Sunward announces discovery of new gold mineralization on Porvenir and Candela targets at Titiribi district
Recent drilling on Porvenir returns 92.6 metres grading 0.48 grams per tonne gold
14-hole Candela drill program yields promising results
Titiribi gold and gold-copper district continues to expand
VANCOUVER, Feb. 9, 2012 /CNW/ - Sunward Resources Ltd. ("Sunward" or the "Company") (TSX-V: SWD; OTCQX: SNWRF) announced the discovery of gold mineralization at the Porvenir target on the Company's 100%-owned Titiribi project located approximately 70 kilometres southwest of the city of Medellin, Colombia. The Porvenir zone is located within approximately 2,000 metres of the Cerro Vetas zone, which hosts the majority of the current 43-101-compliant mineral resource at Titiribi. In addition, the Company announced the discovery of the first indications of gold-copper mineralization at the Candela zone of the Titiribi project. The Candela zone lies within approximately 1,000 metres of the Cerro Vetas zone.
PORVENIR TARGET
Sunward recently completed the initial drilling program on the Porvenir target, with a total of 12 drill holes testing a zone of coincident copper and gold soil geochemical anomalies and magnetic geophysical anomalies. Drilling defined a near vertically-sided, fault-bounded dioritic intrusive body, which returned several substantial zones of porphyry-gold type mineralization comprising disseminated pyrite within weakly potassicly altered diorites. Drill hole PR011 intersected 92.6 metres of mineralization with a weighted average grade of 0.48 grams per tonne gold, from 344.8 to 437.4 metres downhole depth. Additionally, drill hole PR002 intersected a similar mineralized zone at shallower depths, comprising 77.5 metres averaging 0.42 grams per tonne gold. A map of drill hole location is available at www.sunwardresources.com.
The gold-dominant nature of mineralization encountered to date at Porvenir, along with the trace element geochemistry, is broadly similar in metal ratio to mineralization observed at the Chisperos-Virgen zone of the Titiribi project, which currently hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.0 million ounces gold (100.92 million tonnes grading 0.62 grams per tonne gold, using a 0.3 grams per tonne gold cut-off, see technical report dated September 8, 2011). The Company is now planning follow-up work at Porvenir based on the results from this initial drill program. A complete table of results from the Porvenir target is included below.
Drill hole | Azimuth | Inclination | From (metres) |
To (metres) |
Interval (metres) |
Gold (grams per tonne) |
Copper (%) |
PR001 | 052 | -50 | Abandoned at 97.4m in broken ground | ||||
PR002 | 142 | -50 | Abandoned at 98.6m in broken ground | ||||
PR002A | 142 | -50 | 234.0 | 311.5 | 77.5 | 0.42 | 0.09 |
PR003 | 232 | -50 | 212.7 | 228.0 | 15.3 | 0.35 | 0.10 |
PR004 | 232 | -50 | Abandoned at 116.5m in broken ground | ||||
PR004A | 232 | -50 | 325.3 | 345.3 | 20.0 | 0.29 | 0.17 |
PR005 | 052 | -50 | No significant mineralization | ||||
PR006 | 052 | -50 | 49.4 | 63.0 | 13.6 | 0.47 | 0.10 |
PR007 | 322 | -50 | No significant mineralization | ||||
PR008 | 142 | -50 | 61.0 | 70.0 | 9.0 | 0.51 | 0.09 |
PR009 | 322 | -50 | 176.5 | 185.2 | 8.7 | 0.31 | 0.09 |
307.0 | 322.5 | 15.5 | 0.64 | 0.10 | |||
PR010 | 322 | -50 | No significant mineralization | ||||
PR011 | 142 | -50 | 344.8 | 437.4 | 92.6 | 0.48 | 0.04 |
PR012 | 142 | -50 | Assays awaited |
CANDELA TARGET
In addition, Sunward recently completed an initial 14-hole drilling program on the Candela target, located less than 1,000 metres south of the Cerro Vetas zone. The Candela drill target was defined by coincident copper and gold soil geochemical anomalies. Early drilling has revealed several generations of intrusives and magmato-phreatic breccias orientated east-west as a steeply dipping composite dyke-like body, with strong intermittent porphyry-type, gold-copper mineralization. Of particular interest was drillhole CA005, which intersected 27.9 metres of mineralization with a weighted average grade of 0.42% copper and 0.32 grams per tonne gold, from 160.5 to 188.4 metres downhole depth. This mineralization is associated with a diorite porphyry body, similarly to mineralization observed at the Cerro Vetas zone. Unusually high grades of silver were noted in holes CA009 and CA010 (up to 23.5 gram per tonne) hosted within basal volcaniclastics.
The geological setting of the Candela target appears different from other zones on the Titiribi project and the potential of this zone remains untested to the east which is now thought to be the source of the Candela soil geochemical anomalies, these having been gravitationally displaced downslope. Recent drill holes at Candela have begun to intersect thicker diorite intervals at depth, and the Company is redesigning the second stage drill program in light of a detailed geological reassessment of this target.
