Altamira Gold (TSX-V:ALTA) has intersected broad zones of gold mineralisation outside the current resource at its Maria Bonita Gold Deposit in Brazil’s Cajueiro district.
Hole MBA039 returned 117m @ 0.4 grams per tonne gold (Au) from surface, predominantly within volcanic tuffs. MBA038 intersected 74m @ 0.3g/t Au from 74m in porphyry and adjacent volcanic tuff wall rock.
The holes were drilled northwest of the resource and optimised pit boundary as part of a program testing the deposit’s western extension. Altamira says the results indicate mineralisation continues north, west, and at depth.
CEO Mike Bennett says the results expand the company’s understanding of the mineralised system beyond porphyry intrusion.
“What makes MBA038 particularly significant is the gold mineralization preserved in the wall rock tuffs, outside the intrusive,” Bennett says.
“This is very positive for our ongoing district exploration as mineralized veining clearly extends beyond the limits of the porphyry system at Maria Bonita, increasing its tonnage potential.”
Holes MBA036–MBA039 have each intersected broad mineralised zones beyond the existing resource, including 130m @ 0.5g/t Au in MBA036.
Core logging indicates gold distribution is generally associated with the frequency of hydrothermal quartz veining. Altamira reports vein densities of two to four veinlets per metre in the porphyry and up to eight veins per metre in sections of wall rock tuff.
Mineralised porphyry sections returned bulk grades of around 0.5g/t Au, while the 74m interval in MBA038 included a peak one-metre result of 1.64g/t Au.
Two scout holes at the Mombaque prospect returned only narrow zones of ‘low-grade’ gold. Altamira says the results reduce the likelihood of a scalable mineralised system in the area tested.
Drilling is continuing at Maria Bonita, with MBA044 underway. The company says it plans to use the western-extension drilling as the basis for an updated mineral resource estimate.
Maria Bonita hosts indicated resources of 24.19 million tonnes (Mt) @ 0.46g/t Au for 357,800 ounces and inferred resources of 25.64Mt @ 0.44g/t Au for 362,400 ounces.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Altamira Gold
