Astra Exploration (TSX-V:ASTR) has received final assays from its phase three drilling program at the La Manchuria Gold and Silver Project in Argentina.
The company completed 16 drill holes totalling 5,176m between April and June, testing depth extensions of the Main and Eastern zones and expanding the near-surface footprint with shallow drilling.
Highlights from the final eight holes include 1m @ 19.09 grams per tonne (g/t) gold equivalent (AuEq) from 199m in hole LMDH-026, and 1.5m @ 11.74g/t AuEq from 73.5m in hole LMDH-025.
Drilling targeted the Manchuria Hill prospect, expanding mineralisation west through the Basalto zone, north via the Main and Eastern zones, and east at the Road zone. Step-outs ranged from 50m to 200m.
CEO Brian Miller says drilling continues to intersect ‘high-grade’ gold and silver intercepts that remain open.
“Stepping out to define the full extent of the Manchuria Hill target will be a focus of our follow-up drill program planned for the December quarter of 2026,” Miller notes.
Five priority drill targets have been identified across a 4km by 4km area, suggesting Manchuria Hill forms part of a larger epithermal system.
Regional targets include La Pampa, which returned surface samples up to 1.8g/t gold from outcropping quartz veins. A second target, Breccia, covers a 2km by 3km zone of high-level epithermal clay alteration.
Astra has expanded its land position by staking an additional 33,400 hectares and doubled the size of its geophysical datasets.
The company plans a 10,000m to 20,000m drill program split between expansion drilling at Manchuria Hill and regional exploration across the broader district.
“Combined with a planned drill program on our Don Mario project in Chile, Astra’s strong treasury of C$12.5 million [$12.54 million] supports our fully funded discovery drilling programs over the coming months,” Miller says.
Deeper drilling at 200m to 300m vertical depth has not returned favourable vein widths due to poor host lithology. However, step-out holes continue to return mineralisation open in all directions.
La Manchuria is in Argentina’s Deseado massif, which hosts the Cerro Vanguardia and Cerro Negro deposits.
Astra Exploration holds an 80% interest with an option to acquire 90% from Patagonia Gold (TSX-V:PGDC).
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Main image: Astra Exploration
