Sonoro Plans Expanded Drilling Program at Cerro Caliche
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonoro Metals Corp., (TSXV: SMO | OTCQB: SMOFF | FRA: 23SP), (“Sonoro” or the “Company”), announces the completion of a comprehensive technical assessment on the 17 zones of gold mineralization identified to date at its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora, Mexico. The purpose of the assessment was to evaluate the potential for a material increase in the current 201,000 oz AuEq resource as well as the potential to delineate further resources throughout the mineralized zones. A program combining reverse circulation and core drilling for up to 50,000 meters of drilling will be carried out in several phases.
The next phase, Phase III, targeting approximately 10,000 meters of drilling, will commence in March 2020.
In Phases I and II of the drilling program, a total of 96 holes totaling 10,328 meters were drilled and assayed for an average drill hole length of 107.6 meters, all inclined. The combination of historic and current exploration drilling totals 23,679 meters in 212 drill holes, in addition to more than 6,000 surface samples. Drilling to date has outlined shallow, bulk tonnage gold mineralized zones with grades similar to operating heap leach mines in the region.
In addition to the continuation of reverse circulation drilling, core drilling will also be employed during Phase III to more accurately determine the dimensions of the gold-mineralized geologic structure. These mineralized structures are common within the shallow gold-silver resource partially defined by the recent reverse circulation drilling. Furthermore, core drilling will be employed to explore the potential for higher-grade gold mineralization in the vein zones that structural analysis asserts may be present at greater depths within the veins. In general, mineralization models indicate that deeper parts of low sulfidation epithermal deposits are more likely to contain higher-grade precious metals.
Silver/gold ratios vary with physical elevation within the mineralized vein zones. These silver/gold ratios can be used to determine the vertical position of specific mineralization within the structure. An example of this is found in drill hole SCR-044 in the El Colorado zone, where the mineralized intercept at the lowest elevation contains 12.2 m of 11.3 g/t AuEq and a silver/gold ratio of 0.4. This contrasts with drill hole SCR-057 in Veta de Oro, where an intercept located at a 150-meter higher elevation recorded 6 m of 132.6 g/t Ag and 2.5 g/t Au, resulting in a silver/gold ratio of 54. Other metal ratios, mineralogy, and physical characteristics relating to elevation are being investigated to select higher-grade targets throughout Cerro Caliche’s large database.
“We are particularly encouraged by the fact that the initial 201,000-ounce gold resource is situated within a surface area comprising under 10% of the total property area,” said Kenneth MacLeod, President and CEO of Sonoro. “Also, only 30% of Cerro Caliche’s known regions of potential gold mineralization have been drilled. Essentially all of the 17 zones of gold mineralization so far identified at Cerro Caliche remain open to expansion along strike and new zones of gold mineralization are currently being discovered in previously unexplored regions of the property.”
The proposed drilling program has been designed to optimize the current data from each of the zones of gold mineralization. This ensures that the placement and angulation of the new holes will likely contribute to a potential increase in the size of the resource and develop a greater understanding of the geological structure within the shallow zones and to depth. Drill holes will be placed at a maximum spacing of 100 meters to enable proper classification of the results. Sequencing of drilling for each individual zone is currently being finalized. For more details on the proposed drilling program, click here.
The drilling proposals for each mineralized sector are as follows:
Central Zone: Japoneses – Curvos, Abejas – Chinos and Altos – Chinos NW Zones
The Japoneses-Cuervos zone hosts over 90% of the inferred 201,000 oz AuEq resource stated in the previously published NI 43-101 technical report dated July 26, 2019. Intercepts with grades up to 37.44 m of 0.95 g/t AuEq and 9.15 m of 1.26 g/t AuEq were encountered. Drilling at the Japoneses-Cuervos zone accomplished the Company’s objectives of identifying an area of gold mineralization to support a proposed Heap Leach Pilot Operation, while simultaneously confirming the potential for discovery of additional gold mineralization within the zone.
A total of 88 additional reverse circulation holes totaling 9,880 meters are proposed for infill drilling at the Japoneses-Cuervos zone, with the goal of augmenting the current size of the gold resource as well as upgrading this resource to the indicated category.
An additional 42 reverse circulation holes totaling 10,770 meters and eight core holes totaling 3,100 meters are also proposed to investigate the expansion of the zone. Mineralization at the Japoneses-Cuervos zone remains open to extension in all directions and to depth including the potential to intercept the adjacent zones of Abejas, Chinos Altos, and Chinos NW and create an expanded open pit profile.
Western Zone: Cabeza Blanca – Guadalupe – El Colorado and Buena Suerte – El Quince Zones
Drilling to date in the Western Zone has identified gold mineralization extending over 1.2 kilometers, with a width of up to 250 meters. Intercepts of 12.19 m of 11.3 g/t AuEq; 15.24 m of 1.05 g/t AuEq; 4.57 m of 4.69 g/t AuEq; and 22.86 m of 0.77 g/t AuEq were encountered. This mineralization at the Western Zone remains open to extension along strike to the north and south and to depth.
