VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Turmalina Metals Corp. (“Turmalina”, or the “Company”; TBX-TSXV, TBXXF-OTCQX, 3RI:FSE) is pleased to provide an update of results from ongoing exploration at the San Francisco de Los Andes Project (“San Francisco” or the “Project”), located in the prolific San Juan province.
Highlights from this new release:
- Total land position expanded to 40,340 ha (403.4 sq km), one of the largest exploration land positions in San Juan.
- Seven new high-priority targets identified.
- Work has included collection of 7,927 soil samples, 1,240 m of channel samples and 7,074 rock chip samples.
- Highlight results from recent work include:
- Tres Magos (Figures 4 to 7)
- 18 rock chip samples and 50 channel samples over 1 g/t Au, including 12m @ 7.1 g/t Au and 115 g/t Ag, 3.7m @ 1.71 g/t Au and 102 g/t Ag, 3.5m @ 1.6 g/t Au and 30 g/t Ag and 3m @ 3.2 g/t Au and 186 g/t Ag;
- Veta Amarilla (Figures 8 and 9)
- 5 rock chip samples over 1 g/t Au and 8 rock chip samples over 100 g/t Ag;
- Breccia Ethan (Figures 10 and 11)
- 4 rock chip samples over 1g/t Au and 12 rock chip samples over 1% Cu;
- Veta Rica (Figure 12)
- 18 rock chip samples over 1 g/t Au, with up to 56 g/t Au.
Exploration efforts since April 2022 have been focused on defining and progressing additional targets outside of the well-mineralized San Francisco breccia and the breccia targets tested in the Company’s 2021 drill program. Mining rights consolidation also continued during this time and the Company has expanded its land holdings by 5,840 ha (17%) to a total area of 40,340 ha (Figure 1). The work from the technical team has identified seven priority targets for follow up. A summary of the exploration efforts are detailed in Table 1 and Figures 2 and 3, which illustrate the distribution of veins and breccias in the northern portion of the project and arsenic results in soil geochemistry.
“The exploration team in Argentina has been diligently advancing the San Francisco project under the leadership of Chico Azevedo.” stated CEO, James Rogers “We have amassed a dominate and highly prospective land position in one of the most active mining jurisdictions in Argentina and are advancing multiple diverse targets towards being drill ready in 2023.”
The Company has begun planning a drill program to test the priority targets.
| Name |
Mineralisation Style |
Work Completed |
Planned Work |
| Tres Magos |
Intrusion-related, stockwork veining with sericitic alteration |
Geological mapping, soil sampling, 83 rock chip samples and 391 channel samples over 439 meters. |
Build roads to generate road cuts for continuous channel sampling in mineralised areas and prepare access and platforms for drilling |
| Veta Amarilla |
Intermediate sulphidation epithermal vein with Au-Ag-Pd mineralisation |
Geological mapping, soil sampling, 52 rock chip samples and 92 channel samples |
Build roads for drill access and expose the veins for further channel sampling. |
| Breccia Ethan |
Quartz-tourmaline Breccia with Au-Ag-Cu mineralisation |
Geological mapping, soil sampling, 35 rock chip samples |
Build roads to expose the breccia for continuous channel sampling and prepare access for drilling. |
| Breccia Perdida |
Quartz-tourmaline breccia with Au mineralisation |
Geological mapping, 14 rock chip samples and 35 channel samples. |
Build roads to expose the breccia for continuous channel sampling and prepare access for drilling. |
| Veta Rica |
Quartz vein with Au-Ag mineralisation |
Geological mapping, 23 rock chip samples and 17 channel samples. |
Build roads to expose the veins for channel sampling and prepare access for drilling |
| Veta Miranda |
Quartz-tourmaline vein with Au-Ag-Cu mineralisation |
Geological mapping, 49 rock chip and 83 channel samples |
Build roads to expose the veins for continuous channel sampling and prepare access for drilling. |
| Don David |
Low sulphidation Au-Ag epithermal vein |
Geological mapping and 173 rock chip samples. |
Detailed mapping of the Alumbrera vein system (1.8 km long and up to 20 m thick) and further rock chip and channel sampling focused on the silicified portions of the predominantly carbonate vein. |
Table 1: Current exploration targets at the San Francisco project.
