Targeting Gold Porphyry Discovery In Ecuador
Challenger Exploration (ASX: CEL) has announced that results have confirmed the potential for a major gold porphyry discovery following the initial 454m of rock-saw channel sampling along the main Humedo Adit at Colorado V and three additional drill holes from the Colorado V concession in Ecuador.
The main Humedo Adit and the drill holes are located adjacent to a series of regionally significant gold and copper soil anomalies believed to be above intrusive porphyry-style targets. The company’s recently acquired airborne magnetic data, which is currently being processed, confirms that these large Au-Cu soil anomalies are coincident with significant underlying magnetic anomalies indicative of porphyry systems.
None of the historical drill holes fully tested the Au-Cu soil anomalies as they were collared outside of the soil anomalies and, at best, only tested the outer edges of the anomalies. Similarly, the main Humedo Adit at Colorado V only cuts the western edge of the largest Au-Cu soil anomaly (Anomaly A).
Channel sampling in the Main adit, and new assays from historical drill core samples, returned significant ore grade intersections from surface down to 450m. Importantly, the results returned the highest grades closest to the centre of the main Au-Cu soil Anomaly A.
Anomaly A is 1.2 km in length and remains untested with the historical drill holes only cutting the western edge of anomaly. The Humedo Mine adit, while still on the western edge of Anomaly A, represents the nearest sampling to the centre of the anomaly. The first 62m of the adit, which returned the highest grades of 62m at 0.8 g/t AuEq(0.6 g/t gold, 2.7 g/t silver, 848 ppm copper, 10.4 ppm molybdenum), is the nearest section of the Adit to the centre of Anomaly A.
Managing Director, Kris Knauer, said management believes the results materially upgrade the main Au-Cu soil anomalies (Anomaly A and Anomaly B) as compelling drill targets with significant scale. The mineralisation and grades encountered in the Humedo Mine Adit and the historical drill holes is analogous to the 17 million- ounce Cangrejos Project located five kilometres away. Additionally, the surface extent of the Anomaly A and Anomaly B is similar to that of the Cangrejos deposit and of sufficient size to host a major gold discovery.
“These results significantly upgrade our high-priority porphyry targets in Ecuador where historical drilling on the margins of significant gold-copper soil anomalies has encountered ore grade mineralisation from surface to 450m,” Mr Knauer said,
“Grades are now confirmed to be improving towards the centres of these one km long anomalies which remain undrilled. Additionally, our recently acquired magnetic data shows coincident magnetic anomalies indicative of porphyry systems.
“This reinforces our strategy of a large-scale bulk-gold project in Ecuador which is underwritten by our flagship, high-grade, Hualilan Gold project in Argentina which remains our primary focus.”