Ongoing Drilling Success At Hualilan
Challenger Exploration (ASX: CEL) has obtained further positive results from the company’s flagship Hualilan Gold Project in San Juan, Argentina.
Following the recent release of results from the first 13 holes of the company’s follow up drill program at Sentazon, the company has received results from GNDD-314, the first of its deep holes at Sentazon.
GNDD-314 was drilled on Cross Section 230 to test for extensions to the main Sentazon Manto and the new Footwall Zone beneath GNDD-296. The hole is the first of several holes designed to test for deeper extensions to the high-grade mineralisation at Sentazon.
Managing Director, Kris Knauer, said the hole has confirmed that the mineralisation at Sentazon remains open at depth and has returned the best grades recorded at Sentazon to date.
“This first deep hole at Sentazon has confirmed our expectation that the mineralisation at Sentazon has the potential to extend significantly at depth,” Mr Knauer said.
“This is the first of several deeper drill holes that all appear to have intersected mineralisation and point to Sentazon continuing to extend at depth.
“It is the best grades we have seen so far at Sentazon, from the deepest hole, which is very exciting. We eagerly await the results from our other deep Sentazon holes and are planning another series of deeper step outs.”
GNDD-314 intersected three zones of mineralisation starting with intercepts of 2.7 metres at 1.7 g/t AuEq (1.5 g/t gold, 13.8 g/t silver, 0.1% zinc) from 115.4 m including 1.4 metres at 2.7 g/t AuEq (2.4 g/t gold, 21.3 g/t silver, 0.1% zinc) and 4.0 metres at 0.6 g/t AuEq (0.3 g/t gold, 11.8 g/t silver, 0.2% zinc) from 102.0m. These intercepts are at the shale-limestone contact and at the top of an underlying intrusive unit which is mineralised throughout Cerro Sur.
Lower grade mineralisation also extends into the overlying shales which is observed throughout the project including at Verde over two km to the north.
The hole then intersected 17.5 metres at 1.9 g.t AuEq (0.7 g/t gold, 11.5 g/t silver, 2.4% zinc) from 205.0m including two higher grade sones of 2.2 metres at 9.1 g/t AuEq (3.7 g/t gold, 33.6 g/t silver, 11.4% zinc) and 3.0 metres at 2.7 g/t AuEq (0.8 g/t gold, 14.3 g/t silver, 3.9% zinc). This is interpreted as the main Sentazon Manto mineralisation which was defined historically and is continuous with mineralisation immediately north.
The intercept in the main Sentazon Manto extended the mineralisation 75 metres down dip below GNDD-296 (10.0 metres at 0.9 g/t AuEq) to the same level as GNDD-299 (9.9 metres at 6.2 g/t AuEq) collared some 80 metres north along strike.
GNDD-314 and GNDD-299 are the two deepest intersections of the main Manto mineralisation at Sentazon for which assays have been received. GNDD-314 then confirmed a significant extension to the new Footwall Zone with an intersection of 2.7 metres at 62.5 g/t AuEq (59.0 g/t gold, 25.8 g/t silver, 7.2% zinc) from 296.9m.
This bonanza grade zone occurred within a broader zone of lower grade mineralisation hosted in limestone and intrusives. This intercept extends the new Footwall Zone at Sentazon 75 metres below the two previous deepest intersections in this zone; GNDD-296 (16.9m at 16.9 g/t AuEq on the same section); and GNDD-253 (50.0m at 1.9g/t AuEq including 2.4m at 17.3 g/t AuEq 40 metres to the north).
The result confirms that the new Footwall zone has a vertical extent of at least 200 metres with the best grades returned to date in this deepest hole. Follow up Drilling GNDD-314 was the first in a series of deeper holes targeting the main Sentazon Manto and the new Footwall Zone at depth. GNDD-362 (assays pending) was collared to test 75m below GNDD-314.
This hole intersected four 1-4-metre-wide zones of massive sulphides with the shallowest zone at 239 metres downhole and the deepest zone from 425 to 427 metres downhole. These zones of mineralisation (Photo 2 showing 425-427m GNDD-362) are logged as massive sulphides consisting of 10% pyite-5% shalerite-20% pyrrhotite in strong garnet-silica-pyroxene (skarn) alteration.
GNDD-352 (assays pending) was collared to intersect the Footwall Zone at the same depth as GNDD314 some 40m north of GNDD-314. The hole has intersected sulphides and skarn alteration from 324m to 329.5m downhole including a 2.0m interval logged as massive sulphides containing 20% pyite-20% shalerite-5% pyrrhotite in strong garnet-silica-pyroxene alteration (Photo 3 showing 324-326m GNDD-352).
Drill hole GNDD-378 (in progress) was collared to test 40m up-dip of GNDD-296 where it is apparent that early CEL drillhole GNDD-013 was not drilled deep enough.
The hole has intersected 24 metres of massive sulphides containing 20% pyite-10% shalerite-10% pyrrhotite in strong garnet-silica-pyroxene (skarn) alteration from 113.5 to 137.6m and a further 2.9m of massive sulphides from 146.5 to 149.4m containing 10% pyite-5% sphalerite-3% pyrrhotite in strong garnet-silica-pyroxene alteration.
This is interpreted as the main Sentazon Manto. The hole is drilling ahead at 149.4 metres to test the new Footwall Zone, projected at approximately 160 metres downhole, and a potential third deeper zone of mineralisation that was intersected in GNDD-106 located 40 metres up-dip.
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