Tres Magos
Intrusion-related gold and silver mineralisation at Tres Magos is hosted in areas of intense quartz stockwork, with iron oxides after sulphides, hosted in strongly sericite-altered granodiorite (Figure 4). Areas with continuous gold and silver grades (i.e. 12m @ 7.1 g/t Au & 115/t Ag) can reach up to 15 metres and are limited by the current level of exposure (Figure 5). Multigram gold and silver values are common in channel samples, with up to 22 g/t Au and 699 g/t Ag over 1 metre samples (Figures 6 and 7). Work planned includes opening road access and generating more exposures for continuous channel sampling to better map mineralised areas for drill planning.
Veta Amarilla
A 900m long quartz vein system, up to 6 metres thick, composed of saccharoidal quartz and secondary lead carbonates. Strong silver values are normally associated with high-grade lead mineralization, with rock chip results of up to 3.5 g/t Au, 565 g/t Ag and 30 % Pb. Veta Amarilla has characteristics similar to the old Castano Viejo district, where intermediate sulphidation epithermal veins were mined in the past. Figures 8 and 9 show the geological map of Veta Amarilla with the main gold and silver results.
Breccia Ethan
An 80 m wide tourmaline breccia pipe with widespread copper oxides located at the contact between sediments of the Agua Negra Formation and the Tocota Granodiorite. Rockchip sampling of the breccia has returned encouraging results of up to 3.3 g/t Au and 5.3% Cu (Figures 10 and 11).
Veta Rica
A 300m long quartz vein that is up to 8m thick. The vein is comprised of saccharoidal quartz with hematite and boxwork after sulphides. Brecciated (including microbreccias) zones occur along the contact with the granodiorite, with results up to 56.7 g/t Au, 32g/t Ag and 0.3% Pb (Figure 12).
Veta Miranda
A quartz-tourmaline vein system, hosted by Tocota granodiorites, with multiple veins: the central vein, which is 1.5 km long and up to 8 m wide, and the Northern and Southern veins that are approximately 700 to 800 m long: totalling over 3 km of veins. Initial sampling along this extensive system has returned up to 2 g/t Au, 411 g/t Ag and 5% Cu (Figures 13 & 14).
Don David
The Don David project (Figure 15) hosts the Alumbrera carbonate-silica vein, which has 1.8 km of strike length and is up to 20 m thick. Abundant bladed calcite within the vein indicates a low sulphidation epithermal origin with extensive boiling. These shallow boiling zones can form pockets of bonanza gold grades in colloform and crustiform quartz immediately beneath the bladed calcite zones. Initial rock chip sampling has returned up to 0.47 g/t Au in colloform silica banding.
The Alumbrera vein is close to the Dios Protege and San Agustin vein systems: two formally mined vein systems that are located outside the licence. Dios Protege and San Agustin are characterised by a deeper, gold-bearing colloform and crustiform silica assemblage, indicating that similar gold mineralisation may occur under the bladed calcite at Alumbrera. Our drill program at Alumbrera will focus on the testing the vein at depth (Figure 16). Figures 17 and 18 show textures of the Don Guillermo and Alumbrera veins.
Update on Don David Option Agreement
The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Aurora Mining S.A (“Aurora”)., entered into an option agreement dated August 11, 2022, pursuant to which Aurora may acquire 100% of the Retamal and Don David tenements (totalling 1,195 ha) from arms-length vendors, as previously discussed in the 2022Q3 MDA. Don David is neighbour to the historic Castano Nuevo gold and silver mine, which in the 1950’s processed low sulfidation epithermal mineralization. Some of the mined veins continue onto the Don David mining rights. The Company has agreed to pay US$1,565,000, incur US$750,000 of exploration expenditures, and incur a minimum of 2,000 meters of drilling over a four-year period as described below:
|
Cash Payment (USD $) |
Cumulative Exploration Commitment (USD $) |
Minimum Drilling Metres |
| August 11, 2022 (paid) |
15,000 |
|
|
| August 11, 2023 |
50,000 |
|
2,000 |
| August 11, 2024 |
100,000 |
$300,000 |
|
| August 11, 2025 |
150,000 |
$600,000 |
|
| August 11, 2026 |
250,000 |
$750,000 |
|
The vendor retains a NSR of 2%, of which the Company has the right to purchase 1% (50%) for US$1,000,000.
