El Fierro, San Juan, Argentina
El Fierro, a 58,510-hectare property, is located 120 kilometres south of the Filo del So-Jose Maria porphyry deposits in similar-age rocks. Sable's first round of drilling started in February, 2021 (3,278 m) and a second round was completed in May, 2022 (12,006 m) for a total of 15,284 m. In 2021, drilling focused on vein targets (9,700 m), however, with porphyry-style mineralization recognized in December, 2021, 5,584 m of scout drilling was completed on the newly recognized Pyros porphyry target. In only 1-1/2 years of exploration at El Fierro, Sable has defined a 10 by 10 km mineralization footprint composed by Cu-Au-Mo porphyry mineralization and an external halo of polymetallic subepithermal veins; all the mineral system is associated with a large Miocene (20-million-year-old) intrusive-caldera complex.
The Pyros target is represented by a 2,500 by 1,400 m zone of sericitic alteration overprinting early quartz veins, where soil geochemistry identified a core molybdenum-copper-gold-bismuth-tellurium soil anomaly surrounded by a manganese-zinc-lead halo. The first round of drilling completed last May only tested around 20 per cent of the anomalous alteration zone. Drilling results identified different porphyry phases with potassic and sericitic alteration intruding Permian granites. The first campaign of drilling proved the Cu-Mo-Au affinity of the porphyry system at Pyros reporting 119 m at 0.22 per cent copper equivalent, including 34 m at 0.34 per cent CuEq (FZ-DH-22-68), 30.3 m at 0.44 per cent CuEq (FZ-DH-22-72), 38 m at 0.27 per cent CuEq (FZ-DH-22-84) and 200 m at 0.14 per cent CuEq (FZ-DH-21-55). One hole was drilled on the margin of the Antenna Hill target, represented by Au-Cu-Ag anomalies associated with breccias and approximately 20-million-year-old dioritic intrusions hosted by Paleozoic basement along faults related to the eastern limit of the Miocene volcanic caldera. The recognizing hole completed at Antenna Hill reported various Au-Cu-Ag anomalous intercepts, including 8.75 m at 1.20 g/t AuEq.
The upcoming field season work will be focused on follow-up of extensive surface geochemical anomalies and alteration zones coincident with magnetic and induced polarization anomalies to select areas to be drill tested at Pyros and Antenna Hill targets. A second round of drilling at Pyros and Antenna Hill will be initiated in January, 2023, with district mapping-prospection work commencing in October, 2022.