Turmalina Metals Corp. (“
Turmalina”, or the
“
Company”; TBX-TSXV, TBXXF-OTCQX, 3RI-FSE) is
pleased to announce results from continued surface work at the
Company’s 403 km2 San Francisco project located in the prolific
mining province of San Juan, Argentina (the
“Project” or
“San Francisco”).
Following the recent discovery of the high-grade epithermal gold
vein system at Veta Rica (see announcement dated October 10th,
2023) field work has focused on mapping and sampling the
surrounding area. This surface work has discovered multiple
mineralized veins in the immediate vicinity of Veta Rica and has
also discovered two new zones of similar epithermal mineralization
located approximately two and four kilometres northwest of Veta
Rica: the Machete and Destino systems respectively.
Highlights of Veta Rica Target
Area
- Recent mapping
has traced the Veta Rica epithermal vein for over 700 m on surface
with surface widths of 1 to 6 m: Surface gold assays are typically
between 0.9 and 2.7 g/t Au but with higher grade zones of up to
56.6 g/t Au.
- This mapping has
also identified multiple mineralized veins adjacent to, and
parallel with, the Veta Rica vein (Figures 2, 3 & 4) with
similar average grades (typically 0.45 to 4 g/t Au). Detailed
sampling is underway to identify potential high-grade zones in
these newly discovered veins.
- Recently
announced drill holes at Veta Rica returned:
- 4.4 m @
6.4 g/t Au; SFDH-078 from 36.6 m.
- Including
0.5 m @ 28.6 g/t Au from 36.6 m.
- And
0.45 m @ 14.12 g/t Au from 38.85 m.
- 8.75 m
@ 3.5 g/t Au; SFDH-079 from 42 m.
-
Including 6.0 m @ 4.6 g/t Au from 42 m.
-
Including 1.18 m @ 17.9 g/t Au from 42 m.
Highlights of Destino Target
Area
- A new system
with at least four parallel epithermal quartz veins, and two
adjacent breccias, located 3 km northwest of Veta Rica (Figure 2,
7, 8 & 9).
- Initial sampling
(56 samples) of the veins, each with over 200 m of strike length,
returned similar gold grades to Veta Rica, with 10 samples over 1
g/t Au, up to a maximum of 6.1 g/t Au (Figure 7).
- In the southern
portion of the Destino target area, 34 samples taken from a 100 by
130 m breccia pipe (the Tiki-Tiki breccia) returned four samples
over 1 g/t, up to a maximum of 22 g/t Au, 227 g/t Ag and 0.9%
Pb.
Highlights of Machete Vein
zone
- Located between
Veta Rica and Destino, 2.7 km northwest of Veta Rica drilling, 3
rock chip samples taken from the Machete epithermal quartz vein
returned grades of 1.1 to 2.7 g/t Au and 28 to 170 g/t Ag. Follow
up sampling is underway (Figures 2 & 9).
Mr James Rogers, Chief Executive Officer,
states:
“After an exciting discovery at Veta Rica, the
exploration team quickly went to work and we have now greatly
expanded the area of known mineralization at Veta Rica, with the
vein traced for over 700 m strike length and several parallel veins
identified. Additionally, the team has already identified two new
epithermal gold vein and breccia systems at Destino and Machete,
with high-grade gold rock chip samples at surface. Turmalina is
excited at the opportunity these nearby vein systems represent for
our team to add value to our well positioned land package. With
these recent discoveries it is becoming clear we have discovered a
new epithermal district in this established gold belt, and we look
forward to keeping the market informed of our exploration progress
over the coming months in what is a very exciting time for the
Company.
Figure 1: Regional view northwest showing the
block of properties controlled by Turmalina Metals with the drill
target locations drilled in this campaign and the previously
drilled San Francisco Breccia.
The Project area is located within a known
epithermal gold belt. The nearest such epithermal gold system is
located at Austral Gold’s Casposo mine, 70 road kilometres south of
the Veta Rica discovery. Casposo produced 283,000 oz of gold and
9.6 M oz of silver with average grades of 4.8 g/t Au and 183 g/t Ag
between 2011 and 2015 and another 32,000 oz of gold and 3 M oz of
silver between 2017 and 2019 before the mill was placed back into
care and maintenance (2017-2019 Austral Gold Annual Reports). The
historic epithermal district of Castano Viejo is located 20 km to
the south of Veta Rica (Figure 1). Castaño Viejo was operated by
the National Lead Company S.A between 1956 and 1964, with an
estimated reserve of 614,000t @7.4% Pb, 7.5% Zn, 0.15% Cu and 72
g/t Ag (Angeleli, 1984).
Drill planning and budgeting are underway for a
4,000 m diamond drilling program focussed on testing and expanding
targets within the Destino and Veta Rica target areas. Surface
works are continuing with crews focussed on additional surface
sampling and mapping. After receiving results of the
current sampling program, areas will be ranked and selected for
trenching and construction of access roads prior to drilling.