Commenting on these latest exploratory drill results, Colin J. Andrew, Sunward's Chief Executive Officer said, "Following closely on the heels of excellent first results from the Junta zone, we can now confirm that the Titiribi district comprises a cluster of mineralized gold-copper and gold-bearing porphyry systems in close proximity to each other. There is now no doubt that this district has the potential to grow substantially from the current published resource. These results re-affirm the potential for Titiribi to become the largest gold project in Colombia and one of the largest discoveries in the world in recent years."
A complete table of results from the Candela target is included below. Maps of drill hole locations are available at www.sunwardresources.com.
Drill hole | Azimuth | Inclination | From (metres) |
To (metres) |
Interval (metres) |
Gold (grams per tonne) |
Copper (%) |
CA004 | 205 | -50 | 193.4 | 244.3 | 50.9 | 0.33 | 0.07 |
CA005 | 322 | -50 | 160.5 | 188.4 | 27.9 | 0.32 | 0.42 |
CA006 | 25 | -50 | No significant mineralization | ||||
CA007 | 142 | -50 | No significant mineralization | ||||
CA008 | 142 | -50 | No significant mineralization | ||||
CA009 | 142 | -45 | 55.0 | 96.5 | 41.5 | 0.30 | 0.03 |
CA010 | 322 | -45 | No significant mineralization | ||||
CA011 | 322 | -50 | No significant mineralization | ||||
CA012 | 322 | -50 | No significant mineralization | ||||
CA013 | 052 | -78 | 527.0 | 546.5 | 19.5 | 0.71 | 0.02 |
CA014 | 142 | -55 | Assays awaited |
Colin J. Andrew, CEng MIMMM, FGS is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and is responsible for the contents of this news release.
About The Company:
Sunward Resources is a well-capitalized, Canadian based company focused on the exploration of gold/copper porphyry projects in Colombia. The Company has strong operational expertise in Colombia and currently has eleven rigs drilling its Titiribi Project southwest of Medellin with a goal of increasing the NI 43-101 Indicated and Inferred resources.
About the Titiribi Project:
The Cerro Vetas mineralized body at Sunward Resources' Titiribi project hosts an NI 43-101 compliant Indicated Mineral Resource of 2.2 million ounces gold within 142.94 million tonnes grading 0.480 grams per tonne gold and 0.148 per cent copper, using a 0.3 grams per tonne gold cut-off. The Titiribi project also hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 6.08 million ounces gold within 372.7 million tonnes grading 0.507 grams per tonne gold and 0.078 per cent copper, using a 0.3 grams per tonne gold cut-off. (See Report dated September 2011 available at www.sunwardresources.com and on SEDAR.)
The project is located approximately 70 kilometres southwest of the city of Medellin, Colombia, in Antioquia department, within the historical Titiribi mining district (estimated total production of 1.5 to 2 million ounces gold equivalent). Access is by paved highway from Medellin.
Mineralization at Titiribi is hosted within a number of porphyry stocks and porphyritic dikes and sills. The dominant mineral associated with mineralization is chalcopyrite, which occurs as disseminations and in veinlets. Plagioclase and secondary biotite are also significant within the mineralized assemblage. Mineralization appears to be related to extensive potassic alteration, with propylitic and argillic alteration also widespread, along with lesser phyllic alteration.
Over 68,000 metres of drilling has been completed at Titiribi to date, including approximately 14,600 metres completed historically by previous operators, along with over 50,000 metres completed by Sunward Resources Limited. The eleven (11) drill rigs currently on site are presently focused on resource definition and expansion drilling at Cerro Vetas and Chisperos.
Sample Preparation Assays QA/QC:
Drill core was logged, cut and sampled by Sunward personnel at the Company's facilities in Colombia. In the case of the drilling results referred to herein the samples were prepared at Inspectorate America's sample preparation facility in Medellin, Colombia and then analyzed at Inspectorate America's ISO 9001:2000 accredited laboratory in Reno, Nevada, USA, a facility that follows internationally accepted methods and procedures and has stringent quality control and assurance practices.
At the sample preparation facility in Medellin the samples were crushed to >80% passing -10 mesh using a terminator jaw crusher; split to 250 grams; pulverized using a LM2 ring pulverizer to over 90% passing -150 mesh; split into 125 grams aliquots which were then sent to Inspectorate America's laboratory in Reno for assay. Gold was analyzed by fire assay with Inductive Coupled Plasma (ICP) finish with a lower detection limit of 2 ppb. Samples above 5 grams per tonne were assayed by fire assay with gravimetric finish. In addition to gold a suite of 30 other elements including silver and copper were assayed by ICP-AES following an aqua regia digest. Blanks, field and laboratory duplicates duplicate samples and a number of internationally approved and registered analytical standard samples were routinely randomly inserted into the preparation and analysis process as part of Sunward's normal quality assurance and quality control program. Any analytical batch of assays wherein inserted standards assayed without the acceptable limits are rejected.
This news release contains "forward-looking information", which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of Sunward Resources Ltd. and its projects. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Sunward Resources Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and Sunward Resources Ltd. disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SUNWARD RESOURCES LTD.
Corporate Contact:
Brenda Dayton
(604) 568-7617
[email protected]
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