Amendment of El Tapau and Cerro Negro Agreements
The Company has re-negotiated and amended the El Tapau and Cerro Negro option agreements which represent 3,404 ha of the Property. The Company paid US$100,000 to the optionors of the El Tapau project and paid US$200,000 to the options of the Cerro Negro project (US$300,000 total) to extend the final payments (US$1,000,000 on each property) by one year to November 24, 2023. All other terms of the original option agreements remain the same.
About the San Francisco Project
The San Francisco de Los Andes (SFDLA) project is located in the pro-mining province of San Juan, Argentina, a country where there are currently 12 operating mines, 5 in construction and 20 in pre-feasibility/feasibility stage. The project benefits from well-developed infrastructure and is 130 km northeast of the regional capital San Juan.
The SFDLA Project was assembled around one of the highest-grade tourmaline breccias ever discovered, of the same name. Limited shallow drilling and channel sampling at the SFDLA Breccia returned spectacular grades of 2-12 g/t gold and 0.3 to 3% copper over 20-40 m intervals. The mineralogy and geological setting indicates that only the top of the breccia pipe has been exposed. Furthermore, San Francisco de Los Andes is only one of over 60 breccia bodies mapped to date on the property.
Turmalina has developed an operational centre in the town of Villa Nueva, where the local community welcomes new exploration efforts in the region.
Turmalina has several option agreements to acquire 100% of the SFDLA project.
Other Projects
The 677 ha Chanape copper-gold project is located approximately 87 km east of Lima and is accessed via 24 km of unpaved road from Turmalina’s operational centre in the town of San Damian. The Project contains several strongly Cu-Au-Ag mineralised tourmaline breccia pipes that are clustered around a large, Cu-Mo mineralised intrusion. Historical drill holes have confirmed mineralisation in breccia pipes and recent surface geological mapping have added new mineralised bodies for follow-up.
Turmalina’s work to date has been focused on interpreting historic work while mapping and sampling over 50 documented tourmaline breccias and epithermal veins at the project and drill-testing the best targets. A phreato-magmatic breccia, measuring 700 m by 200 m has also been identified as a potential target for bulk tonnage mineralisation, hosting a gold anomaly that is coincident with a chargeability high (IP)".
Turmalina has an option to acquire 100% of the Chanape Project.
On Behalf of the Company,
Mr James Rogers Chief Executive Officer and Director.
Website: turmalinametals.com
Address: #488 - 1090 West Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6E 3V7.
For Investor Relations enquiries, please contact Bryan Slusarchuk at +1 833 923 3334 (toll free) or via info@turmalinametals.com.
Statements
About Turmalina Metals and our projects: Turmalina Metals is a TSXV-listed exploration company focused on developing our portfolio of high-grade gold-copper-silver projects in South America. Our focus is on tourmaline breccias, a deposit style overlooked by many explorers. Turmalina Metals is led by a team responsible for multiple gold-copper-silver discoveries who are highly experienced in this deposit style. Our projects are characterised by open high-grade mineralization on established mining licenses that present compelling drill targets. The principal project held by Turmalina is the San Francisco project in San Juan, Argentina. For further information on the San Francisco Project, refer to the technical report entitled “NI43-101 Technical Report San Francisco Copper Gold Project, San Juan Province, Argentina” dated November 17, 2019 under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com. Turmalina is also exploring the Chanape project in Peru. For further information on Chanape please refer to the technical report “National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Chanape Gold-Silver-Copper Project” dated July 5, 2022 under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com.
Sampling and Analytical procedure: Turmalina Metals follows systematic sampling and analytical protocols which exceed industry standards and are summarized below.
All drill holes are PQ, HQ or NQ diameter diamond core holes. Drill core is collected at the drill site and transported by vehicle to the Turmalina core logging facility where recovery measurements are taken before the core is photographed and geologically logged. The core is then cut in half with a diamond saw blade with half the sample retained in the core box for future reference and the other half placed into a pre-labelled plastic bag, sealed with a plastic zip tie, and identified with a unique sample number. The core is typically sampled over a 0.5 to 1.5 metre sample interval unless the geologist determines the presence of an important geological contact. In this case, the samples can have a minimum of 20 centimetres length.
For rockchip samples multiple rock fragments are broken off an outcrop using a geology hammer and combined to make a ~3kg sample. Channel samples are collected as small contiguous rock chip samples over a 1m interval (in mineralised zones) or 2m interval (for areas adjacent to mineralisation). The channel samples for the interval are combined into one ~3kg sample.