Figure 2: Geologic map showing veins, breccias
and gold in rock chip samples across the Veta Rica, Destino and
Machete target areas. Mapping and sampling
have identified multiple mineralised veins at Veta Rica, Machete
and Destino, and mapping is currently underway to define a
potential new target in the top right of the map (21 g/t Au).
Figure 3: Veta Rica Surface map
and sections showing drill holes and distribution of rock chip
sampling of the Veta Rica vein. Sampling 300 m west of the drill
pads has returned grades of up to 27 g/t Au, while samples 700 m
west of the drilling has returned grades of up to 2.7 g/t Au.
Figure 4: Drone photo looking northwest showing
700 m strike length of Veta Rica, select surface rock chip samples
and established drill pads. The Veta Rica vein remains open to both
the west and, in the foreground, to the east where it passes under
shallow cover.
Figure 5: Photo of core in hole SFDH-078 and
hand sample from outcrop at the extension along strike of Veta
Rica: Brecciated crystalline quartz surrounded by intense sericite
alteration with iron oxide and jarosite, formed after weathering of
sulphides.
Figure 6: Examples of high-grade
gold mineralisation in core samples and from an outcrop along
strike from drilling at Veta Rica. Mineralisation is hosted in
crystalline quartz (commonly brecciated) with intense sericite
alteration and hematite-goethite-jarosite, formed by the weathering
of sulphides.
Figure 7: Plan map of the newly
discovered Destino vein and breccia system showing distribution of
gold grades in rock chip samples that returned up to 22.2 g/t Au.
Gold mineralisation is hosted within both epithermal quartz veins
and adjacent quartz-tourmaline breccias.
Figure 8: Photos of an epithermal vein at
Destino. Mineralization is hosted in epithermal quart veins
(locally banded) and within intensely brecciated and
sericite-altered granodiorite and diorite that hosted abundant
hematite-goethite-jarosite veinlets.
Figure 9: Machete epithermal vein zone. The
veins and gold mineralization are hosted in strongly
sericite-altered granodiorite (a), with quartz veinlets (b) and
portions brecciated with green/grey silica and iron oxides and
jarosite. Float in the area includes samples of finely banded
silica and iron oxide (d) and breccia with matrix of crystalline
quartz (comb texture) with fragments of finally banded silica and
iron oxides after sulphides (e), both textures typical of
epithermal veins.
About The San Francisco
Project
The 40,340 ha San Francisco project is located
in the pro-mining province of San Juan, Argentina, a country where
there are currently 12 operating mines, 5 in construction and 20 in
pre-feasibility/feasibility stage. The project benefits from
well-developed infrastructure and is 130 km northeast of the
regional capital San Juan.
The San Francisco Project was assembled around,
and includes, one of the highest-grade tourmaline breccias of the
same name. The land position at San Francisco was expanded in 2022
and now includes multiple mineralized targets including more than
60 breccias, intrusion-related gold and epithermal vein-type
targets.
Initial exploration efforts at San Francisco
were focussed on breccia mineralization. Through the Company’s
extensive exploration work, led by Chico Azevedo, the project has
greatly expanded into highly prospective areas containing a number
of veins, intrusion-related, porphyry and breccia targets.
While the San Francisco breccia pipe remains one
of the highest-grade tourmaline Cu-Au breccia pipes ever discovered
(see select results in Table 1) the Company is most excited about
the exploration potential for high-grade gold-silver and
polymetallic vein types and other mineralization styles. The Veta
Rica discovery exemplifies the style of epithermal mineralization
commonly found in the district.
Turmalina has developed an operational centre in
the town of Villa Nueva, where the local community welcomes new
exploration efforts in the region.
Turmalina has several option agreements to acquire 100% of
certain titles of the SFDLA project and a right to explore and
exploit other titles from the government of San Juan.
Table 1: Selected highlight of previous Company
drilling at the San Francisco Breccia Pipe |
|
Hole ID |
Target |
From(m) |
To(m) |
Interval(m) |
Au(g/t) |
Ag(g/t) |
Cu(%) |
Pb(%) |
Zn(%) |
AuEqg/t |
CuEq% |
SFDH-012 |
SF BX |
12 |
121 |
109 |
4.94 |
109 |
1.13 |
|
0.23 |
|
0.06 |
|
8.00 |
|
5.49 |
|
SFDH-039 |
SF BX |
397.7 |
470 |
72.3 |
0.71 |
100 |
3.47 |
|
0.31 |
|
0.69 |
|
7.07 |
|
4.85 |
|
SFDH-038 |
SF BX |
0 |
81 |
81 |
2.33 |
63.94 |
0.23 |
|
0.23 |
|
0.38 |
|
3.50 |
|
2.40 |
|
SFDH-011 |
SF BX |
25 |
108 |
83 |
4.4 |
82 |
0.43 |
|
0.74 |
|
0.52 |
|
6.09 |
|
4.18 |
|
SFDH-011 |
SF BX |
27 |
68 |
41 |
7.03 |
91 |
0.51 |
|
0.23 |
|
0.02 |
|
8.96 |
|
6.14 |
|
*Intersections are not true widths and
additional drilling and geological modelling of the mineralized
zones in the breccia pipes is required to determine the true widths
of the drill hole intersections. Intersections are selected based
on a 0.5 g/t Au or 0.3% Cu cut-off grade, a minimum downhole length
of 2m and a maximum waste inclusion of 2 consecutive meters.
