PROJECTS - El Salado
Target: Porphyry copper-gold
El Salado Projects-location relative to other major Argentine & Chilean projects
Introduction
The El Salado prospect is located in the Uspallata Graben which is a major extensional basin developed in the Precordillera of Argentina. The graben, which is bounded by normal and listric faults extends over 300 kilometres in a north-south direction from Uspallata in northern Mendoza province to north of Rodeo in San Juan province. The graben is host to a significant number of mineralised porphyry and epithermal systems, the location of which have been controlled by north-westerly and north-easterly fault structures and fault-bounded graben margins. Examples of porphyry copper districts include Paramillos, San Jorge-Yalguaraz, Castano Nuevo, Chita and the AMD discovery at El Salado at the northern end of the graben.
AMD focused its exploration on the margins of the Uspallata Graben where potential exists for porphyry related copper–gold deposits under shallow gravel cover. The elevation of the project between 2500-3300 metres allows for year round exploration.
Drilling at El Salado on the northern margin of the Uspallata graben
Exploration Potential
Significant potential exists to locate an economic copper and/or gold deposit within Exeter's landholding in the northern Uspallata Graben.
The El Salado district represents a prospective porphyry province with at least three known centers of hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation. The prospect lies on the same NW trending structural corridor that hosts the El Indio -Pascua/Lama deposits and the recently discovered Veladero gold deposit 50 kilometres to the northwest.
Satellite Image showing El Salado Porphyry
Previous Exploration
Puma Minerals Corporation, a subsidiary of BEMA Gold Corporation (1994-1996) completed a comprehensive exploration programme including a 16,000 line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey, extensive ground IP geophysical surveys and over 12,000 metres of combined diamond-RC percussion drilling on ten target areas including 5000 metres at El Salado.
Mining Title
Estelar originally acquired from AMD some 180.4 square kilometers of titles covering selected favourable targets in the northern Uspallata Graben, which has been rationalised to a manifestacione de discubrimiento (MD) application covering 900 hectares of the El Salado prospect. This title has been strategically selected from the large title holding of 5690 square kilometers originally held and explored by AMD within the Uspallata Graben.
Diamond drilling at El Salado - Northern Uspallata
El Salado
Drilling at El Salado intersected wide intervals of low grade copper-gold mineralisation from surface to a depth in excess of 300 metres over a 1000 metre X 800 metre area. Metal values average 0.25-0.3% copper and 0.15-0.20ppm gold. Supergene-enriched mineralisation was encountered in some holes with intercepts of 1.04% copper, 0.73ppm gold over 9 metres and 1.02% copper, 0.53ppm gold over 13.5 metres.
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