All bagged samples are stored in a secure area pending shipment to the ALS laboratory in Lima where they are dried, crushed and pulverized. Following sample preparation the prepared pulps are then analysed using a 50g digested sample with fire assay-AA finish analysis for gold and four acid digestion with ICP-MS analysis for 53 other elements. Samples with results that exceed maximum detection values for gold are re-analysed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish and other elements of interest are re-analysed using precise ore-grade ICP analytical techniques.
Turmalina Metals independently inserts certified control standards, coarse field blanks and duplicates into the sample stream to monitor data quality. These standards are inserted “blindly” to the laboratory in the sample sequence prior to departure from the Turmalina Metals core storage facilities. For both rockchip and channel samples 4 QA/QC samples are added per 80 sample dispatch to the assay laboratory: 1 blank sample, 2 commercially-prepared standard samples of known composition and 1 control sample from the SF mine. For drill core samples 8 QA/QC samples are inserted into each 70-sample dispatch: 1 blank sample, 5 commercially-prepared standards, 1 core duplicate sample and 1 control sample from the SF mine.
The assay results for the standard, blank, duplicate and control samples are verified and checked by the project geologist and the Qualified Person. All such QA/QC assay results from sample dispatches reported in this news release have be found to be within acceptable industry limits, and the Qualified Person is not aware of any sampling, recovery or any other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data
Qualified Person: The scientific, analytical and technical data contained in this news release pertaining to the San Francisco and Turmalina projects has been reviewed, verified and approved by Dr. Rohan Wolfe, Technical Advisor, MAIG, who serves as the Qualified Person (QP) under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.
Forward Looking Statement: This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks (including those risk factors identified in the Corporation’s prospectus dated November 21, 2019) and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Corporation is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.
There is no assurance when the government-imposed measures related to COVID-19 in Argentina and Peru will be lifted. There is uncertainty over the form and duration of government measures and multiple policy changes may occur with regards to these measures over time. The Company may not provide updates on various government measures and changes to these measures as they occur. Protocols related to COVID-19, and the effects of the pandemic on service providers located throughout South America, may lead to delays in the future reporting of results.
Figure 1. Current exploration targets at the 40,340ha San Francisco project.
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Figure 2. Geological setting of main targets identified for follow up drilling.
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Figure 3. Arsenic soil geochemistry for northern section of the San Francisco project. Arsenic acts as a pathfinder element to both gold vein mineralisation and copper-gold mineralised breccias. Grid 100m x 100m; arsenic analysis by portable XRF.
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Figure 4: Geology and rock chip gold assays at the Tres Magos prospect. See Figure 5 for section.
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Figure 5: Section across the Tres Magos prospect.
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Figure 6:Typical stockwork mineralisation at Tres Magos: quartz stockwork with iron oxides hosted in intensely kaolinized (after sericite) granodiorite.
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Figure 7: Channel sampling at Tres Magos. Strong quartz-iron oxide stockwork hosted in sericite-altered granodiorite.
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Figure 8: Geology and rock chip gold assays at Veta Amarilla.
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Figure 9: Rock chip silver assays at Veta Amarilla.
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Figure 10: Geology and rock chip gold assays at Breccia Ethan.
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Figure 11: Geology and rock chip copper assays at Breccia Ethan. Grades and extent are similar to surface assays from the high-grade San Francisco breccia pipe.
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Figure 12: Rockchip gold assays at Veta Rica.
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Figure 13: Rock chip gold assays at Veta Miranda.
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Figure 14: Rock chip copper assays at Veta Miranda.
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Figure 15: Geological map and rock chip gold assays at Don David.
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Figure 16: Section across the Don Davis property. Gold mineralisation at the historic Dios Protege and San Agustin veins is located at a fixed depth (outlined) that reflects the base of a boiling zone. The location of this boiling zone is controlled by pressure from the weight of the overlying rocks. This target depth is located ~300m below the surface of the Alumbrera vein.
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Figure 17: Typical colloform banding at the Don Guillermo vein. Banded silica zones host gold mineralisation in low sulphuration epithermal veins, and are located below bladed calcite zones formed by boiling.
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Figure 18: Colloform banding at Alumbrera vein (left; 0.47 t/t Au), and bladed calcite (right).
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