TORONTO, March 1, 2013 /CNW/ - Vena Resources Inc. ("Vena" or the "Company") (TSX: VEM, LIMA: VEM, Frankfurt: V1RA, OTC-BB: VNARF, Xetra®: V1RA.DE) announces that the Company has regained control of its 100% owned 18,900 hectare Amantina property in Peru, contiguous to the Company's strategic Esquilache silver project. Since January 2010, the Amantina property has been operated by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gold Fields Limited ("Gold Fields") under a Joint Venture agreement, however Gold Fields has agreed to waive its right to vest a 51% interest in the Joint Venture in exchange for a 2% Net Smelter Return.
In excess of $2.45 million has been spent on the Amantina property by Gold Fields during the three years in which it has been operating the Joint Venture. This will allow Vena to focus on advancing the promising Virgin de Chapi prospect located near the southern rim of the San Antonio de Esquilache caldera approximately three kilometres from the former mill site.
The work by Gold Fields and earlier exploration by Vena led to the discovery of eight mineralized areas on the property, ranging from high sulfidation gold systems to low sulfidation polymetallic veins and breccias. During the course of the program, Gold Fields collected 1,456 rock samples, 1,131 soil samples and had 2,488 samples analyzed by Terraspec to detect alteration minerals. Gold Fields concentrated on the Chapi Chiara high sulfidation system, where seven diamond drill holes totaling 1,985.7 metres with targeting partially based on the results of a geophysical program that included 78.4 kilometres of magnetometer surveying, 61 kilometres of Gradient Array and four kilometers of Sectional IP and Resistivity. The drilling intersected extensive silica-clay alteration with uneconomic gold values. The two targets that are of primary interest to Vena are the low sulfidation Virgin de Chapi and Amantina prospects.
Virgin de Chapi is the southern extension of multiple S20°W trending mineralized structures, which had been mapped at Cerros Mamacocha and Mercedes on the Esquilache property. Extensive veining and stockworks with anomalous surface values in Ag-Pb-Zn (Silver-Lead- Zinc) occur within argillically and phyllically altered dacitic tuffs and andesitic volcanics between two faults approximately 500 metres apart. The zone can be followed along strike for approximately 1,200 metres to the south and is then lost under the ridge that defines the southern rim of the caldera. Additional geochemically anomalous samples further to the south indicate that the zone may be nearly three kilometres long. A total of 560 rock samples have been collected during the Vena and Gold Fields programs and the results for silver are shown in the accompanying map. Many of the samples are two metre chip-channel samples transverse to structures with the highest individual sample assaying 177 g/t Ag. Much of the anomalous zone is covered by thin cover and sampling was restricted to outcrop and a few hand trenches.
David Bent, Vice President of Exploration for Vena, stated: "Regaining control of the Amantina project is a major step forward for the Esquilache project. The Virgin de Chapi prospect occurs approximately 200 metres higher than the top of the veins at Cerro Mamacocha and it is most likely that the entire vertical extent of the mineralized structures has been preserved. The location of the prospect means that any resources discovered at Virgin de Chapi would have an immediate positive impact on the economics of building a mill at Esquilache. A program of extensive trenching followed by a 1,800 metre drill program to test the structures at depth is planned."
The Amantina prospect is located approximately 12 kilometres east of Esquilache and is centered on a diatreme-phreatic breccia zone with surrounding argillic-silicic alteration. Mineralization is principally Ag-Pb-Cu-Zn (Silver-Lead-Copper-Zinc) with the better values occurring in NW-SE trending opaline quartz structures. The prospect was surveyed by IP-Resistivity and a strong chargeability anomaly with dimensions of 800 metres by 400 metres was identified in the central area immediately west of the breccia pipe. The anomaly is mostly covered by alluvium but there are sparse outcrops of dacite tuff containing oxidized stockwork veinlets which are geochemically anomalous in Cu and Zn. Trenching of the anomaly will provide targeting information for an initial drill program.
This press release has been reviewed and approved by David Bent, P. Geo., Vena's Vice President of Exploration, and Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Vena's exploration and development programs are being supervised by Mr Bent.
The TSX does not accept the responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release regarding the Company's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, such as estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
Image with caption: "Vena Resources Inc. - Vena Regains Control of the 18,900 Hectare Amantina Property Adjacent to the Esquilache Silver Project in Peru (CNW Group/Vena Resources Inc.)". Image available at: https://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130301_C9508_PHOTO_EN_24174.jpg
SOURCE: Vena Resources Inc.