Minera Alamos Inc.: Drilling at Los Verdes North Deposit Returns Values in Excess of Existing South Resource
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec 1, 2015) - Minera Alamos Inc. (the "Company" or "Minera Alamos") (TSX VENTURE:MAI) reported today that it has received final assays from its first phase of drilling on the North Deposit at its 100% owned Los Verdes project in Sonora Mexico. The Company intends to produce a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for the north area to include in its updated Preliminary Economic Assessment. Nine holes totaling 908 metres tested the historic resource on the North Deposit. Three holes totaling 188 metres tested for an extension of the mineralization to the south.
"Not only were we encouraged by the significant copper equivalent grades at the North Deposit but also by an unexpectedly high silver content - over five times that experienced in the South Deposit," said Darren Koningen, President, Minera Alamos Inc. "The real surprise, however, was how close the deposit came to surface making it ideal for open pit mining. The top six metres of all nine holes had a collective average grade of 0.79% copper equivalent."
Highlights
- Assays from the first nine holes tested the historic resource and exhibiting an overall composite copper equivalent (CuEq) grade of 1.47%; over 40% greater than that of the Los Verdes South deposit;
- Assays from the same nine holes demonstrated an overall composite silver equivalent (AgEq) of 21 g/t (see note 3 below);
- Mineralization in all holes begins close to surface, making it ideal for open pit mining access;
- In a manner similar to the South Deposit, the deposit presents as long intervals of continuous disseminated mineralization;
- The three drill holes testing south of the known resource did not show any significant mineralization. Interpretation of the drill results, however, indicate that the deposit remains open to the north. Further testing of this added resource potential is planned for a later date.
Drill Results
| Mineralized Interval(1&2) | Composite CuEq(3) | ||||||||
| Drill | From | To | Width | Cu | Mo | Ag | CuEq | Width | Grade |
| Hole | (m) | (m) | (m) | (%) | (%) | g/t | (%) | (m) | (%) |
| PO-13 | 17.00 | 62.00 | 45.00 | 0.61% | 0.03% | 6.08 | 0.68% | 30.40 | 0.93% |
| PO-14 | 21.00 | 77.00 | 56.00 | 1.22% | 0.05% | 14.12 | 1.40% | 46.45 | 1.69% |
| PO-15 | 17.20 | 68.50 | 51.30 | 0.54% | 0.04% | 7.36 | 0.66% | 29.00 | 1.10% |
| PO-16 | 26.50 | 46.00 | 19.50 | 0.45% | 0.06% | 4.87 | 0.61% | 16.50 | 0.74% |
| PO-17 | 21.00 | 58.50 | 37.50 | 0.93% | 0.04% | 8.71 | 1.07% | 31.50 | 1.28% |
| PO-18 | 5.50 | 60.00 | 54.50 | 1.14% | 0.05% | 12.48 | 1.30% | 33.15 | 2.01% |
| PO-19 | 40.50 | 54.00 | 13.50 | 0.75% | 0.00% | 4.21 | 0.76% | 9.00 | 1.06% |
| PO-20 | no significant results | ||||||||
| PO-21 | 0.00 | 48.00 | 48.00 | 0.77% | 0.34% | 13.44 | 1.80% | 40.45 | 2.00% |
| Total | 1.47% | ||||||||
Notes:
- Grade/width of mineralized intersection as shown is complete interval "from" "to" drill depths as shown.
- All holes were drilled vertically and therefore it cannot be certain that the drill widths outlined in the table above represent the true widths of mineralization.
- Grade/width as shown is total of only those mineralized individual drill composite samples that have CuEq grade equal to or in excess of the cutoff used in the determination of the South Deposit Resource (CuEq 0.45%) (AgEq 1.7 g/t)- see Los Verdes Cu/Mo Project Preliminary Economic Assessment, January 10, 2012.
- Copper equivalent grades (CuEq) are based on metal prices of: copper (Cu) US$2.75 per lb, molybdenum (Mo) US$8.25 per lb and silver (Ag) US$16.00 per oz.
Los Verdes North Deposit
The North Deposit at Los Verdes is located approximately 8 km northeast of the South Deposit within the Municipality of Yecora, a region with a mining history that dates back to the Mexican Revolution. The local communities of Santa Ana and Santa Rosa have long mined tungsten, molybdenum and copper throughout the area.
The 1,070-hectare Los Verdes North property contains two historic mines (Buenavista and La Providencia) which were in operation from 1960 through to the late 1970's. Although there are no records available as to the amount of production during that time, the remnants of the flotation mill, with its tailings remain on site. During this operating period, supplemental feed material from the Los Verdes South Deposit was transported north to be processed at the same facility.
In 2008, the Servicio Geologico Mexicano (SGM) completed an exploration program tasked with estimating the resources at the North Deposit and evaluating the property's additional potential. That work resulted in historical indicated mineral resources of 1,384,000 tonnes at a copper grade of 0.47% and a molybdenum grade of 0.12% as well as historical inferred mineral resources of 822,000 tonnes at a grade of 0.22% copper and 0.033% molybdenum.
In addition to the historic mining areas, the Minera Alamos' North Deposit property contains a number of additional largely unexplored prospects identified by SGM with significant geophysical and geochemical anomalies characteristic of local copper/molybdenum deposits. The Company plans to perform further evaluations of these areas following the completion of the North Deposit drilling programs.
About Minera Alamos
Minera Alamos is a junior exploration and development company. Its flagship project is the Los Verdes open pit copper-molybdenum project in Sonora, Mexico that is currently in development.
Note: Historical estimates were prepared in 2008 by the SGM. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify them as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and they should not be relied upon.
Mr. Darren Koningen, P. Eng., Minera Alamos Inc.'s President, is the Qualified Person responsible for technical content of this release under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Koningen has supervised the preparation of, and approved the scientific and technical disclosures utilized in this news release.
All diamond drill samples were collected by Minera Alamos personnel including the company's exploration geologists. Drill samples were cut in halves and divided into 1.5m intervals. One half of the sample is bagged for analysis. The remaining half logged by Minera Alamos personnel and stored in the project warehouse for future reference. Blanks, duplicates and standards were randomly inserted with the samples sent for analysis as part of the normal QA/QC procedures.
All samples were prepared and analyzed for metals using ICP assay procedures with a four acid leach preparation. All samples were sent for analysis at the ALS-Chemex in Hermosillo.
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