Turmalina Metals Corp. (“
Turmalina”, or the
“
Company”; TBX-TSXV, TBXXF-OTCQX, 3RI-FSE) is
pleased to provide an update on ongoing surface work at the
Company’s 403 km2 San Francisco project located in the prolific
mining province of San Juan, Argentina (the
“Project” or
“San Francisco”).
Following the discovery of the high-grade epithermal gold vein
system at Veta Rica (see announcement dated October 10th, 2023;
Figure 1) our exploration team has identified numerous new
mineralized targets in the vicinity of Veta Rica and as far as 12
km north - highlighting the extent and scale of mineralization at
this exciting new epithermal camp. Heavy equipment has now been
mobilized to prepare drilling platforms, access roads and transect
target mineralized structures.
Our teams have identified three new vein systems
in the vicinity of Veta Rica namely: Veta Blanca, Veta 21 and
Mosquete. These are new areas in addition to the Destino and
Machete veins and the Tiki-Tiki Breccia that were discovered after
drilling at the Veta Rica discovery and were described in the news
release of 15 November 2023 (Figure 2). The historic Tocota vein
area has also been mapped and sampled with encouraging results:
Tocota is located 12 km to the north of Veta Rica and represents a
northern extension of mineralized veins and structures in this
mineralized belt.
We are currently advancing seven vein systems
within a recognized epithermal gold belt. The Project area is
situated 70 road kilometers north of Austral Gold's Casposo mine,
the closest similar epithermal gold system to our Veta Rica
discovery. Casposo produced 283,000 oz of gold and 9.6 M oz of
silver with average grades of 4.8 g/t Au and 183 g/t Ag between
2011 and 2015 and another 32,000 oz of gold and 3 M oz of silver
between 2017 and 2019 before the mill was placed back into care and
maintenance (2017-2019 Austral Gold Annual Reports). The historic
epithermal district of Castaño Viejo is also located 20 km to the
south of Veta Rica: Castaño Viejo was operated by the National Lead
Company S.A between 1956 and 1964, with an estimated reserve of
614,000 t @7.4% Pb, 7.5% Zn, 0.15% Cu and 72 g/t Ag (Angeleli 1984;
Figure 1).
The seven vein systems that we are currently
exploring are:
Veta Rica (initial epithermal
discovery)
- Recent mapping has traced the Veta Rica epithermal vein for
over 700 m on surface with surface widths of 1 to 6 m: Surface rock
chip gold assays are typically between 0.9 and 2.7 g/t Au but with
higher grade zones of up to 56.6 g/t Au.
- This mapping has also identified multiple mineralized veins
adjacent to, and parallel with, the Veta Rica vein (Figures 2, 3
& 4) with similar average rock chip grades (typically 0.45 to 4
g/t Au). Detailed sampling is underway to identify potential
high-grade zones in these newly discovered veins.
- Initial drilling in 2023 at Veta Rica returned:
- 4.4 m @ 6.4 g/t Au; SFDH-078 from 36.6 m.
- Including 0.5 m @ 28.6 g/t Au from 36.6
m.
- And 0.45 m @ 14.12 g/t Au from 38.85 m.
- 8.75 m @ 3.5 g/t Au; SFDH-079 from 42 m.
- Including 6.0 m @ 4.6 g/t Au from 42 m.
- Including 1.18 m @ 17.9 g/t Au from 42 m.
Veta Blanca (Figures 5, 6 &
7)
- At Veta Blanca an epithermal vein system has been mapped and
sampled in an area 300 meters wide by 1.2km long. Vein thickness
reach locally up to 3 meters with typical epithermal textures such
as lattice textures and crustiform/colloform banding.
- Limited grab samples to date have a maximum value of 1.48 g/t
Au, with anomalous Pb and Zn – features typical of intermediate
sulphidation epithermal systems.
- An access road is currently being prepared to facilitate
detailed mapping and sampling, which will guide an initial drill
program.
Veta 21 (Figures 8 & 9)
- Additional sampling at the Veta 21 vein, which had returned
initial rock chip samples of up 21.1 g/t Au, has confirmed presence
of high-grade gold, with new rock chip samples returning assays of
up to 5.2, 10.9 and 44.2 g/t Au.
- The Veta 21 quartz-tourmaline vein, and adjacent sericite
alteration, can be traced over a 1.2km strike length, and reaches
up to 3 meters in vein thickness.
