Feb 23 2011
Extorre Gold Mines Limited (TSX:XG)(FRANKFURT:E1R)(OTCQX:EXGMF) has announced the discovery drill results from reconnaissance drilling on the Falcon property, located 80 kilometres to the northwest of Cerro Moro, and 6 kilometres to the northeast of Mariana Resources' Dos Calandrias project. Four of five initial holes have intercepted broad zones of gold - silver mineralization.
The Falcon project tenements cover an area of 13,986 hectares. Drilling to date has focused on the Crest target where initial reconnaissance rock chip sampling of outcropping alteration returned anomalous gold and silver assays. To assist with defining drill targets grid based surface sampling and a resistivity geophysical survey were conducted. A broad zone of mineralization with a 400 metre strike length has been delineated by this initial drilling program. Mineralization remains open in all directions and follow-up drilling is proposed for next month. Mineralization comprises zones of silica-sulphide matrix breccia within a broader disseminated mineralized halo associated with silica flooding.
A number of structural targets are yet to be tested for potential high grade vein style mineralization. These targets have been defined by combined surface mapping and rock chip sampling along with detailed ground magnetic imagery. Further drilling on the Crest prospect will be aimed at assessing the continuity of higher grade zones as well as extending the limits of the broader lower grade mineralized system. Deeper drilling at Crest will aim at testing for blind high grade vein style mineralization.
Extorre's Chief Geologist Glen Van Kerkvoort commented "While four rigs remain dedicated to expanding the high grade resource at Cerro Moro we have expanded the regional exploration team in order to intensify regional exploration, whilst enabling the successful Cerro Moro team to remain focussed on exploration and development there. Falcon is an exciting new project with some analogies to a lithological controlled system such as deposits in the Ivanhoe mining district of northern Nevada.
"Both Mariana's Dos Calandrias and Extorre's Falcon projects have opened the Deseado Massif to potential for large disseminated epithermal deposits. A second drill rig has been contracted in order to enable the simultaneous drilling of both the Puntudo and the Falcon properties.
"We have commenced metallurgical testwork of Falcon drillcore to ascertain if the gold is likely to be recoverable by conventional extraction and leaching techniques. We look forward to results from the next drilling program at Falcon whereby we expect to gain better information on the size and continuity of the gold mineralized zone."
Extorre also completed a drilling program on the Verde project located in the western part of the Deseado Massif and its FDB project located 8 kilometres south of Falcon, with no significant results. Falcon was optioned from Cerro Vanguardia S.A. (CVSA) along with the Puntudo, Verde and Azul properties and all of these are subject to a once only back-in right, whereby CVSA has the right to earn up to a 70% interest in the properties by paying Extorre a multiple of expenditure to date and financing Extorre's share of development costs. Contractual requirements which require CVSA to determine whether or not to exercise their back-in right were triggered early this month, and CVSA is now required to make that decision next month. In the event that CVSA does not back-in, Extorre will retain a 100% ownership and CVSA will retain a 2% NSR.
Quality Control and Assurance
Drill widths presented above are drill intersection widths and may not represent the true widths of mineralization.
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 ALS Laboratory ("ALS") preparation facility in Mendoza, Argentina and assayed by fire assay (50 gram charge) at the ALS laboratory in Chile.
Check assaying of all samples assaying greater than 1.0 g/t gold is completed by ALS. 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.
Glen Van Kerkvoort, Extorre's Chief Geologist 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