New drilling on the Don Esevein target on Paramount Gold and Silver Corp (NYSE Amex:PZG)(TSX:PZG)(FRANKFURT:P6G) San Miguel Project has discovered the south southeast strike extension of the main Palmarejo structural corridor that hosts Coeur d`Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE)Palmarejo Mine. The structural corridor is partly obscured by younger volcanic rocks, but new drilling has intersected the target below this cover.
The nearly vertical structural zone that is host to the Don Esevein strikes north northwest towards the Palmarejo Mine. True width of the Don Ese vein is typically in the range of 10 meters, but locally is up to 19 meters wide. To date, the mineralized vein has been traced by core drilling for a strike length of 550meters; the feature remains open down dip and along strike for at least another200 meters. Don Ese is a massive quartz vein with textures characteristic of low sulfidation epithermal deposits, consistent with other vein deposits in the district. The vein cuts and off-sets both andesite and felsic volcanic units and has several localized dacite intrusions. Follow-up drilling will continue in the new year to develop resources on this discovery.
Paramount CEO,Christopher Crupi said,"this is the most significant discovery we have made to date atour San Miguel Project. In the beginning, our huge land position had too many targets and different target types which needed to be assessed and prioritized. Systematic exploration over the past two years has enhanced our understanding of the district and we are now reaping the benefits with each drill program; we have become more focused and effective. Finding this blind target increases our confidence in making additional discoveries."
Assay results from Don Ese include:
Although these initial results are believed to approximate true width, additional drilling will be required to fully establish true widths in all intervals. Vertical zonation of silver and gold is common in this target style and these results are therefore being pursued at depth in the current program to determine if higher gold concentrations are present.
Paramount owns a 100% interest in the 188,000 hectare (465,000 acre) San Miguel Project in the Palmarejo District of northwest Mexico, making it the largest claim holder in this rapidly growing precious metals mining camp. Two programs are ongoing at San Miguel. Exploration continues to develop new targets for drill testing. Four more new targets are expected to be drilled in the first quarter of 2011. Resource delineation drilling meanwhile has focused on the San Francisco, Veronica, Monte Cristo, and San Miguel Vein targets. Results from the resource delineation drilling will be incorporated into a new National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate expected in the first quarter of 2011.
Exploration activities at San Miguel are being conducted by Paramount Gold de Mexico S.A de C.V personnel under the supervision of Bill Threlkeld, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. An ongoing and rigorous quality control/quality assurance protocol is being employed during the program including blank, duplicate and reference standards in every batch of assays. Cross-check analyses are being conducted at a second external laboratory on 10% of the samples. Samples are being assayed at ALS Chemex, Vancouver, B.C., using fire assay atomic adsorption methods for gold and aqua regia digestion ICP methods for other elements.
Source: Paramount Gold & Silver Corp.