Mr. Stephen Nano reports
MIRASOL ANNOUNCES AGGRESSIVE 2019 EXPLORATION PROGRAM WITH OVER $7 MILLION SPENDING BY JOINT VENTURE PARTNERS
Mirasol Resources Ltd. has provided an update on exploration activities in progress and scheduled at the company's projects in Chile and Argentina for the coming exploration season.
Stephen Nano, Mirasol's president and chief executive officer, commented, "The company looks forward to reporting to shareholders the exploration results from what is anticipated to be one of the most active exploration season in the company's history, and that will include drill programs on a number of its gold-silver projects in Chile and Argentina."
Highlights:
Joint venture partners' budgets total in excess of $7-million confirmed for this financial year (to June 30, 2019) for the gold and silver projects in Chile and Argentina: Altazor -- Newcrest Mining has $4.3-million budgeted for an extensive surface exploration program starting late in the fourth quarter of 2018 and a phase 1 drilling program anticipated for second quarter of 2019, contingent on completion of the permitting process.Indra -- Hochschild Mining has a commitment of $1-million over the first 18 months of the agreement, with a budget of approximately $370,000 to December, 2018, for surface exploration and target definition for a planned 2019 drill program.Claudia and Curva joint ventures -- OceanaGold Corp. has budgeted $1.56-million to December, 2018, which includes a 3,000-metre drill program that is currently under way at Curva. Nico -- Mirasol Resources has budgeted $1.51-million to explore this high-grade gold-silver project, where exploration teams are currently advancing target definition, in parallel with permitting for phase 1 drilling planned for the first quarter of 2019.
Joint venture partners Newcrest Mining, OceanaGold and Hochschild Mining have notified Mirasol that they have budgeted a combined total in excess of $7-million for drill programs and extensive surface exploration at Mirasol's joint venture projects in Chile and Argentine this financial year (to June 30, 2019).In Chile, this spend will be directed to testing compelling high-sulphidation epithermal drill targets at the Altazor gold project and intermediate gold-silver targets adjacent to mine infrastructure at the Indra project.In Argentina, OceanaGold has committed $1.56-million ($1.2-million (U.S)) through to December, 2018, for exploration at the Claudia project and a 3,000-metre drill program currently under way at the Curva gold project.
Over the same period, Mirasol will invest approximately $4.5-million to advance exploration of the company's prospective Mio-Pliocene and Paleocene gold-silver-copper pipeline projects in Chile and the Nico high-grade gold-silver project in Argentina.Mirasol is well advanced with a program of geophysics, geological mapping and detailed geochemical sampling at the Nico project's Aurora and Vittoria prospects in preparation for drill testing. In parallel, Mirasol is progressing drill permitting for the Nico project, where the company is targeting a January, 2019, start-up for a phase 1 drill test of the Resolution, Aurora and Vittoria prospects.
Mirasol's strong commitment to business development is timely. There is a surge in interest in the company's gold-silver-copper project portfolio in Chile and in Argentina from companies interested in new joint ventures.Expressions of interest are broad based, coming from mid-tier to major producers, as well as private and publicly traded junior resource companies.The company's business development team is focused on completing new joint ventures that will secure further partner financing to advance exploration of the project portfolio. Notably, expressions of interest for potential new joint ventures for the Argentine projects are being received from in-country precious metal producers as well as from companies interested in making new or first-time investments in the country.
Argentina is once again experiencing high inflation and has implemented a new temporary export tax to increase government revenues.Neither event has had a measurable impact on Mirasol's day-to-day operations as a project generator and exploration company in Argentina. The company is continually monitoring the investment and operational environment in Argentina and will adjust its activities if conditions adversely change.
Mirasol's exposure to Argentina is balanced with its activities in Chile, where the company has three active joint ventures as well as a strong commitment to business development and early-stage project exploration designed to deliver new quality gold and copper projects to the development pipeline.
Mirasol remains in a strong financial position with approximately $24-million in treasury as of Q1 2019 and anticipates receiving in excess of $1.5-million in option payments and joint venture management fees this financial year, including the recently announced $650,000 ($500,000 (U.S.)) option payment received from Newcrest Mining when it exercised its farm-in option at the large Altazor gold project in Chile.
About Mirasol Resources Ltd.
Mirasol is a premier project generation company that is focused on the discovery and development of profitable precious metal and copper deposits. Mirasol is in a strong financial position and has a significant portfolio of exploration projects located within the Tertiary-age mineral belts of Chile and the Jurassic-age gold-plus-silver district of Santa Cruz province, Argentina.
Mr. Nano has approved the technical content of this news release. Mr. Nano is a chartered professional geologist and fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CP and FAusIMM), as well as a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
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