Oct 21 2010
Artha Resources Corporation (TSX VENTURE:AHC) has announced that the Company has continued to add significant value to its large precious and base metal property portfolio in Jujuy Province, NW Argentina.
In particular recent induced polarisation geophysics surveys have greatly enhanced the prospectivity of the Pirquitas NW and Noeilla Breccia targets adjacent to the Pirquitas Silver Mine.
- Silver Standard's Pirquitas' Mine has over 190 million ounces of silver in reserves, plus appreciable amounts of tin and zinc.
- Average grades for the reserve are almost 200 g/t silver, making it the largest primary silver mine in Argentina.
- Pirquitas is designed to mill 6,000t/day and was commissioned in December 2009.
- Production for 2010 is estimated to be 7m ounces of silver, 3m pounds of zinc, 0.6m pounds of tin.
- Operating costs for 2010 are expected to be $US10/oz of silver.
IP Geophysics at Pirquitas Prospects
The IP chargeability parameter relates directly to the amount of metallic minerals in the earth and these anomalous results point to areas that are likely to contain anomalous amounts of metallic sulphide minerals such as zinc, lead and silver, consistent with that found at the Pirquitas deposit.
Pirquitas NW Prospect
The Pirquitas NW prospect lays approximately 3km to the NW of the Pirquitas mine and consists of a 1.7km x 1.0km target zone identified through previous surface exploration campaigns conducted by Artha over the past several months. Surface indicators include breccias, veins and stockwork systems oriented E-W and NNE-SSW, consistent with the mineralized trend of the surrounding region. The target zone is partly covered by quaternary soil and so induced polarisation (IP) geophysics was employed to see through this cover and determine if the mineralization observed at surface continued at depth. Surface geochemistry shows up to 2 g/t gold in rock chip sampling from a small historical pit many decades old.
The recently completed IP survey consisted of six lines totaling 10.2 line km using a dipole-dipole array. The results (Figure 2) show two discrete chargeable zones at many times background levels, in the range of 40-60 mV / V over an area 700m x 300m in size. The chargeability anomaly is coincident with a moderate resistivity zone suggesting alteration and possible coincident quartz veining which continues at depth. The anomaly is open to the west and northwest from the survey area and follow up IP is planned to close off the anomaly. The chargeable zones provide additional strong support for further work at this prospect, in particular drilling. Artha is planning drilling at present and anticipates starting a program in the New Year.
Artha's geological interpretation of the coincident geological, geophysical and geochemical anomalies at Pirquitas NW supports the view that the anomalies could be caused by the same hydrothermal system responsible for the mineralization in the Pirquitas mine and as such may be a satellite mineralized system from the Pirquitas deposit.
Noelia breccia Prospect
The Noelia Breccia Prospect (Figures 1 to 3) straddles the Crosby and Pirquitas Norte properties which surround the Pirquitas Mine properties on three sides. The prospect was initially identified as part of reconnaissance work completed by Artha, the first systematic modern exploration ever done in the area and lies 2km to the N-NE of the Pirquitas mine itself.
Mineralogically, the surface geochemical signature of the Noelia Breccia Prospect corresponds to a low sulphidation epithermal system with obvious quartz veinlets and breccia textures in outcrop coupled with intense silicification also observed. The breccias is controlled by faults and fractures within E-W and NW-SE cross-cutting structural system with the key feature being approximately 1.2 x 0.8km in size. The silicified structures consist of sets of unidirectional veinlets with dimensions between 100 to 500 m in length and 1 to 5m in width. The scale of this breccia and its associated alteration halo is considered indicative of a broad and potentially large mineralized system, with the large circular IP chargeability anomaly coincident with this surface expression thus greatly enhancing the prospectivity.
Charles Straw, B.Sc., is the qualified person under NI 43-101 responsible for the technical information in this news release.
Source: Artha Resources Corporation