Intersects 127m @ 3.5 g/t Au In Guatemala
Bluestone Resources Inc.(TSXV:BSR) has received more more promising drill assays from its infill drill programme completed in the South Zone of the Cerro Blanco gold project in Guatemala in late 2020.
Highlights include:
- 127.0m grading 3.5 g/t Au and 16 g/t Ag, including 21.61m grading 12.9 g/t Au and 66.2 g/t Ag
- 116.1m grading 2.4 g/t Au and 13.1 g/t Ag, including 9.9m grading 16.9 g/t Au and 91.3 g/t Ag
- 109.9m grading 1.3 g/t Au and 10.2 g/ Ag
- 71.5m grading 1.9 g/t Au and 5.1 g/t Ag
- 59.8m grading 1.3 g/t Au and 10.2 g/t Ag
CEO, Jack Lundin, said all holes reported show significant widths of low-grade mineralisation within the Salinas unit, a sub-horizontal sequence of volcanogenic sediments, rhyolite breccias, and sinter horizons that represent a silica cap forming the Cerro Blanco hill.
These rocks overlie the Mita rocks, a sequence of sediments and tuffs which host the high-grade vein swarms that also show appreciable widths of lower grade mineralisation as envelopes in surrounding wall rocks.
“These outstanding near surface intervals of thick lower grade mineralisation that exemplify the upper Salinas cap rocks are representative of what we would have been leaving behind if we had continued with the underground mining scenario,” Mr Lundin said.
“The recent optimisation in development strategy highlights Cerro Blanco as a low-strip surface mining operation capable of producing over 300,000 ounces of gold per year at first decile AISC.”
Lower grade mineralization, typically 0.4 – 3.5 g/t Au, accounts for approximately 50% of the gold inventory at Cerro Blanco and was discounted in the previous underground mining scenario due to the application of a higher cut-off grade.
Mr Lundin said the new assessment of Cerro Blanco as a surface operation can now fully incorporate this significant near surface mineralisation and fully maximize the potential of the deposit.
In 2020, 15,171 meters of infill drilling was successfully completed in the South Zone of the Cerro Blanco resource with the goal to improve the definition of key veins in parallel to expanding the mineralisation of known veins outside of the current resource envelope. Results for eight holes are still pending.