Equivalent gold (AuEq) and equivalent copper (CuEq) values are
calculated assuming 100% recovery using USD$ 1770 oz Au, $23 oz Ag
and $8300/t Cu (~$3.8/lb). Results from the drilling on this
project can be found in Company News releases with the following
dates: March 23, August 28, October 5 & December 7, 2020 and
January 25, March 30, June 8 & August 30 2021.
On Behalf of the Company,
Mr James Rogers Chief Executive Officer and Director.
Website: turmalinametals.comAddress: #1507 - 1030 West Georgia
St, Vancouver, BC V6E 3V7.
For Investor Relations enquiries, please contact Highland
Contact at +1 833 923 3334 (toll free) or via
info@turmalinametals.com.
Statements
About Turmalina Metals and our
projects: Turmalina Metals is a TSXV-listed exploration
company focused on developing our portfolio of high-grade
gold-copper-silver projects in South America. Our focus is on
tourmaline breccias, a deposit style overlooked by many explorers.
Turmalina Metals is led by a team responsible for multiple
gold-copper-silver discoveries who are highly experienced in this
deposit style. Our projects are characterised by open high-grade
mineralization on established mining licenses that present
compelling drill targets. The principal project held by Turmalina
is the San Francisco project in San Juan, Argentina. For further
information on the San Francisco Project, refer to the technical
report entitled “NI43-101 Technical Report San Francisco Copper
Gold Project, San Juan Province, Argentina” dated November 17, 2019
under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com. Turmalina is also
exploring the Chanape project in Peru. For further information on
Chanape please refer to the technical report “National Instrument
43-101 Technical Report on the Chanape Gold-Silver-Copper Project”
dated July 5, 2022 under the Corporation’s profile at
www.sedar.com.
Sampling and Analytic
procedure: Turmalina Metals follows systematic sampling
and analytical protocols which exceed industry standards and are
summarized below.
For the collection of rock chip samples, geologists choose the
best place to collect a sample based on local geology, point of
interest, oxidization on surface, and other discerning features.
With the aid of geological hammer, samples are broken from the
outcrop and cleaned of vegetation and/or organic material. Sample
descriptions are recorded and the UTM coordinate taken with a
hand-held GPS. Samples are placed in a thick plastic bag and a
pre-numbered sample tag placed in the bag. Sample mass is typically
in the range of 3 to 5 kilograms. The outside of the bag is marked
with permanent marker for easy reference. An aluminium tag with the
sample number is placed at the location from where the sample was
collected.
Turmalina Metals independently inserts certified
control standards, coarse field blanks and duplicates into the
sample stream to monitor data quality (‘QA/QC’ samples). These
QA/QC samples are inserted “blindly” to the laboratory in the
sample sequence prior to departure from the Turmalina Metals core
storage facilities. For rock chip samples 4 QA/QC samples are
inserted into each 80-sample dispatch: 1 blank sample, and 3
commercially-prepared standards.
The assay results for the QA/QC samples are
checked and verified by the project geologist and the Qualified
Person. All such QA/QC assay results from sample dispatches
reported in this news release have been found to be within
acceptable industry limits, and the Qualified Person is not aware
of any sampling, recovery or any other factors that could
materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data.
Qualified Person: The
scientific, technical and analytical data contained in this news
release pertaining to the San Francisco and Chanape projects has
been reviewed and approved by Dr. Rohan Wolfe, Technical Advisor,
MAIG, who serves as the Qualified Person (QP) under the definition
of National Instrument 43-101.
Forward Looking Statement: This
news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law.
Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words
such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project",
"intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will",
"potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or
statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur.
These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were
used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained
in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates
of management at the date the statements are made and are subject
to a variety of risks (including those risk factors identified in
the Corporation’s prospectus dated November 21, 2019) and
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. The Corporation is under no obligation,
and expressly 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 expressly
required by applicable law.
Figures accompanying this announcement are available
at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/af7df1f7-4e2c-4d1d-8ecc-9115807f9341
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d93214b3-ff8f-4c09-99f9-87976645831d
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/931719cc-a3ed-41b1-bdf0-c19768bc4117
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/425e1ca0-6a47-4ea9-b2ac-98840e7036c4
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/941bc07b-1de5-4bab-92fa-d2c7ce8249c0
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/37579f0f-527f-4059-b86c-0164a6f9234d
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4b8651d6-c6b6-4fcd-891f-f7ad8c908c0d
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/46ab988c-16cd-4a65-8f10-262f14d5f2c9
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/22463aa7-caa3-4d53-b3f7-db20bdec530e
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