Jan 25 2011
Mr. Philip O'Neill, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Sunward Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SWD), today announced one of the highest-grade intersections of gold mineralization ever achieved at the Titiribi gold-copper project in Antioquia Department, Colombia. The hole was part of the Company's on-going drilling campaign being carried out at the Cerro Vetas mineralized body.
Drill hole CV027 intercepted 602 metres of mineralization with a weighted average grade of 0.58 g/t gold, 0.20% copper, and 0.95 g/t silver from 114.5 metres to 716.5 metres down-hole depth. CV027 was collared approximately 80 metres east of previously-completed drill hole CV019 (756 metres grading 0.47 g/t gold and 0.17% copper, see Sunward press release dated August 20, 2010) and was drilled on a trend of 232 degrees at a dip of 60 degrees.
"Drill hole CV027 represents a milestone for the development of the Titiribi project," said Mr. O'Neill. "The wide mineralized interval intersected in this drill hole is over 20% higher in gold grade than any of the longer intercepts previously identified at Titiribi, suggesting that portions of the mineralizing system are stronger than suspected by previous operators. This is an extremely promising development as we move toward a new resource calculation for Titiribi."
CV027 was collared on the volcano-sedimentary sequence very close to the eastern edge of the Cerro Vetas dioritic porphyry intrusive. Drilling in the south-westerly direction (N232°), the drill hole entered the dioritic porphyry at approximately 40 metres down-hole depth. The main mineralized zone was intersected at 114 metres within the diorite porphyry. The drill hole entered a breccia zone at approximately 600 metres depth and a brecciated meta-basalt horizon at 684 metres, followed by brecciated granodiorite at 718 metres.
Sunward's current drilling is focused on tracing the Cerro Vetas mineralized body southward along strike. Encouraged by the success of drill hole CV027, the Company is now drilling possible extensions of the Cerro Vetas zone to the south and southeast. Drill testing is also ongoing at the north section of the Cerro Vetas porphyry, where drill hole CV022 recently intercepted 314 metres grading 0.42 g/t gold (see Sunward press release dated December 6, 2010). Results from these holes will be released as they are received.
These positive results from CV027 provide considerable encouragement for the targeting of higher-grade mineralization at Cerro Vetas. Sunward's recent structural analysis using oriented drill core is suggesting strong structural control of higher-grade zones within the overall porphyry mineralization system, where hydrothermal alteration along certain structures overprints the host porphyry and enriches gold values. Sunward's latest work has been aimed at predicting the location of such high-grade structures in order to better target drilling. CV027 was the first hole drilled to test the evolving structural model and, as predicted, intersected higher-grade mineralization than tested in previous drill holes. Sunward is continuing to refine the structural analysis, targeting higher-grade zones within additional sections of the Cerro Vetas porphyry, such as at drill hole CV028, drilled within the southwestern section of Cerro Vetas. As demonstrated at other porphyry projects globally, higher-grade zones of mineralization, even where volumetrically minor, can be key to the viability of an overall mining operation.
Jonathan Challis, FIMMM, is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and is responsible for the contents of this news release.
The Cerro Vetas mineralized body at Sunward Resources' Titiribi project hosts an inferred resource of 230 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.5 grams per tonne gold and 0.2 percent copper using a 0.3-gram-per-tonne-gold cut-off (NI 43-101 technical report dated May 19, 2010). The project is located approximately 70 kilometres southwest of the city of Medellin, Colombia, in Antioquia department, within the historical Titiribi mining district (estimated total gold production of three to five million ounces). Access is by paved highway from Medellin.
Mineralization at Titiribi is hosted within a number of porphyry stocks and porphyritic dikes and sills. The dominant mineral associated with mineralization is chalcopyrite, which occurs as disseminations and in veinlets. Plagioclase and secondary biotite are also significant within the mineralized assemblage. Mineralization appears to be related to extensive potassic alteration, with propylitic and argillic alteration also widespread, along with lesser phyllic alteration.
Over 36,000 metres of drilling has been completed at Titiribi to-date, including approximately 14,600 metres completed historically by previous operators, including Gold Fields and Windy Knob Resources, along with more than 21,400 metres completed by Sunward Resources. The mineralized body at Cerro Vetas remains open in all directions and at depth. Sunward Resources currently has four drill rigs operating to expand mineralization at the Titiribi project.
Source: Sunward Resources Ltd.