Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd (TSX-V:MON, OTC:MXTRF) said on Thursday it has begun drilling at its Elvira Gold Project in Chile, launching a first-pass program designed to test high-priority targets across the project's epithermal and porphyry copper-gold system.
The initial program comprises four holes targeting around 2,025 metres.
The first hole targets the central portion of a chargeability anomaly greater than 22.5 mV/V at depth beneath the historical drillhole EL-12 area.
Montero said the hole is intended to test the interpreted link between a shallow epithermal gold system and a deeper porphyry copper-gold target.
The company noted that historical drilling in the EL-12 area by Buena Vista Gold returned an intersection of 4 metres at 4.9 grams per tonne gold from 264 to 268 metres, including 17.85 g/t gold, which Montero interprets as a high-grade feeder or upflow position.
“Montero's work at Elvira has materially improved our understanding and highlighted the scale of the mineral system," said Dr Tony Harwood, Montero’s CEO.
Subsequent holes in the initial sequence are planned to test the EL-09/ELRC-16/ELRC-22 area, where historical drilling supports a copper vector toward a deeper chargeability target, as well as an epithermal cap-to-porphyry link target and a high-sulphidation feeder target.
The company said it has completed site preparation, logistics planning and field mobilization ahead of the drill campaign. Follow-up holes may be adjusted based on results from the initial phase.