Golden Arrow Resources Corp (TSX-V:GRG, OTCQB:GARWF) said it has initiated its first diamond drilling program at the Libanesa silver-gold project in Santa Cruz province, Argentina.
The Vancouver-based company struck an option to acquire a 75% interest in Libanesa in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Golden Arrow’s program will now drill up to 2,000 meters (m) in holes ranging from 75 to 250m in depth, testing the Cerro Redondo, Lagunita and Lagunita West prospects. Drills have kicked off work at the site and the initial program should take six weeks to complete, said the company.
"Our team has made excellent progress in the last few months confirming the previous prospects and delineating new targets at Libanesa. We are pleased to now move into the first drill phase at this highly prospective project," Brian McEwen, VP Exploration and Development for Golden Arrow, said in a statement.
The 14,500-hectare silver-gold Libanesa project is at the northeastern margin of the Deseado Massif gold-silver metallogenic province, 40 kilometers (km) northwest of the Cerro Moro Mine operated by Yamana Gold (TSX:YRI, LSE:AUY) and 100 km northeast of the Don Nicolas Mine owned by Cerrado Gold.
Golden Arrow has conducted a detailed surface program to refine the previously defined targets and has collected 274 channel and rock chip samples by opening 20 trenches.
Libanesa target highlights
The Cerro Redondo prospect area includes a sub-circular feature, around one km in diameter, that hosts multiple gold-silver-lead in rock anomalies inside and at its margins, plus additional targets within 500m. Cerro Plomo is the principal target and is characterized by a well-mineralized gold-silver hydrothermal breccia that is exposed at surface.
Chip samples from the previous operator returned up to 2.55 grams per ton (g/t) gold (Au) and 2802 g/t silver (Ag) and channel samples of 11m at 1.21 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag. More recent channel sampling by Golden Arrow also confirmed disseminated mineralization in the crystal tuffs with up to 0.32 g/t Au and 15 g/t Ag outside the main hydrothermal breccia. The company said 13 drill holes from a total of 18 are planned around Cerro Redondo.
In addition, 5.5 km north of Cerro Redondo, the Lagunita target includes typical low sulfidation type epithermal veins and breccias. Intermittent vein occurrences were mapped by previous operators over a strike length of at least 2.3 km. Golden Arrow's surface program has identified a second target, Lagunita West, where quartz veinlets and pyrite define a different epithermal system that includes high gold and low silver.
The program included 12 rock chip samples collected over 400m at Lagunita West that returned 4 anomalous values of 2.4 g/t Au, 0.31 g/t Au, 0.17 g/t Au and 0.15 g/t Au. Five drill holes are planned to test these two targets, said the firm.
Exploration update
Golden Arrow also provided a summary of recent work at its core projects. In March this year, it bought the San Pietro IOCG project in Chile, which has seen significant work that indicates near-term resource potential, highlighted by drill results such as 28m averaging 1.14% copper (Cu), 0.12g/t Au, and 335 parts per million (ppm) cobalt (Co), in RA-12-DH-003.
The company is starting an exploration program that will work toward resource delineation at the Rincones zone while continuing to evaluate and advance the four additional known targets and other areas of the property.
Separately, Golden Arrow recently completed a diamond drilling program at its Tierra Dorada gold project in Paraguay. The Phase II program included 46 drill holes totaling 1791.80m testing the Alvaro and Itayuru prospects. Samples have been dispatched to the lab but complete assays are not expected until late April.
Meanwhile, at its Rosales copper project in Chile, the first drilling program finished at the end of 2021. Results from the program did not confirm the desired interpretation so the next steps for the Rosales project are being reviewed, said the company.
Finally, after completing surface exploration, trenching and geophysical programs, Golden Arrow has relinquished its option for the Puzzle and Esperanza properties of the Flecha de Oro project in Rio Negro, Argentina. The company said the results “did not justify continued work, under the option agreement.”
Meanwhile, Golden Arrow retains its option for the 2,000-hectare Maquinchao property, for which work permits and surface agreements were recently approved. The company is evaluating the next steps for the property.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive