Oct 14 2010
Estrella Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:EST) has provided an update on its Pampa Poroma iron oxide-copper-gold project, located 22 km south of Nazca, Peru, in the Department of Ica.
Initial evaluation has confirmed that the property is located along trend from the Marcona IOCG district, and the property contains favourable alteration including, concentrations of iron oxides, copper and gold mineralization that warrants further exploration. The Pampa Poroma property is approximately 20 km northeast from the Marcona-Mina Justa iron oxide-copper-gold district (Chen, et al. 2010) and contains 900 hectares of mineral claims. Company geologists recently completed initial map compilation, reconnaissance mapping and rock sampling on the property. Estrella owns a 100% interest in the claims subject to the Mining Law of Peru.
The Pampa Poroma property is almost entirely covered by valley filling gravel and contains very small areas of bedrock exposure. The underlying geology is interpreted to be mostly andesitic volcanic rocks of the Copara Formation, containing at least three different types of structurally controlled intrusive rocks, including two types of diorite and porphyritic andesite related to the Coastal Batholith of southern Peru, and a coarsely porphyritic alkalic intrusive, composed primarily of potassium feldspar phenocrysts (60%) with an altered felsic matrix, similar to ocoite. The gravel-filled valley extends from the southern edge of the property, north for more than 15 kilometers and is approximately 4 - 6 kilometers wide (E-W). Two elliptical hills are present in the valley surrounded by gravel. Rocks exposed in the valley walls contain variably sericitic, bleached and iron-oxide stained alteration. Similar alteration is found on the southern side of the property, exposed in valley walls up to two kilometers away which contain at least two separate, small underground gold mines. On a regional scale, it appears that the alluvial valley, and some of the mineralized and altered zones are controlled by a major north-northeast trending structural zone, contain both shearing and brittle faults.
Initial work has focused on the two hills of bedrock exposed in the alluvium-filled valley. The western hill rises about 40 meters above the valley floor and is approximately 1 kilometer long (north-south) and 300 meters wide. The bedrock is composed of strongly bleached (clay-sericite), variably stained (hematitic) and highly sheared volcanic rock, indicating that the hill occupies a broad northerly trending structural zone. The altered volcanics have been intruded by numerous irregular andesitic dikes, and contains several areas of prospect pits and small scale mining that was focussed on copper oxides and small quartz veins. The second, smaller hill is located 700 meters southeast, and rises about 5 meters above the valley floor. The eastern hill is approximately 160 meters (north-south) by 80 meters (east-west) and is composed entirely of silicified angular breccia fragments, cemented by silica with local pockets of specular hematite. The silicified breccia has also been intruded by multiple andesitic dikes.
A total of 27 surface rock samples were collected from these two hills. Samples consisted of grab samples and chip channel samples up to 1.5 meters in length. Gold assays ranged from less than detection (<0.0025 g/t) to 0.6 g/t. Three samples contained greater than 0.1 g/t gold. Copper assays ranged from less than 0.001% to 3.38%, with two samples greater than 1% copper. Iron analyses ranged from 1.19% - 13.7% reported as total iron Three samples contained greater than 10% iron. It was also noted that the alluvial material in the valley contains an anomalous amount of free magnetite however no systematic sampling has been completed.
The Pampa Poroma property contains strongly altered volcanic rocks with occurrences of copper, gold and iron oxides, consistent with a potential geological environment for the presence of IOCG mineralization. Most of the prospective target areas are covered beneath alluvial gravel. Additional sampling and mapping is planned to evaluate the outcropping alteration zones and geophysical surveys will be planned to evaluate these covered areas for potential mineralization.
Source: Estrella Gold Corporation