- An access road is currently being constructed to provide better
exposures of the vein, with a detailed mapping and sampling program
planned to guide initial drilling.
Mosquete
- Epithermal mineralization at Veta Rica is associated with a
strong halo of elevated lead. Follow up investigation of a 300 by
700m lead soil anomaly at Mosquete has identified multiple
epithermal quartz veins, up to 3 m wide and exposed over a 200m
strike length, that have returned initial rock chip gold values of
up to 5.6 g/t Au.
Destino (Figure 10)
- Four parallel epithermal quartz veins, and two adjacent
breccias, discovered in 2023, are located 3 km northwest of Veta
Rica (Figures 2, 7, 8 & 9).
- Initial rock chip sampling (56 samples) of the veins, each with
over 200 m of strike length, returned similar gold grades to Veta
Rica, with 10 samples over 1 g/t Au, up to a maximum of 6.1 g/t
Au.
Tiki-Tiki Breccia (Figure
11)
- The Tiki-Tiki tourmaline-quartz breccia pipe was discovered in
2023 in the southern portion of the Destino target area. 34 rock
chip samples taken from the 200 by 150 m wide breccia pipe returned
four samples over 1 g/t, up to a maximum of 32.8 g/t Au, 227 g/t Ag
and 0.9% Pb.
Tocota Veins (Figures 12 &
13)
- Tocota is located 12 km north of Veta Rica (Figure 2), with two
east-west trending gold-arsenic vein systems that were mined in the
1940’s.
- The Tocota veins are hosted in the sediments - siltstones and
sandstones of the Carboniferous Agua Negra Formation, which is
intruded by the Tocota Batolith.
- The veins are surrounded by a 2 to 6 meter wide sericite
alteration halo, with abundant quartz veinlets.
- Channel sampling of old mine workings has confirmed strong gold
mineralization, with channel samples of up to 5 to 27 g/t Au.
Mr James Rogers, Chief Executive Officer,
states:
“The continued success of our exploration team
in expanding the mineralized footprint of this newly discovered
epithermal vein camp in San Juan, Argentina is a testament to the
potential of our project. It is in a very accessible area of a
prolifically-mineralized and pro-mining Province of Argentina.”
Figure 1: Regional view to the
east showing the block of properties controlled by Turmalina Metals
with the main targets already drilled and drill targets for next
campaign (red stars).
Current Field Work
Surface works are ongoing with the recent
arrival of a bulldozer to the site to prepare drill pads, access
roads and support exploration with trench works.
Grant of RSUs
The Company announces it has granted 150,000
restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to officers, directors, employees,
and consultants of the Company under the terms of the Company’s
restricted share unit plan (the “RSU Plan”) and which have a
two-year vesting period.
About The San Francisco
Project
The 40,340 ha San Francisco project is located
in the pro-mining province of San Juan, Argentina, a country where
there are currently 12 operating mines, 5 in construction and 20 in
pre-feasibility/feasibility stage. The project benefits from
well-developed infrastructure and is 130 km northeast of the
regional capital San Juan.
The San Francisco Project was assembled around,
and includes, one of the highest-grade tourmaline breccias of the
same name. The land position at San Francisco was expanded in 2022
and now includes multiple mineralized targets including more than
60 breccias, intrusion-related gold and epithermal vein-type
targets.
Initial exploration efforts at San Francisco
were focussed on breccia mineralization. Through the Company’s
extensive exploration work, led by Chico Azevedo, the project has
greatly expanded into highly prospective areas containing a number
of veins, intrusion-related, porphyry and breccia targets.
While the San Francisco breccia pipe remains one
of the highest-grade tourmaline Cu-Au breccia pipes ever discovered
(see select results in Table 1) the Company is most excited about
the exploration potential for high-grade gold-silver and
polymetallic vein types and other mineralization styles. The Veta
Rica discovery exemplifies the style of epithermal mineralization
commonly found in the district.
Turmalina has developed an operational centre in
the village of Villa Nueva, where the local community welcomes new
exploration efforts in the region.
Turmalina has several option agreements to acquire
100% of certain titles of the SFDLA project and a right to explore
and exploit other titles from the government of San Juan.
