Challenger Gold (ASX:CEL) has identified several new targets through a regional exploration program at its Hualilan Gold Project in San Juan, Argentina.
The $113.15 million market capitalisation company reports this regional exploration program has been designed to explore for Hualilan repeats along 30km of prospective strike from the current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).
Though still ongoing, the project highlighted several new targets in its initial stage.
With the program less than 40% complete, Challenger says several new target areas, including El Penon, Andacollo, Hualilan up-dip, and Magnata Fault West, have already been delineated for follow-up work.
The news comes ahead of Challenger Gold Managing Director Kris Knauer’s planned presentation on day 2 of the Noosa Mining Investor Conference being held from 19-21 July 2023.
Challenger reports it is now extending its ground magnetic survey data to cover the 25km-square immediately south of Hualilan and 48km-square north of the project at El Penon.
Data acquisition has begun at El Penon, where stream sediment sampling returned up to 54.4g/t gold and 151g/t silver, which the company says is ‘exceptionally high’ for stream sediment samples. These results cover about 250m of strike within a longer 1.2km arsenic-bismuth-lead-zinc-antimony-titanium anomaly and lie at the edge of a 2km-square zone of anomalous copper-molybdenum.
Challenger says magnetic data from the area will help guide the design for a first drill program at El Penon.
Meanwhile, Challenger has been granted the rights to the Lo Que Vendra area concessions, covering up to 8km south of the existing MRE. Limited reconnaissance of this southern extension has been conducted to date, with magnetic data to be used as a base for mapping the intrusives, allowing for ‘high-priority’ exploration areas to be targeted.
The company has also completed its first-pass processing of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite data from across the Hualilan project area.
The data generated 2 targets to be followed up with surface exploration, with no previous exploration completed across these zones in the past.
This all comes as Challenger’s stage one regional stream sediment sampling program reaches 50% completion over an area of 70km-square. This program has identified a second new centre of mineralisation to the west of the Magnata Fault. Results for this area are pending.
Finally, a grid mapping and rock chip/soil sampling program covering the strike extensions 4km north and south of Hualilan is progressing. In areas of no outcrop, Challenger will trial Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) geochemical sampling on both the soil and cover material to provide drill targets to test for repetitions of Hualilan along strike to the north and south.
Commenting on these latest activities and results, Knauer says: “The regional exploration program at Hualilan is progressing well. We eagerly await the magnetic data at El Penon, where we have found plus 50g/t gold grades, at surface. This should allow us to image the intrusives at depth and plan our first drill program to test El Penon.
“Our program is the first detailed exploration focused outside the historical mineralisation conducted at Hualilan”
Our program is the first detailed exploration focused outside the historical mineralisation conducted at Hualilan, so it is not a surprise that it continues to generate several new targets.
The program has identified a new mineralisation centre 2km west of and on-trend with the Magnata Fault. Stream sediment sampling produced an anomaly up to 100 times background with reconnaissance fieldwork identifying a series of old workings extending over 500m, which is in the process of being mapped and sampled. Additionally, we have a large backlog of samples for which assay results are pending.
Challenger Gold is an ASX-listed gold explorer focused on its Hualilan Gold Project in Argentina and El Guayabo Copper-Gold Project in Ecuador. On 10 May 2023, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with EPF Luz for renewable power for Hualilan.
Write to Harry Mulholland at Mining.com.au
Images: Challenger Gold Ltd
