Altamira Gold Corp. (TSX-V:ALTA, OTC:EQTRF) has provided an exploration update on its three main project areas, Cajueiro, Apiacas and Santa Helena, covering a surface area of 163,000 hectares in the Alta Floresta Gold Belt in northern Mato Grosso, Brazil.
In a statement, Altamira Gold CEO Michael Bennett said: "The initial drill results at Mutum (Apiacas) have provided significant encouragement regarding the potential for a large, disseminated gold system extending over at least 2 kilometers (km) strike length.”
He added: “Whilst we wait for drill results from 23 holes at the Santa Helena project, the rig is currently testing several highly prospective targets at Cajueiro including the previously untested Maria Bonita gold-in-soil anomaly where gold values in soils exceed 1 gram per ton (g/t) gold.”
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The Mutum target, located within the Apiacas project, measures around 6km by 1km and is the site of former major alluvial workings conducted since 1980 by both organised companies, using scalable dredging, and artisanal garimpeiro operations that continue to the present day. Nearly 1 million ounces of gold is inferred to have been recovered historically from alluvial and eluvial sources at Mutum.
Altamira has completed 13 diamond drillholes at Mutum (Apiacas) totaling 2,056 meteres (m). The widely spaced drilling has outlined wide zones of hydrothermal alteration and mineralization within the host rock granites and syenogranites. Nine of the 13 holes intersected significant zones of low-grade gold mineralization including 30.5m at 0.52 g/t gold in DDMUT007 and 62m at 0.32 g/t gold in DDMUT013.
Separately, the drill results at Mutum define an east-west trending zone of low grade disseminated gold mineralization of over 2 km in strike length, which is open both to the west and east. The company said a drone magnetometer survey will start in mid-June and is expected to map magnetite depletion in altered intrusive rocks and define likely trends of hydrothermal alteration associated with gold mineralization.
Altamira also highlighted the following:
- A limited number of diamond drill holes are currently being drilled at Cajueiro to test potential extensions of the current resource. The Cajueiro gold project currently hosts an Indicated resource of 185,000 ounce (oz) and an Inferred resource of 515,000 oz for total contained gold of 700,000 oz. The Baldo target is being tested initially where previous trenching returned values including 28m at 3 g/t gold and 7m at 5.5 g/t gold;
- Following the completion of six holes at the Baldo target at Cajueiro, the rig will move to the previously untested Maria Bonita target which is a very strong gold-in-soil anomaly with values in excess of 1 g/t gold in soils;
- A total of 23 diamond drill holes have been completed at the Santa Helena project where porphyry-style alteration has been identified and results are pending.
Altamira Gold is focused on the exploration and development of gold projects within western central Brazil. It holds 8 projects comprising spanning 190,000 hectares, within the prolific Juruena gold belt.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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