Projects


Del Carmen Drill Results

Our third drilling campaign (2011/2012) is in progress, with two main objectives, (i) to expand the resource at Rojo Grande and (ii) to discover new zones of mineralization elsewhere on the 9km2 Del Carmen Norte alteration system. In the first two drill campaigns at Del Carmen Norte, Malbex drilled a total of 10,247.5 metres in 57 holes (see drill hole location map).The 32 holes drilled in the 2009/2010 campaign were all drilled under surface gold showings and hit significant mineralization in six of the seven targets. Towards the end of that first campaign, bulk tonnage style mineralization was discovered at Rojo Grande (hole 32, with 142 m of 0.88 g/t gold and 13.7 g/t silver). The main focus of the 2010/2011 campaign (25 holes in 5,538 metres) was delineating and expanding the zone of known mineralization at Rojo Grande, while also drilling the Cerro Amarillo geophysical target. The drill season at Del Carmen typically runs from October to April.

To date, 25 holes have been completed at Rojo Grande (see drill hole plan view and long section), which formed the basis of an initial inferred NI 43-101 resource estimate released in September 2011 measuring 25.4 million tonnes grading 1.00 g/t gold and 13.3 g/t silver for 816,600 ounces of contained gold and 10.9 million ounces of contained silver. See Corebox 3D model of Rojo Grande drilling to date.

The mineralization at Rojo Grande has the following characteristics:

  • Outcropping or at shallow depth, generally starting 0-20 metres from surface ;
  • Oxidized, with preliminary metallurgical testing showing it is likely amenable to low-cost heap leaching similar to ores at Veladero;
  • Hosted in both silicified and quartz-alunite alteration zones;
  • Extends to at least 280 m in depth, 500 m along strike and is up to 200 m in width;
  • Open at depth and to the southwest;
  • Average grades of approximately 0.5-1.5 g/t gold, comparable with average grade of 0.88 g/t gold at the Veladero mine:

Highlights of Del Carmen Norte drilling are summarized in the table below:

Target Hole ID from (m) to (m) length (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu (%) Au Equivalent (g/t)
Rojo Grande DDHC-10-32 22 164.15 142.15 0.88 13.7 - 1.11
  including2 23 57 34 1.27 13.6 - 1.50
including1,2 124 164.15 40.15 1.45 19.6 - 1.78
DDHC-10-017 9.0 50.0 41.0 1.18 31.2 - 1.70
including 19.0 30.0 11.0 3.42 67.2 - 4.54
DDHC-10-020 5.5 130.0 124.5 0.57 8.8 - 0.72
DDHC-10-0201 167.0 190.4 23.4 0.13 10.9 - 0.31
DDHC-10-35 139.0 188.0 49 1.41 3.2 - 1.46
including 176.0 184.0 8 7.08 8.0 - 7.27
DDHC-10-39 86.0 172.0 86 0.77 9.3 - 0.92
DDHC-10-42 13.0 116.0 103 2.84 6.4 - 2.94
including 85.0 90.0 5 48.34 15.4 - 48.60
DDHC-11-046 18.00 64.00 46.00 3.31 25.2 - 3.73
and 106.00 238.65
 132.65 2.10 10.8 - 2.28
including3 122.00
 145.00 23.00 5.51 20.4 - 5.85
including3 156.00 190.00 34.00 3.32 17.6
 - 3.61
DDHC-11-052 13.0 280.0 267.0 2.05 29.3 - 2.54
which includes 44.0 60.0 16.0 4.38 14.2 - 4.62
and 116.0 137.0 21.0 4.41 78.5 - 5.72
and 171.0 205.0 34.0 8.31 70.1 - 9.48
DDHC-11-055 1.00 105.00 104.00 1.96 25.2 - 2.38
which includes 42.00 100.00 58.00 2.95 35.0 - 3.54
and 143.00 210.00 67.00 0.51 1.5 - 0.54
which includes 183.00 193.00 10.00 0.89 2.5 - 0.93
and 213.00 225.00 12.00 0.37 1.9 - 0.41
 
N.Q.Pedegrosa DDHC-10-023 41.0 46.0 5.0 2.71 0.1 - 2.71
  DDHC-10-023 71.0 92.0 21.0 1.69 0.1 - 1.69
  DDHC-10-023 128.0 177.0 49.0 1.11 0.2 - 1.11
  DDHC-10-023 189.0 205.0 16.0 2.64 6.1 - 2.74
 
Brecha Limite DDHC -10-08 18.0 53.0 35.0 2.22 42.9 - 2.94
  including 38.0 42.0 4.0 6.99 191.3 - 10.18
 
Brecha Limite Norte DDHC-10-15 29.0 32.0 3.0 2.60 368.7 2.46 8.75
 
Ladera Sur Tortolas DDHC-10-11 23.0 25.0 2.0 1.77 201.0 2.13 5.12
 

1 ends in mineralization
2 based on 0.5 g/t gold cutoff
3 based on 1 g/t gold cutoff
  • Mineralized intercepts are based on a 0.1 g/t Au cutoff, with no more than 3 metres of internal dilution. Au EQ is calculated using 60 g/t Ag = 1 g/t Au (based on the 3-year average gold:silver price ratio) and assuming 100% metallurgical recovery. Cu is not included in the AuEq calculation.
  • There has been insufficient drilling to reliably calculate true widths for the mineralized intercepts tabulated above but thicknesses in vertical holes appear to closely represent the true vertical thickness of mineralization and alteration.