Two of the holes also intercepted zones of sulphide mineralization hosting copper with associated gold and silver farther down the holes, beneath the oxide zones.
The 80 sqkm Diablillos property is located in the Argentine Puna region, which is the southern extension of the Altiplano of southern Peru, Bolivia and northern Chile. It was acquired by AbraPlata from SSR Mining in 2016.
There are several known mineral zones on the Diablillos property, with the Oculto zone being the most advanced with 11 diamond drill holes and approximately 90,000 metres drilled to date.
Meanwhile, the company has added a second drill rig at Diablillos and will be further expanding its 2019-2020 drill program from 8,000 m to approximately 13,000 m in response to successful drilling results to date.
It will dedicate one rig to drill for expansions of the high-grade gold and silver oxide resources at Oculto and adjacent areas, as well as testing for the continuity of underlying copper-gold sulphide mineralization that may be linked to a porphyry intrusive that would have been the source of the mineralizing fluids.
The second rig will be used primarily for reconnaissance exploration of peripheral target areas based on a recent ground mag survey.
“The addition of a second drill rig and expansion of the program to 13,000 metres allows us to further accelerate the discovery process aimed at expanding the large existing resource base at the Diablillos project,” president and CEO John Miniotis commented.
AbraPlata’s stock surged 6.2% by 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday on the latest drill results. The Toronto-based miner has a market capitalization of approximately C$111.1 million.
