Turmalina encouraged by Argentina results, shares up
Turmalina Metals Corp. [TBX-TSXV] said Monday it is encouraged by Phase 3 deep drilling results from its San Francisco project in Argentina.
The company said it is pleased to see that drilling on the San Francisco de Los Andes (SFdLA) breccia pipe has continued to extend copper-gold-silver mineralization below previous drilling. It also said initial exploration on newly acquired ground near the project has returned “highly encouraging results.”
Turmalina shares advanced on the news, rising 1.4% or $0.01 to 74 cents in light trading. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $1.51 and 68 cents.
Turmalina is focused on developing a portfolio of high-grade gold-copper-silver-molybdenum projects in South America. The company is targeting tourmaline breccias, a deposit-style characterized by high metal grades within breccia pipes than can exceed 1.0 kilometre in vertical extent.
These breccia pipes for in clusters, providing considerable potential for resource growth
The company’s flagship San Francisco project is located in San Juan, Argentina. It was known to host 69 tourmaline breccias, several of which have supported small scale mining. However, the company recently expanded its land holdings in the area to 34,651 hectares. In a press release on July 7, 2021, the company said the new holdings cover numerous prospects, mineralised breccia clusters and former small-scale mines.
At the time, the company said it planned to commence field work within the newly acquired ground in the coming months, with mapping, soil sampling and rock chip sampling to determine high priority targets for detailed review and drill testing.
On Monday, the company said drill holes SFDH-048, SFDH-049, SFDH-0-50, and SFDH-051 tested the width and structure of the SFdLA breccia pipe at 350 to 450 metres depth, approximately 100 to 200 metres below Phase 2 drilling.
The four holes intersected the centre of the breccia pipe between the high-grade lobes located on the eastern and western ends of the pipe. In tourmaline breccias, this central area is typically characterised by mineralisation focused along the margins of the breccia.
Drilling highlights include 12.3 metres of 0.93% copper, 0.05 g/yt gold and 41 g/t silver in drill hole SFDH0048 from 546 metres.
These holes extend mineralisation in the centre of the breccia pipe to nearly twice the depth of Phase 2 drilling and will allow detailed 3D models of the breccia and contained resources to be developed.
Meanwhile, the company said initial exploration in the newly acquired areas has started to return high encouraging results, with multiple breccia and vein prospects returning assays of over 1.0-2.0 g/t gold from initial rock chip samples.
Turmalina is also focused on mapping and sampling a large number of outcropping tourmaline breccias at its Chanape copper-gold project in Peru. The company said it is working to finalise permits for drilling.