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Gold miners report new discoveries

16th December 2014

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

  

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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Gold producers Aurico Gold and Yamana Gold on Monday reported that 2014 exploration programmes had resulted in new discoveries at Aurico’s Kemess East project, in north-central British Columbia, and Yamana’s El Penon gold/silver mine, in Chile, and Chapada, in Brazil.

TSX- and NYSE-listed Aurico Gold reported that a significant exploration drilling programme completed this year had delineated a new porphyry mineralised system at Kemess East, which is located 1 km east of the previously delineated Kemess Underground deposit and 6.5 km north of the Kemess mill facility.

Since late 2013, the company had completed 19 diamond drill holes (27 214 m) in the Kemess East mineralised area, with 16 of the 19 drill holes intersecting mineralisation.

Some of the highlights included hole KH14-04, which intersected 768 m of mineralisation grading 0.442 g/t gold and 0.392% copper, including a 132 m intersection grading 0.755 g/t gold and 0.5% copper; hole KH-14-09 which intersected 304 m of 0.557 g/t gold and 0.421% copper, including 76 m of 1.202 g/t gold and 0.658% copper; hole KH-13-08, which intersected 601 m 0.5 g/t gold and 0.391% copper, including 278 m of 0.712 g/t gold and 0.477 copper.

Aurico said the estimated true thickness of the mineralised intervals was 70% of the reported intercept length.

"The Kemess East exploration programme has identified a significant new gold/copper porphyry mineralised system that is higher grade than the Kemess Underground and is located in immediate proximity to the existing processing facility and associated surface infrastructure that includes a 50 000 t/d mill facility, administration and camp facilities, permitted tailings storage and full access to grid power,” Aurico president and CEO Scott Perry said.

He added that the new discovery had demonstrated the significant potential of the Kemess land package with some of the programme's drill holes ending in mineralisation. “With an initial resource expected early next year, we will look to expand our exploration drilling programme and advance our Kemess Underground permitting efforts to continue surfacing value,” Perry said.

SOUTH AMERICAN SUCCESS

Yamana Gold also on Monday reported that it had discovered a new vein at El Penon and reported the best drill intersections in the history of Chapada, immediately west of the main pit.

At El Penon the new north-south vein, named Ventura, was expected to lead to expanding the mineral resource base at what appeared to be high grades. The results at Chapada, from the newly discovered mineralisation named Sucupira, continued to support the potential of a much larger district of mineralisation, which could also significantly expand mineral resources.

Yamana said that in both cases, , the discoveries significantly improved the outlook of these cornerstone mines because of grade, proximity to plant or mine workings, or both.

At El Penon, exploration efforts in the second half of 2014 had identified the Ventura vein, located 1.3 km east of the Aleste-Bonanza vein system and 700 m east of active development drifting. The Ventura vein runs north-south for more than 950 m, is open in all directions and has a vertical extent on one section of 250 m.

Intercepts that currently defined the structure included 2 m of 10.9 g/t gold and 856 g/t silver in hole SDX0369 to the south, and 3 m of 68.2 g/t gold and 1 757 g/t silver in hole SDX0382, at the northern portion of the structure.

At Chapada, the near mine exploration programme completed a series of holes to test for porphyry or skarn-related mineralisation immediately next to the main Chapada mine complex.

Hole NM-101, drilled as a follow-up to interesting results received earlier this year, had returned the highest grades over the longest widths in Chapada's exploration and development history.

Hole NM-101 intersected 0.46 g/t gold and 0.5% copper over 172 m. This new mineralisation, referred to as Sucupira, was located immediately west of the main Chapada pit at a depth of about 180 m, which roughly coincided with the current bottom of the ultimate pit.

The mineralisation appeared to be porphyry related and was completely open to the north-east and south-west along a 1.8 km strike length. Re-modelling of magnetic data previously collected at Chapada suggested this mineral body could continue beneath the main Chapada pit. The 2015 exploration programme would begin to define the extent of Sucupira and continue defining other recent discoveries.

Yamana said that the new discovery, combined with the recently identified Santa Cruz mineralisation south-west of Corpo Sul, along with Corpo Sul itself, which was only discovered a few years earlier, continued to suggest the potential of a mineralised system that could be significantly larger than was originally envisioned at Chapada.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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