An additional 20 reverse circulation holes totaling 3,720 meters are proposed to augment the data from the 28 holes drilled to date in the Cabeza Blanca – Guadalupe – El Colorado portions of the Western Zone. The program will incorporate infill and expansion drilling with a maximum spacing of 100 meters between holes to enable the calculation of a potential initial inferred resource.
The Buena Suerte – El Quince zones, which are located between the Cabeza Blanca and Japoneses zones, will be allocated 22 additional reverse circulation holes totaling 4,380 meters over a potential strike length of 1.5 kilometers. Four holes have been drilled to date at Buena Suerte and one hole has been drilled at El Quince. All holes intercepted gold mineralization with an intercept of 10.67 m of 1.06 g/t AuEq encountered at Buena Suerte.
North-Central Zone: Veta de Oro – Boludito Zones
An additional 19 reverse circulation holes totaling 4,350 meters and six core holes totaling 2,150 meters are proposed for the North-Central zone, with a focus on the Veta de Oro gold mineralized area. Higher-grade gold and silver intercepts from three reverse circulation holes drilled at Veta de Oro over a 200-meter strike length, suggest the potential for a higher-grade mineral resource. Intercepts at Veta de Oro include 10.67 m of 2.728 g/t AuEq; 6.09 m of 4.35 g/t AuEq; 9.14 m of 2.094 g/t AuEq; and 3.05 m of 5.484 g/t AuEq.
The proposed drilling program will also investigate the potential for the Veta de Oro zone to connect with the on-strike Abejas zone to the southeast as well as the potential for the for El Boludito zone to connect with the on-strike Japoneses zone, also located to the southeast, projecting the strike length of the combined Cuervos-Japoneses-Boludito zone to an estimated at 1.5 kilometers.
Northwest Zone: El Rincon – Gloria Zones
Located on-strike approximately 1.5-kilometers northwest of the Central Zone, the Gloria and El Rincon gold mineralized areas within the Northwest Zone present an opportunity for defining a potential resource measuring 500 meters by 250 meters. A total of nine holes have been drilled to date with intercepts at El Rincon of 10.67 m of 0.74 g/t AuEq and 4.57 m of 1.29 g/t AuEq.
An additional 40 reverse circulation holes totaling 8,725 meters and five core holes totaling 1,900 meters at a maximum 100 meters spacing between holes are proposed. The intension is to determine the gold mineralization potential at El Rincon and Gloria as well as to investigate a potential connection along strike with the Central Zone to the southeast.
Southeast Zone: La Española – Magdalena – Abel – Tres Naciones Zones
La Española is located approximately one kilometer southeast of the Central Zone. Recent mapping and sampling by Sonoro have identified several high-probability gold targets to the north and east, at La Magdalena, Abel and Tres Nacions. To date, four holes have been drilled at La Española, with intercepts of up to 9.14 m of 1.327 g/t AuEq.
An additional 12 reverse circulation holes totaling 2,380 meters and one core hole targeting a 350-meter depth over a combined one-kilometer strike length are proposed for La Española and La Magdalena. To confirm the potential of Abel and Tres Naciones, an aggregate of 14 reverse circulation holes totaling 3,250 meters and seven core holes totaling 2,725 meters are proposed.
Ongoing mapping and sampling programs have identified additional high-probability target zones within both the eastern and southeastern regions of the Cerro Caliche property. Following completion of the sampling program, Sonoro anticipates the inclusion of these targets in future drilling programs.
Southern Zone: San Quintin – La Ventana Zones
Located on-strike approximately 500 meters south of El Colorado, the gold mineralized zones at San Quintin and La Ventana will be investigated with a proposed ten reverse circulation drill program totaling 2,200 meters.
Statement of Qualified Person
Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo., a director of Sonoro, is a Qualified Person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 and has read and approved this news release. Readers are cautioned that the presence of mineralization on historic mines adjacent to or on Cerro Caliche is not necessarily indicative of gold mineralization in the concessions held by the Company.
About Sonoro Metals Corp.
Sonoro Metals Corp. is a publicly listed exploration and development company with two precious metal properties in Sonora State, Mexico. The company has highly experienced operational and management teams with proven track records for the discovery and development of natural resource deposits.
| On behalf of the Board of SONORO METALS CORP. | |
| Per: | “Kenneth MacLeod” |
| KENNETH MACLEOD | |
| President & CEO | |
For further information, please contact:
Sonoro Metals Corp. - Tel: (604) 632-1764
Email: info@sonorometals.com
Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to, among other things, the Company's plans for the drilling of the above-described Cerro Caliche Concessions, located in the municipality of Cucurpe, Sonora, Mexico, and the Company’s future exploration plans for those properties. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable based on current circumstances, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the possibility of unfavourable interim exploration results, the lack of sufficient future financing to carry out exploration plans, and unanticipated changes in the legal, regulatory and permitting requirements for the Company’s exploration programs. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company 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 required by law or the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. Readers are encouraged to review the Company’s complete public disclosure record on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
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