 g/t palladium, including 4.58 metres at 82.39 g/t gold, 8.23 g/t platinum and 9.91 g/t palladium
- SPD-059 and SPD-065 together with SPD-072 demonstrate shallowly and steeply-dipping subzones of high-grade gold-platinum-palladium mineralization, open to the northeast and southwest on the new ground
- These subzones are continuous with high grade gold and platinum group metals mineralization delineated by Colossus up-plunge to the northeast
DETAILS
Gold-platinum-palladium mineralization at Serra Pelada overprints metasediments occupying the hinge and limbs of a northwest-facing, southwest-plunging, reclined synclinorium that plunges gently southwest from the historical open pit. The CMZ comprises mainly steeply dipping bodies in the fold hinge zone but extends onto the upper and lower limbs of the fold where the mineralization is associated with siliceous and iron-oxide rich alteration. Characterized mainly by intense hydrothermal carbonaceous and argillic alteration, largely of siltstones, the CMZ is inboard of siliceous alteration partially mantling the synclinorial hinge. To date the CMZ has been drill-delineated over 400 metres southwest of the historical open-pit on the Joint Venture's Mining License (see Figure 1). This release documents the first results of drilling for the extensions of the CMZ into the surrounding newly acquired land package.
SPD-059, SPD-065 and SPD-072 were drilled on Section 150SW and confirm that the siltstone-cored fold extends into the new ground (see Figure 1). SPD-059 intersected mineralization around the upper limb of the fold. SPD-065 was drilled more steeply from the same pad, also encountered upper limb mineralization and apparently clipped mineralized subzones at greater depths. SPD-072 was then stepped back to the northwest and intersected upper limb mineralization as well as a long mineralized interval at greater depth. The main intersections for these drill-holes are tabulated below:
The uppermost mineralized intercepts in SPD-072, SPD-065 and SPD-059 are interpreted to represent a shallowly-dipping subzone and thus approximate the true thickness of mineralization. This high Au/PGE subzone is open to the northwest and southwest and may be continuous with the high-grade mineralization encountered in SPD-028A and SPD-047 (Colossus News Release, June 24, 2010) up to 100 metres to the northeast and at similar depths.
The deeper intercepts in SPD-072 and SPD-065 are interpreted to represent a steeply dipping mineralized subzone which is open to the northwest and southwest. This high-grade subzone exhibits characteristic carbonaceous alteration and may correlate with ultra high-grade gold-platinum-palladium mineralization re-assayed in historical hole FD-072 (13.71 metres @ 204.5 g/t gold, 58.6 g/t platinum, 69.2 g/t palladium and 1.61 g/t rhodium) more than 50 metres to the northeast.
Further drilling is underway to explore the extensions of the CMZ further to the southwest on the new ground and to the northeast to detail its continuity with previously delineated mineralization.
"It is most pleasing and reassuring to see this unique high-grade orebody continue to the southwest. As a result of this success, we will be adding a second deep penetration drill in November to speed up exploration of the CMZ," commented Ari Sussman, Colossus' CEO. "The maturation of our Company since June is nothing short of spectacular to oversee, as there are now more than 200 employees working aggressively on decline development, earth works and building construction at Serra Pelada."
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Diamond drilling was HQ cored. Sampling of core (by Colossus personnel) and sample preparation (by Intertek Limited, Parauapebas) were carried out under strict protocols recommended in the NI 43-101 Technical Report dated January 31, 2010 on Serra Pelada. After photographing and logging, core intervals (drilling advances, averaging one metre in length) were cut and/or split in half, yielding samples of two to three kilogram mass. Where core recoveries were low, intervals were composited to yield approximately one kilogram minimum sample masses. Intertek pulverised one or two kilogram splits (>95% passing 106 microns) from the crushed (>95% passing 1.7 mm), dried samples. Duplicates, blanks and certified gold-PGE reference materials were inserted in the sample train by Colossus personnel prior to Intertek preparation work. 200 gram aliquots were rotary split from each pulp by Intertek and one of these samples was securely shipped directly by Intertek to Genalysis Limited, Perth Laboratory for check assaying.
Intertek inserted additional blanks, duplicates and high grade gold/PGE reference materials in the assay stream and replicate assays were performed routinely and on most medium to high grade materials. Fire assays for gold, platinum and palladium were on 25 gram subsamples utilizing a lead-rich collector material and AA finish by Intertek. The assay lab dispatched assay certificate originals directly to Resource and Exploration Mapping Ltd., an independent Company which manages Colossus' database.
The Intertek assay results for blanks, duplicates, replicates and also all reference materials were well within generally accepted QA/QC measures. Re-assaying (by Intertek) of screen-sized splits from high grade samples from SPD-065 examined bias potentially introduced by the variable inclusion of siliceous and kaolinitic fractions in assay samples. The assay results included in this compilation are the lower values obtained by this work.
Dr. Vic Wall, the Vice President, Exploration of Colossus, is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for this release and has verified the contents disclosed.