Table 1: Selected highlight of
previous Company drilling at the San Francisco Breccia Pipe
Hole ID |
Target |
From |
To |
Interval |
Au |
Ag |
Cu |
Pb |
Zn |
AuEq |
CuEq |
|
|
(m) |
(m) |
(m) |
(g/t) |
(g/t) |
(%) |
(%) |
(%) |
g/t |
% |
SFDH-012 |
SF BX |
12 |
121 |
109 |
4.94 |
109 |
1.13 |
0.23 |
0.06 |
8.00 |
5.49 |
SFDH-039 |
SF BX |
397.7 |
470 |
72.3 |
0.71 |
100 |
3.47 |
0.31 |
0.69 |
7.07 |
4.85 |
SFDH-038 |
SF BX |
0 |
81 |
81 |
2.33 |
63.94 |
0.23 |
0.23 |
0.38 |
3.50 |
2.40 |
SFDH-011 |
SF BX |
25 |
108 |
83 |
4.4 |
82 |
0.43 |
0.74 |
0.52 |
6.09 |
4.18 |
SFDH-011 |
SF BX |
27 |
68 |
41 |
7.03 |
91 |
0.51 |
0.23 |
0.02 |
8.96 |
6.14 |
*Intersections are not true widths and
additional drilling and geological modelling of the mineralized
zones in the breccia pipes is required to determine the true widths
of the drill hole intersections. Intersections are selected based
on a 0.5 g/t Au or 0.3% Cu cut-off grade, a minimum downhole length
of 2m and a maximum waste inclusion of 2 consecutive meters.
Equivalent gold (AuEq) and equivalent copper (CuEq) values are
calculated assuming 100% recovery using USD$ 1770 oz Au, $23 oz Ag
and $8300/t Cu (~$3.8/lb). Results from the drilling on this
project can be found in Company News releases with the following
dates: March 23, August 28, October 5 & December 7, 2020 and
January 25, March 30, June 8 & August 30 2021.
On Behalf of the Company,
James Rogers
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Website: turmalinametals.com Address: #1507 - 1030
West Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6E 3V7.
For Investor Relations enquiries, please contact
Highland Contact at +1 833 923 3334 (toll free) or via
info@turmalinametals.com.
Statements
About Turmalina Metals and our
projects: Turmalina Metals is a TSXV-listed exploration
company focused on developing our portfolio of high-grade
gold-copper-silver projects in South America. Our focus is on
tourmaline breccias, a deposit style overlooked by many explorers.
Turmalina Metals is led by a team responsible for multiple
gold-copper-silver discoveries who are highly experienced in this
deposit style. Our projects are characterised by open high-grade
mineralization on established mining licenses that present
compelling drill targets. The principal project held by Turmalina
is the San Francisco project in San Juan, Argentina. For further
information on the San Francisco Project, refer to the technical
report entitled “NI43-101 Technical Report San Francisco Copper
Gold Project, San Juan Province, Argentina” dated November 17, 2019
under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com.
Sampling and Analytic
procedure: Turmalina Metals follows systematic sampling
and analytical protocols which exceed industry standards and are
summarized below.
For the collection of rock chip samples,
geologists choose the best place to collect a sample based on local
geology, point of interest, oxidization on surface, and other
discerning features. With the aid of geological hammer, samples are
broken from the outcrop and cleaned of vegetation and/or organic
material. Sample descriptions are recorded and the UTM coordinate
taken with a hand-held GPS. Samples are placed in a thick plastic
bag and a pre-numbered sample tag placed in the bag. Sample mass is
typically in the range of 3 to 5 kilograms. The outside of the bag
is marked with permanent marker for easy reference. An aluminium
tag with the sample number is placed at the location from where the
sample was collected.
Turmalina Metals independently inserts certified
control standards, coarse field blanks and duplicates into the
sample stream to monitor data quality (‘QA/QC’ samples). These
QA/QC samples are inserted “blindly” to the laboratory in the
sample sequence prior to departure from the Turmalina Metals core
storage facilities. For rock chip samples 4 QA/QC samples are
inserted into each 80-sample dispatch: 1 blank sample, and 3
commercially-prepared standards.
The assay results for the QA/QC samples are
checked and verified by the project geologist and the Qualified
Person. All such QA/QC assay results from sample dispatches
reported in this news release have been found to be within
acceptable industry limits, and the Qualified Person is not aware
of any sampling, recovery or any other factors that could
materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data.
