Sep 12 2013
Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. ("Cornerstone" or "the Company") today announces a further update on recent developments at the Cascabel Project in northern Ecuador. This report does not constitute a drilling report as assays from mineralized core have not yet been received.
All figures and photographs from drill core related to this news release can be seen at www.cornerstoneresources.com.
Highlights:
- Drill Hole CSD-13-001 intersects visually identified porphyry copper mineralization in two zones at Alpala Prospect.
- Upper main stockwork zone intersected over 112 metres downhole (from 51.5 m to 163 m) with variable copper sulphides (chalcopyrite, chalcocite and bornite).
- Lower strongly sheeted and well-mineralized quartz vein zone intersected over 60 metres downhole (from 225 m to 285 m) with visible chalcopyrite and chalcocite.
- The presence of magnetite and potassium feldspar as alteration and veins in relic windows suggests the presence of the upper parts of an inner potassic alteration zone that is the core target of a porphyry copper gold system.
SolGold Plc holds a 50% interest, and can earn up to 85% interest, in Exploraciones Novomining S.A. ("ENSA"), the Ecuadorian subsidiary of Cornerstone that holds 100% the Cascabel concession.
The Cascabel project is located in north-western Ecuador in an under-explored northern section of the richly endowed Andean Copper Belt, 60 km northeast of the undeveloped NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource of 982 million tonnes at 0.89% Cu Junin copper project., the 3.1 billion tonne at 0.38% Cu Cobre Panama deposit located to the north in Panama and the 905 million tonnes at 0.92 g/t Au La Colosa porphyry deposit located to the north in Colombia, containing 26 million ozs of gold.
The Alpala Prospect exhibits surface mineralization and alteration patterns indicative of porphyry copper gold systems and has a similar footprint to large porphyry systems around the world.
Drill Hole CSD-13-001 Intersects Visually Identified Porphyry Copper Mineralization
Hole CSD-13-001, the first hole to test the Alpala Prospect at the Cascabel Project, has intersected porphyry copper mineralization across two zones.
Hole CSD-13-001 supports the significance of the mineralized zones at surface encountered during geological mapping, channel trenching and sampling at the Alpala Prospect over the last six months. CSD-13-001 drilled beneath Trench 46 (TR 46), which encountered 45 m at 0.59% Cu and 0.81 g/t Au (as reported on January 24, 2013).
Hole CSD-13-001 is characterized by abundant and complex fracturing, variably strong quartz veining and copper sulphide mineralization indicative of the upper parts of a copper gold porphyry system. The drill core also exhibits overprinting by a late phase of strongly mineralized sheeted quartz veins at depth. This phase is expected to lift the copper and gold grades in the lower mineralized zone. It should also be noted that gold is associated with the copper mineralization in surface trench sampling.
Technical Summary of CSD-13-001
Drill hole CSD-13-001 was drilled at an inclination of 60 degrees below trench TR46 at Alpala, towards an azimuth of 225 degrees and to a final down-hole depth of 349 metres.
The hole visually identified two extensive intervals of porphyry stock work veining from 51.5m to 163m and from 225m to 285m down hole. The shallower 112m-long zone of stock work veining directly underlies the area of trenching at surface and confirms continuity of veining and alteration into the sub-surface. The deeper zone of sheeted and stockwork veining was encountered at depths up to 240m vertically below the western margin of the surface trenching at Alpala. The uppermost and intervening intervals between the two mineralized zones in the drill core also encountered stockwork veining albeit at lower levels of intensity.
Visible copper sulphide minerals were encountered coinciding with the two areas of more intense stockwork veining, and include veins containing chalcopyrite, disseminations and aggregates of chalcocite and visible bornite. The annotated photographic images show examples of the copper sulphides and the sheeted and stockwork quartz veins intersected in the upper and lower mineralized zones.
The dominant lithologies encountered in the hole were volcaniclastic breccias that are cross-cut by narrow zones of hydrothermal breccia and multiple generations of dyke-like intrusions of porphyritic rocks in the deeper part of the hole. The alteration in the shallow part of the hole is dominated by argillic (clay rich) alteration that coincides with the uppermost stockwork zone. Intense argillic alteration was also encountered deeper in the hole, coinciding with the zone of sheeted porphyry quartz veins. Local areas of relic potassic alteration typical of a copper gold porphyry system were encountered. The deeper part of the hole increasingly intersected propylitic-altered (outer alteration zone) rocks towards the southwest margin of the system.
Visual estimates of quartz vein intensities within the upper stockwork zone vary between 2 and 10 percent quartz veining, and then increase to around 45 percent quartz veining in the deeper sheeted vein zone.
These results are encouraging and confirm the extension of mineralization at depth below surface sampling in Trench 46. The zone of argillic or clay-rich alteration and porphyry stockwork quartz veining appears open to extensions toward the east, northeast, north and northwest of this first drill hole. The drill core will be cut and sent to the lab for assay.
The mineral zonation encountered in hole CSD-13-001 suggests that the core of the porphyry system lies to the east and may be coincident with an extensive magnetic anomaly modeled in three dimensions as an apophysis from a deeper intrusion sourcing metals to hydrothermal fluids.
Future drill holes in the planned five hole, 2500 meter program are targeted to test both the stockwork zone, the overprinted sheeted vein system and the porphyry core modeled to the east. The rest of the holes in the Stage 1 drill program are expected to be completed over the next eight weeks. The rig will be moved to drill site CSD-13-002 which is targeted to test beneath surface trench results being: 56.93 m @ 0.34% Cu and 1.16 g/t Au. The company will also be considering extending the drilling contract pending a review of results on completion of the Stage 1 program.
Qualified Person:
Yvan Crepeau, MBA, P.Geo., Cornerstone's Vice President, Exploration and a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for supervising the exploration program at the Cascabel project and has reviewed and approved the information contained in this news release.