Lavras Gold Corp (TSX-V:LGC) revealed that inaugural drilling at the Zeca Souza target at its Lavras do Sul (LDS) gold project in Brazil has encountered 'bonanza' gold grades near surface.
Zeca Souza is one of 23 known targets at the property and sits 2.1 kilometres (km) north of the Butia deposit, which hosts an NI 43-101-compliant near-surface gold resource of around 500,000 ounces (oz).
Lavras said 14 holes were sunk for 2,800 metres (m), which tested a gold-in-soil anomaly centered on historical gold workings spanning an area of 375m and all hit at least one, but typically, multiple intercepts of gold generally starting at or near surface. Two hit so-called bonanza grades.
"We are very pleased with these early results from Zeca Souza, where we are seeing bonanza gold grades near the surface of this new discovery," said Michael Durose, Lavras Gold's CEO, in a statement.
READ: Lavras Gold highlights achievements in first operational quarter since launch
"The exceptional gold grades associated with visible gold in silicified veinlets, together with long intervals of elevated gold values relatively close to surface, suggest there is a robust gold system at Zeca Souza," he added.
"Our next steps will be to follow up on these results to better understand the nature of the structures that host the gold and Zeca Souza's relationship to the nearby Caneleira gold deposit, about one kilometre to the southeast."
Among the key highlights was one hole, which intersected 15m at a grade of 5.78 grams per ton (g/t) gold from a depth of 103m, including an intercept of 3m at 28.24 g/t gold from 115m.
Another hole returned 43.50 g/t of the yellow metal over 0.76m, starting from 170.24m depth.
This hole also returned a long intercept of 33m grading 0.53 g/t gold from 88m, and included higher grade intervals, including 5m at 1.04 g/t gold from 108 metres, and 2m at 3.67 g/t gold from 119m.
Lavras noted that gold at Zeca Souza is typically associated with silicified zones with sericite and disseminated sulphides within hydrothermally altered perthitic granite. This type of gold occurrence and association is similar to the company's Butia deposit, it highlighted.
The target remains open to expansion along strike and at depth. Based on the drone magnetic survey, it appears that structures associated with gold mineralization include a confluence of northeast, east-west, and northwest structures, said Lavras.
Follow-up work may include a ground induced polarization (IP) survey to better define the structural setting at Zeca Souza and to highlight any areas of high chargeability and/or zones of high resistivity that could help better vector into areas of high gold mineralization potential.
At the Caneleira gold target, around 1km to the southeast, a 3,000m follow-up drilling program is planned to begin in the fall of 2022, the company added.
Lavras Gold is focused on realizing the potential of the 22,000 hectare LDS in Brazil, which is believed to host an alkaline porphyry gold-copper system. More than 23 gold prospects centered on historic gold workings have been identified.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com