Qualified Person: The
scientific, technical and analytical data contained in this news
release pertaining to the San Francisco project has been reviewed
and approved by Dr. Rohan Wolfe, Technical Advisor, MAIG, who
serves as the Qualified Person (QP) under the definition of
National Instrument 43-101.
Forward Looking Statement: This
news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law.
Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words
such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project",
"intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will",
"potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or
statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur.
These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were
used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained
in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates
of management at the date the statements are made and are subject
to a variety of risks (including those risk factors identified in
the Corporation’s prospectus dated November 21, 2019) and
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. The Corporation is under no obligation,
and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or
revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly
required by applicable law.
Figure 2: San Francisco project
mining rights and the main prospects. Red stars show the targets to
be drilled in the next campaign.
Figure 3: Location of Veta Rica
and other targets discussed in this press release: exploration over
the past 12 months has discovered a large number of epithermal
veins around the initial Veta Rica discovery.
Figure 4: Veta Rica with location
of discovery holes SFDH-078 and 079 and planned follow up drill
holes.
Figure 5: Veta Blanca
intermediate sulphidation epithermal vein, with rock chip assay
results for Pb, and best assay results for Au, Cu, Ag and Zn.
Figure 6: Veta Blanca: a) Three
meter wide quartz-rich vein outcrop which returned a rock chip
assay of 1.48 g/t Au b), c) and d) Examples of colloform and
crustiform banding between dark grey silica and quartz, with
bladed/lattice textures that are indicative of boiling in
near-surface epithermal systems, along with brecciation indicating
multiples pulses of injection.
Figure 7: General view of Veta
Blanca, with roads and recently prepared drill pads. Host rocks are
granodiorites.
Figure 8: The Veta 21
quartz-tourmaline vein system has been traced over a 1.2 Km strike
length, with rock chip gold assays of up to 44.2 g/t Au.
Figure 9: Veta 21 vein a) View
westward, with sub-outcrop of quartz-tourmaline vein, locally to 3
m wide, hosted in granodiorite. Gold mineralization is focused
within iron oxides along the brecciated margins of the vein. b)
Rock chip sample of quartz-iron oxide breccia from vein margin that
returned 5.2 g/t. c) Rock chip sample of brecciated quartz vein
with a jarosite-rich matrix that that returned 21.1 g/t Au.
Figure 10: Map of Destino veins,
with Tiki-Tiki breccia in the south. Veins are up to 3 meters
thick, with rock chip gold assays of up to 6.2 g/t Au.
Figure 11: Tiki-Tiki
Breccia. 200m x 150 m diameter breccia with gold values up to 32.8
g/t
Au.https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f8a33a7-1476-472f-98fb-b4bdf1a63b6a
Figure 12: Tocota veins.
Previous mining targeted two main east-west trending quartz veins,
400 meters long and 30 to 40 meters apart. Gold values are
particularly high when the veins cut north-trending diorite dykes.
The main veins are surrounded by strong sericite alteration
halos.https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/55900399-9b9d-41b3-84b1-155b2f3b4d39
Figure 13: Example of
channel samples taken in old workings at Tacota, with gold assay
values superimposed. The veins are hosted by siltstone and
sandstones of the Agua Negra
formation.https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/19104eec-c5eb-4c50-a0ad-4cff80722c15
Photos accompanying this announcement are available
at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ffb95c63-11cd-4121-9e67-f07f50c541b6https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2a67bb2c-ad8a-4c6a-9ca1-c3fb452b2e0dhttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eb4e04f9-a327-4d98-ad85-83ef0d6fac24https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bb51229b-65df-4e1a-bfd4-f1c46925d1f3https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4d1e341b-55bb-4163-bf24-2d0092df8106https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/91ba9c72-89e9-4575-acd7-7b76abd19ee2https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/39d4d500-235d-415e-86dc-27f386aa7528https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c8bd7cae-2c6c-41dd-a391-3eb889ad0841https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1b7b207f-c84c-4113-8164-d54a435f60bfhttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7cac3f29-bb34-40a7-b88b-159aceb7d73bhttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f8a33a7-1476-472f-98fb-b4bdf1a63b6ahttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/55900399-9b9d-41b3-84b1-155b2f3b4d39https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/19104eec-c5eb-4c50-a0ad-4cff80722c15
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