Lucky Minerals rallies on Ecuador gold sampling news
Lucky Minerals Inc. [LKY-TSXV, LKMNF-PINK, LKY-FSE] shares rallied Friday after the company released early-stage exploration results from ongoing work at the Wayka epithermal gold discovery at its 100%-owned Fortuna property in southern Ecuador.
The company said systematic sampling has returned an average of 17.63 g/t gold over 3.0 metres with one sample returning 26.50 g/t gold.
The shares advanced on the news, rising 13.6% or $0.015 to 12.5 cents on volume of 646,590. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 22 cents and $0.06.
The 100%-owed Fortuna property covers 550 square kilometres or approximately 55,000 hectares in a highly prospective, yet underexplored, gold belt in southern Ecuador. Systematic sampling recently returned up to 5.87 grams per tonne gold, with an average grade of 3.06 g/t gold over 4.0 metres from ongoing work at the Wayka epithermal gold discovery.
Wayka lies along an elevated ridge that trends northeast with elevations ranging from approximately 3,600 metres to 3,700 metres above sea level. It is bound to the east by the El Buitre Porphyry and the west by the Emma Porphyry.
Recent mapping and sampling of two separate rhyolite altered outcrops has encountered continuous gold values, the company said.
At the southern part of the advanced argillic zone, the company recently reported a panel sample that returned 4.15 g/t gold. This sample was identified to be part of a breccia structure.
The company has also said systematic sampling across 7.0 metres has identified another potential feeder with 3.0 metres averaging 17.63 g/t gold.
A rhyolite outcrop [trench t-6] 700 metres north of the previously announced 4.0 metre trend [Trench t-1] which averaged 3.03 g/t gold was sampled across 7.0 metres and returned an average of 8.08 g/t gold
“Our understanding of the mineralization is still in the early stages and will continue to improve over the coming weeks as more work is completed from surface which will be followed by drilling in the coming weeks,” said Francois Perron, President and CEO of Lucky Minerals.
The Wayka target is a tabular feature. “So, we can expose a lot of this structure with relatively little effort,” Perron said. “We hope to demonstrate that we have one of these low grade, bulk tonnage, systems,” he said during a recent interview.
“It could be economic for an open pit if I get sufficient tonnage,” he said. “We will know what the grade is fairly soon.”
Meanwhile, exploration crews are focused on geological mapping and the gathering of rock samples from outcrop to increase their understanding of the current zones and expand the known footprint of the mineralized system.
This work will be followed by a detailed mag survey and compilation of all geological data, which will subsequently lead to scout drilling.