Soma Gold to diamond drill El Limon mine, Colombia
Soma Gold Corp. [TSXV: SOMA; OTC: SMAGF; WKN: A2P4DU] is mobilizing diamond drill rigs to its El Limon mine in Zaragoza, Antioquia, Colombia. A review of historical data from the mine and diamond drilling has revealed the presence of high-grade gold intercepts in the hangingwall and footwall of the mine. The 2024 drill program will focus on determining if the vein extends between these drill intercepts.
Key historical drill results: SDH-01-2017: 1.0 metre at 3.4 g/t gold, including 0.15 metre at 22.9 g/t gold. LDDH-21-004: 1.0 metre at 30.2 g/t gold, including 0.6 metre at 50.4 g/t gold. LDDH-21-004: 1.0 metre at 6.9 g/t gold, including 0.3 metre at 23.0 g/t gold.
The El Limon mine is located on the western side of the Otu fault and is underlain by an extensive domain of high-grade metamorphic gneiss. The gold-bearing quartz veins at the mine are formed as laminated fault-fill veins within a brittle-ductile shear zone, which is interpreted as a higher-order structure related to the Otu fault. The fault zone strikes north-south and dips moderately to steeply to the west. The fault and associated quartz veins form a series of en echelon segments that step consistently to the left along strike, an orientation pattern observed in other quartz vein systems along the Otu fault.
To the south of the El Limon mine, along the same fault zone, are a series of historical informal mines, including the Diamantina mine, which has identified a north-south-striking quartz vein similar to those found at the El Limon mine.
Soma Gold’s vice-president of exploration, Chris Buchanan, stated: “El Limon is a well-known historical mine in Colombia. Our exploration team is excited to have identified the potential for parallel veins near the current underground workings.”
The 2024 drilling program will begin with infill drilling downdip of drill hole SHD-17-01. The deeper intercept of 23 grams per tonne gold in LDDH-21-004 is interpreted to be the downdip extension of the El Limon vein. A deeper drill hole is planned to test this hypothesis later in 2024. No significant gold assays were intercepted in LDDH-21-008. However, the presence of barren quartz veins in the drill hole indicates the structure continues at depth.
Soma is preparing to dewater the deeper levels of the El Limon mine, which will enable detailed geological mapping, systematic sampling and accurate surveys of the mine’s workings. The exploration team will assess whether ore remains in the historical pillars.
Beyond El Limon, Soma continues exploration at the La Aurora and Cordero mines, where surface drilling and underground drilling are continuing. The exploration team is also evaluating several small-scale mines in the Machuca area and is completing property-wide soil grids in these target areas. As part of its ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives, Soma continues to engage with local communities around the Machuca property.
The Otu fault system spans over 100 km from Segovia-Remedios in the south to Nechi in the north. Soma holds over 56 km of this fault length, which is known for hosting high-grade gold mineralization. Gold occurs in brittle-ductile to brittle quartz veins formed during late-stage deformation along the Otu fault.
Notable mines along the Otu trend include Segovia-Remedios, La Aurora, El Limon, Le Ye, Los Mangos and Cordero. The Machuca property is located along a critical segment of this regional fault structure and contains numerous indications of high-grade gold mineralization.
Soma Gold owns two adjacent mining properties in Antioquia, Colombia, with a combined milling capacity of 675 tonnes/day (permitted for 1,400 tonnes/day). The El Bagre mill is currently operating and producing. Internally generated funds are being used to finance a regional exploration program.
The company also owns an exploration property near Tucuma, Para State, Brazil currently under option to Ero Copper Corp. [TSX, NYSE: ERO].