Dec 7 2010
Extorre Gold Mines Limited (TSX:XG) (FRANKFURT:E1R) (OTCQX:EXGMF) has reported assay results from the first six diamond drill holes completed on the new, silver rich, Lucia vein at Cerro Moro in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.
The vein is a new discovery located approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) northeast of the high grade Escondida zone. The target structure at Lucia is over 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) long on the basis of geophysical (ground magnetic) data. At surface it consists of a poorly outcropping, quartz-adularia vein/stockworks zone that strikes northwest-southeast, a trend common to the majority of the high grade veins on the property.
The initial drill holes at Lucia were targeted on a 250 metre ("m'), (820 feet) long section of the vein, below a high grade surface outcrop. Highlights from two of the six diamond drill holes follow:
MD998 intersected 5.15m at 5.9 g/t gold + 1,083 g/t silver (23.9 g/t gold equivalent)
MD1003 intersected 0.4m at 5.1 g/t gold + 1,247 g/t silver (25.9 g/t gold equivalent)
Extorre´s Co-Chairman, Bryce Roxburgh stated, "The discovery of a second silver dominant vein in the northern sector of the Cerro Moro vein field (Gabriela was the first) has significant implications for the project. Historically, 40% of the project value lies with silver, yet with increasing silver prices and the identification of additional silver dominant veins, Cerro Moro has the potential to transition to a silver dominant deposit. The intersection of bonanza silver and gold values within the intercept quoted above for the first hole, MD998, of 0.45m at 51.8 g/t gold and 10,987 g/t silver (234.9 g/t gold equivalent) clearly supports drill testing the entire length of the Lucia target to test for Escondida-style bonanza shoots. In a separate news release, we will provide an update on drill results from the other veins being drilled on the property."
The Lucia vein occupies an interpreted boundary fault that separates a block of volcanic rocks from a sedimentary sequence. Lucia appears to be a similar structure with a like geological setting to the Escondida vein, 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) to the southwest, which hosts 60% of the total currently reported Cerro Moro resource. Results presented also suggest that the Lucia mineralization may occur in irregular shaped shoots similar to those at Escondida.
Northwestern and southeastern extensions to the Lucia structural zone are clearly evident in our geophysical data. These extensions are currently being evaluated with widely spaced (160m (525 feet) apart) diamond drill holes over a 2.5 km (1.6 mile) distance.
Pre-feasibility study infill drilling, with the aim of converting existing Inferred resource category mineralization to higher confidence categories at both the Gabriela Central and Loma Escondida zones, is now essentially complete. The Company will now deploy three of the four diamond drill rigs currently on site to defining new gold and silver resources on the property. Priority targets for new resource drilling include the Lucia, Gabriela extensions, Esperanza, Carla and Martina zones. Extorre remains on track to release a new resource estimate in Q2-2011.
Gold assay results presented above are preliminary with no cutting of high grades. All diamond drill core samples are split on regular metre intervals or on geological contacts and represent sawn half HQ-size core. Reverse circulation drill samples are collected using a cyclone in one metre intervals. Samples were prepared at the Acme Analytical Laboratories ("AcmeLabs") preparation facility in Mendoza, Argentina and assayed by fire assay (50 gram charge) at the AcmeLabs laboratory in Chile, both ISO-9001:2000 certified laboratories.
Check assaying of all samples assaying greater than 1.0 g/t gold is completed by Acme Labs. Samples returning greater than 10 g/t gold and/or greater than 100 g/t silver are assayed using gravimetric analyses. Standard and blank samples are used throughout the sample sequence as checks for the diamond drilling reported in this release. Standard, blank and duplicate samples are used throughout the sample sequence as checks for RC percussion drilling.
Assaying by the screen fire assay method has been implemented in conjunction with standard 50 gram fire assaying, for diamond drill cores that contain visible gold. The procedure for screen fire assaying involves crushing and sieving of a nominal 1,000 gram sample to a particle size of 100 microns. All material which does not pass through the 100 micron sieve is then assayed. Two fire assays are undertaken on the undersize material as a check on homogeneity. The total gold content is then calculated.
Matthew Williams, Extorre's Exploration Manager and a "qualified person" within the definition of that term in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this news release.
Source:
Extorre Gold Mines Limited