A start to the steady flow of News releases! Highlighted points are what excite myself. The quick process of the sampling and purchasing equipment to expand gold production is excellent follow through on what management has said in the last month. Well done team.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 26, 2020) - Valterra Resource Corporation (TSXV: VQA) (OTCQB: VRSCF) ("Valterra" or the "Company") reports that it has received high-grade gold assays from verification sampling at the Lima Gold project, located in the Pocon Mining District, Brazil. The project was recently purchased 100% by Pocon Mining Minerao Ltda, ("PMM"), which Valterra is acquiring as a wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary, subject to regulatory approval.
Eight samples were collected from limited vein exposures in two small-scale miner ("garimperios") trenches located in the northern part of the property. Of these eight samples, two samples contain +100g/t Au (50cm and 40cm wide chip samples and verified by repeat assay), one contains 4.7g/t Au (50cm wide chip sample), one contains 0.09g/t Au, and the remaining four samples contain less than the detection limit of 0.005g/t Au (see Table 1). Coarse gold is common in the region and is almost certainly present in the high-grade samples collected which is why gravity separation is an effective processing method. Additional analyses are being conducted on these samples, including metallic/screen fire assays, in order to determine the appropriate preparation and analytical protocols for the upcoming trenching program on the property.
The sampling was conducted by third-party Brazilian consulting firm, Groupo GE21, as part of Valterra's due diligence work on this new acquisition. The trenches expose highly altered bedrock (saprolite) that is cut by quartz veins in a geological setting similar to that of nearby free-digging mining operations that surround the nearby mining town of Pocon located just 10km to the east.
Only two garimperios trenches have been identified on the property, with the remainder of the 156ha parcel being covered by 0.5 to 1.5 metres of virgin lateritic soil and colluvium. Initial evaluation of the nearby operations and regional geophysical data suggest strong exploration potential for high-grade gold-quartz veins both in the area of the existing trenches and throughout the rest of the property.
Valterra Director Joe Kizis commented, "The identification of gold-rich veins on the Lima property by independent third-party sampling is significant as it helps to verify the premise that mineralized structures project from nearby operating garimperios mines through the essentially virgin Lima property. These initial results form the basis for further work on the property including surface geophysics, trenching to expose and trace this and additional vein systems, delineation of shallow mineral resources and eventually bulk sampling."
The eight samples, each approximately 2kg, were assayed by SGS-Geosol laboratory, an ISO-certified lab. The samples were crushed and a 250 to 300-gram pulp was prepared for analysis by Fire Assay with a 50-gram Fusion/AA finish. The two overlimit sample pulps were re-assayed, confirming +100g/t Au. Verification analyses are underway, which will help refine a sampling/analytical protocol for further work on the property and in the region.
Table 1: Verification Sampling results from the Lima Property, Pocon Mining District, Brazil.
Sample
No. | Sampled
Site | Type | Detail Description | Au
(g/t) |
| LIM-001 | Garimpeiro Pit | CHIP | mafic rock with presence of V2 style veins. | <0.005 |
| LIM-002 | Garimpeiro Pit | CHIP | Quartz vein V3 type 70cm in width. | <0.005 |
| LIM-003 | Garimpeiro Pit | CHIP | Type V3 quartz in excavation garimpeiro pit, 30cm thick. | <0.005 |
| LIM-004 | Garimpeiro Pit | CHIP | Sample collected on the north wall of the excavation composed of quartz veins type V4(?), 25 cm wide. | 0.094 |
| LIM-005 | Garimpeiro Pit | CHIP | Main lode of the garimperio excavation, V3-style quartz vein, 40 cm thick | <0.005 |
| LIM-006 | Garimpeiro Pit | CHIP | Vein V3 parallel to the main one, N82W / SV, about 50cm. | >100 |
| LIM-007 | Garimpeiro Pit | CHIP | Garimperio trench with quartz vein about 40cm wide. | >100 |
| LIM-008 | Garimpeiro Pit | CHIP | Main lode of the garimpeira trench, approximately 50cm wide. | 4.739 |
About Lima Property, Pocon District, Brazil
The Lima Project is located within the Pocon Mining District, in central Brazil's Cuiab Basin (Baixada Cuiabana), in the southern part of the state of Mato Grosso, just 10 minutes' drive from the town of Pocon, a mining town of 32,000. Access to the project area is by paved and gravel roads with daily scheduled flights from an airport located in Cuiab, the State Capital, 104km north and connected to the principal cities of Brazil by daily scheduled airline flights. The Pocon Mining District reportedly produces over 250,000 ounces of gold annually from 17 different active laterite/saprolite mines with the Company's Lima Property immediately adjacent to the currently producing Edmar gold mine. Existing mines in the District require no blasting as a result of deep weathering, typically to a depth of up to 80 metres. The mines consist of free-digging open-pit operations and environmentally friendly gravity recovery. The regionhas enormous untapped potential for discovery with well-developed infrastructure, including access to power, water, major highways, airports and highly skilled labour and experienced equipment contractors.
