Alturas drills 48.5 meters of 2.24% zinc and 0.13% copper at Huajoto, Central Peru
Wed Aug 20, 9:31 AM
TSXV: ALT
BVL: ALT
TORONTO, Aug. 20 /CNW/ - Alturas Minerals Corp. ("Alturas") (TSX-V: ALT.V) is pleased to announce that it has intersected wide intervals of strong polymetallic mineralization in the first diamond drill hole of the 3,000 meter drilling program currently in progress at the Huajoto project in central Peru. Drill hole JOT-08-01 intersected an upper section of 48.5 meters assaying 2.24% zinc and 0.13% copper from 11.5 to 60.0 meters and a lower section of 17.0 meters assaying 3.26% zinc and 0.18% copper from 101.0 to 118.0 meters. Within these two sections, higher grade intervals of 5.80 meters assaying 3.48% zinc and 0.18% copper, and 4.40 meters assaying 7.28% zinc and 0.37% copper, were encountered. The entire 106.5 meter thick polymetallic mineralized package intersected between 11.5 and 118.0 meters averaged 1.64% zinc and 0.09% copper.
Drill hole JOT-08-01 was designed to test the down dip extensions of strong surface mineralization in trenches previously reported from the Caty-Pablo prospect (see press release dated June 4, 2008). The hole was drilled to a depth of 355.6 meters at an inclination of -55 degrees towards an azimuth of 225 degrees beneath the mineralized trenches.
Miguel Cardozo, President of Alturas commented, "This first drill hole has confirmed the strong mineral potential of our Huajoto property. We interpret these reported upper and lower mineralized zones as shallow dipping "mantos" of disseminated polymetallic mineralization that replace banded tuffs and the intervals reported approximate their true widths. Interestingly, the material between the mantos is significantly mineralized and, together with the mantos, defines a 106.5 meter thick target package of disseminated mineralization that we intend to follow up and expand with future drilling."
The accompanying table highlights key results from drill hole JOT-08-01:
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From To Length Zn Cu Au REO
Drill hole (m) (m) (m) (%) (%) (g/t) (%)
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JOT-08-01 0.00 11.50 11.50 0.08 0.01 0.01 0.26
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11.50 60.00 48.50 2.24 0.13 0.07 0.40
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including 48.20 54.00 5.80 3.48 0.18 0.09 0.45
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60.00 101.00 41.00 0.26 0.01 0.04 0.17
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101.00 118.00 17.00 3.26 0.18 0.07 0.27
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including 113.60 118.00 4.40 7.28 0.37 0.15 0.25
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299.00 300.50 1.50 8.56 0.28 0.10 pending
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REO = Rare Earth Oxides expressed as a total oxide percentage
The 3,700 hectare Huajoto project is located in the historic mining district of Huancavelica in Central Peru. Huajoto is a zoned polymetallic system 5.0 kilometers by 7.0 kilometers in size, with strong gold-silver anomalies associated with a high sulfidation epithermal core (La Virgen target) passing outwards into zones of strong zinc, copper and rare earth surface geochemical anomalism (Caty-Pablo target). In terms of scale, geology and mineralization characteristics, the Huajoto district possesses strong analogies with the giant polymetallic districts of central Peru such as Cerro de Pasco and Colquijirca-Marcapunta-San Gregorio, and also the San Cristobal district in south-western Bolivia.
Part of the Huajoto properties were previously explored by Teck Cominco Peru S.A., (Teck Cominco Peru), a subsidiary of Teck Cominco Limited in 1999-2001. The Huajoto properties are subject to Option agreements with Teck Cominco Peru and Compania Agregados Calcareos S.A. (COMACSA), a Peruvian industrial minerals company. See Alturas press release dated September 18, 2007 for details of the tenure and terms of the Option agreements.
For maps and an extended summary of exploration results, refer to the Company's website http://www.alturasminerals.com/map-room.html
About Alturas's QA/QC Procedures.
Strict sample integrity is maintained throughout the geochemical sampling program. The bagged samples are transported by Alturas staff to the city of Huancayo in central Peru where they are shipped directly to Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) in Lima. At the ALS's Lima facility, all samples are dried then crushed to 70% -10 mesh ((less than)2mm) size; then riffle split to obtain an approximately 250 gram subsample. The subsample is further crushed to 85% -200 mesh ((less than)75 microns) to obtain a 100 gram split ready for analysis. All samples are routinely assayed for gold by conventional fire-assay methods at ALS Lima facility, and for 35 additional elements (including silver, copper, lead, zinc) using aqua regia acid digestion followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy ("ICP-AES") analysis. Samples reporting (greater than)1% zinc are routinely assayed using a 4 acid decomposition/volumetric technique and analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Rare Earth Elements assays are conducted in the Canadian facilities of ALS and form part of a 38 element suite analyzed using the Lithium Metaborate Fusion decomposition technique followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy ("ICP-MS") analysis. Abundances are expressed as a total Rare Earth Element Oxide figure (REO%), which is the sum of all 15 recalculated rare earth element oxide percentages.
Alturas follows a rigorous QC/QA program, including routine insertion of standards and blanks as well as assay of duplicate samples at other independent laboratories. Certified standards, of known gold grade are inserted "blind" every 20th sample as an independent check on assay accuracy.
About Alturas Minerals Corp.
Alturas is a Canadian corporation, listed at the Toronto Stock Exchange Ventures (TSXV) and the Bolsa de Valores de Lima (BVL), and is the parent of Alturas Minerals S.A. ("Alturas Peru"). Alturas Peru has been actively exploring various mineral projects in Peru since January 2004. The principal assets of Alturas are four mineral exploration projects located in southern and central Peru, being the Huilacollo Gold Project, the Banos del Indio Gold Project, the Utupara Copper-Gold Project and the Huajoto Zinc-Gold-Rare Earths Project. In addition, Alturas Peru has interests in eight other exploration projects in Peru. Alturas' exploration strategy is focused on the discovery of large epithermal gold mineralized deposits and copper-gold porphyry/skarn deposits. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.alturasminerals.com
Qualified Person
As required by the National Instrument 43-101, Alturas's designated Qualified Person for the supervision of exploration of the projects is Dr. Paul Pearson, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Vice President-Exploration of Alturas, who has verified the technical information reported in this News Release.
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Cautionary Language and Forward Looking Statements
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This press release may contain "forward-looking statements", which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Investors are cautioned that such statements are not guarantees of future performance and results. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure documents filed from time to time with the Canadian and Peruvian securities authorities
ContactsMiguel Cardozo
President & Chief Executive Officer
Alturas Minerals Corp.
Suite 820
330 Bay Street
Toronto
Ontario
M5H 2S8
Phone: (416) 366-5555 (Toronto)
+51-1-475-1700 (Peru)
Email: mcardozo@alturasminerals.com