The Lima Project is situated 64km from Valterra's Livramento Gold Project. On October 13th 2020, Valterra announced that it had commenced a 5,000 tonne bulk sampling program at Livramento to better evaluate the grades of the existing vein system on the property. Valterra has mobilized additional equipment (a second ball mill and four 25-tonne trucks) from storage and is utilizing the extensive existing infrastructure at Livramento to undertake this bulk sample. The total earth moving fleet that is part of the Livramento Gold Project and on site today includes: 18 trucks, 3 excavators, 3 loading shovels, 1 Caterpillar 120G grader, 1 water truck and 1 D6 bull dozer. Livramento has an installed 30 tonne per hour mill that is in good condition and has commenced processing material as part of this 5,000 tonne sample.
Management intends to expand the Livramento mill to 60 tonnes per hour and use the second ball mill that was delivered to site on the 12th of October 2020. The extensive infrastructure at Livramento gives management the option to also bulk sample the Lima Project and truck to Livramento once the current 5,000 bulk sample is complete. The costs of operating in Brazil have fallen this year given the weakness in the local currency, the BRL. In addition, since Livramento was last operating in 2017, the local gold price has increased from average of BRL 4,000 per ounce to BRL 10,688 today.
Brazil has favorable geology with several major Archean greenstone and Proterozoic sedimentary-hosted gold districts, which has attracted major miners including Kinross, Vale, Anglogold Ashanti, Lundin Mining, Yamana, and Great Panther and has resulted in significant annual gold production. Brazil is highly regarded as a mining jurisdiction with regulations providing favorable mineral title and foreign ownership. Brazil has a tax agreement with Canada.
About Valterra Resource Corporation
Valterra is a Manex Resource Group Company. The group provides expertise in exploration, administration, and corporate development services for Valterra's mineral properties located in Brazil, British Columbia and Mexico. Valterra's prime focus is on advancing its Brazilian properties, with a secondary focus on its early stage properties that have the potential to host large deposits in regions with excellent infrastructure. Upon acquisition of PMM, Valterra will indirectly hold a 100% interest in the Lima Gold Project and the Livramento Gold Project. PMM has made two payments for the Livramento Gold Project of BRL 1.15 million out of the total BRL 20 million purchase price. PMM has taken possession and full operational control of Livramento. The balance of BRL 18.85 million will be paid in 4 installments over the next 18 months.
Valterra also owns a 100% interest in the Swift-Katie copper gold porphyry property in British Columbia and has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Los Reyes copper- gold property in Mexico.
Robert Macdonald, MSc. P.Geo, is the General Manager of Exploration of Valterra Resource Corporation and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. He is responsible for directing exploration on the Lima and for reviewing and approving the technical information in this disclosure.
-30-
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Lawrence Page"
Lawrence Page Q.C., President, Valterra Resource Corporation
For further information, please visit Valterra's website at valterraresource.com or contact Valterra at 604.641.2759 or by email at ir@mnxltd.com.