Atico Mining Corporation ("Atico" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:ATY) is pleased
to announce assay results for the first 4 underground drill holes from its
optioned El Roble project in Colombia, located 4 hours by paved highway
southwest of the city of Medellin. Drilling is currently being conducted from
the 2000m level to find additional massive sulfide bodies at depth. 


Mr. Fernando E. Ganoza, CEO of Atico Mining Corporation, commented, "We are
extremely pleased with the results of the first underground drill holes at El
Roble project. We are not only finding additional lenses of high-grade
mineralization at depth and the potential for significant additional resources
at the El Roble mine, but these intercepts also enhance our understanding of the
geological model that will be paramount for our goal of finding additional VMS
orebodies over the 10 kilometer prospective trend on the property." 


Highlights



--  ATDHR-04 41 meters of 6.49% Cu, 17.57 g/t Au and 13.26 g/t Ag 
--  ATDHR-01 41 meters of 6.54% Cu, 1.82 g/t Au and 8.22 g/t Ag



Underground Drilling program 

The current underground drilling program consists of 16 diamond drill holes
totaling over 2,000 meters which are part of the "nearfield" mine-vicinity
program to explore for additional high grade massive sulfide bodies lateral to
and below the existing mine workings. Atico's first four drill holes of this
program proved the existence of mineralization below the 2,000m level, the
lowest production level at El Roble mine. 


Crone Geophysics and Exploration Ltd. have been contracted to conduct down-hole
pulse EM surveys on underground holes to identify conductive targets that could
indicate additional massive sulfide bodies below 2000 m and lateral to and below
lowest intercepts to date, as mineralization is still open at depth. 


Textures found in holes ATDHR-01 and ATDHR-04 - vein stockworks veinlets and
multiple phases of breccias - indicate that the 2000m level is close to the
interface between "mound" massive sulfide mineralization and the "stockwork"
feeder zone. The geometry and zoning of the existing mineralization coupled with
the new intercepts implies that only half of the massive sulfide mineralization,
some 1.5Mt has been mined to date and that the potential for significant
additional tonnage exists below the current mine workings (referenced in El
Roble Technical Report).


Drill hole ATDHR-01 intercepted mineralization 108 meters below the 2000m level,
giving over 325 meters of known vertical extent to date (see figure 2) and the
mineralization remains open at depth. Distance along strike between farthest
intercepts, ATDHR-01 and MEI-190 is approximately 200 meters, suggesting the
strike extent of the massive sulfide bodies below the 2000m level to be similar
to known mineralization which has strike length of over 300 meters above the
2000m level (see figure 1).


To view Figures 1 and 2, visit the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ATYfigures1and2.pdf.


Drill holes ATDHR-01 and ATDHR-02 were drilled from the same platform. ATDHR-02
intercepted possibly the edge of the massive sulfide body intercepted by drill
hole ATDHR-01.


Drill Holes ATDHR-03 and ATDHR-04 were drilled from the same platform, on a
section 70 meters along strike to the south from drill holes ATDHR-01 and
ATDHR-02.


MEI-190 is a short hole drilled by MINER, current operator of El Roble mine,
from the 2000m level near the southern part of known mineralization.




Table 1: Drilling Assay Results                                             
                                                                            
                                   --------------                           
                                      Intercept                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Total                                         
           Azimuth      Dip   Depth   From     To Interval    Cu    Au    Ag
Hole ID  (Degrees) (Degrees)    (m)    (m)    (m)      (m)     % (g/t) (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATDHR-01        45       -60 197.80  109.2  151.0     41.7  6.54  1.82  7.43
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Including                            109.2  111.0      1.7  9.00  4.81  22.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     115.0  121.0      6.0 11.84  2.43  6.96
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     121.0  123.0      2.0  6.87 10.27  11.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     125.0  141.0     16.0  7.13  1.00  3.87
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     143.0  145.0      2.0 14.85  0.91 15.15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATDHR-02        45       -70 207.55  165.5  170.8      5.3  1.71  1.76  2.10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATDHR-03        45       -62 123.20          No significant values          
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATDHR-04        45       -75 150.75   61.0  102.0     41.0  6.49 17.57 13.26
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Including                             75.0   85.0     10.0  3.00  3.59 12.77
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      85.0   95.0     10.0 18.40  8.63 19.29
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      95.0   97.0      2.0  3.92 250.0  21.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      97.0  102.0      5.0  6.05  7.21 13.20
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEI-190         45       -60 101.20   25.0   36.0     11.0  1.27  4.41 13.56
----------------------------------------------------------------------------



All widths represent down-hole core lengths and the true widths are unknown at
this stage. The average weighted length of each individual intercept calculates
average grades over the entire length of the intercept. 


District Scale Exploration 

The district-scale exploration program at El Roble Project has enhanced the
potential for making additional VMS discoveries both adjacent to current mining
operations and within the 10 kilometer prospective trend on the property.


As part of the exploration program to identify additional VMS ore bodies Geotech
Ltd., a Canadian company which provides full service contract airborne
geophysical surveys, has completed a 500-line kilometer helicopter-borne
Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) survey over the ten kilometers of
favorable contact. The Company is expecting the final report from Geotech in the
coming weeks.


It is anticipated that the VTEM will help define drill targets as Time domain EM
has been shown to be effective in detecting massive sulphide mineralization at
depths up to 200m under optimum conditions. The Company expects to begin a
surface drilling program of over 7,500 meters to test for EM anomalies in the
third quarter.


El Roble Property

El Roble property hosts an operating underground copper and gold mine with
nominal capacity of 360 tonnes per day which, over the past twenty-two years,
has processed 1,468,871 tonnes of mineralized material at an average grade of
2.5% copper and estimated gold grade of 2.5 g/t. Copper and gold mineralization
at the El Roble Property occurs as volcanogenic massive sulfide ("VMS") lenses.
Exploration over the past two years has defined a productive contact and an
enclosing package of host rocks extending for a distance of 10 km across the El
Roble Property. This entire strike length is marked by VMS mineralization
occurrence indicators.


The Company has an Option Agreement to acquire 90% of the company that controls
El Roble property (MINER) for staged payments of US$2.25 million over two years
(of which US$1,200,000 has been paid) and a lump-sum payment of US$14 million
upon exercise of the El Roble Option. The El Roble Option can be exercised at
any time during the two-year option period, upon payment in full of the
aggregate option price that remains outstanding at the time the option is
exercised. The option period can be extended for an additional year at the
option of Atico upon notice by Atico to MINER 60 days in advance of the
expiration of the initial option term (January 2013) and payment of an
additional US$1.2 million.


Quality Assurance & Quality Control

Following detailed geological and geotechnical logging, drill core samples are
split on-site with a diamond saw by Atico personnel. The seven to ten kilograms
per meter of sample are submitted to the ALS Chemex Laboratory in Medellin where
they are dried, crushed and pulverized. After preparation the samples are sent
to ALS Chemex in Lima and assayed. The remaining half core is retained on-site
for verification and reference purposes. All gold assays were obtained by
standard 50g fire assay with AA finish. All copper and silver assays reported
were obtained by Aqua-Regia dissolution followed by ICP analysis. The QA-QC
program includes the blind insertion of certified reference standards as well as
assay blanks and duplicates at a frequency of approximately 1 per 15 samples.


Qualified Person

Dr. Demetrius Pohl, Ph.D., AIPG Certified Geologist, a qualified person under NI
43-101 standards, and independent of the Company is responsible for ensuring
that the information contained in this news release is an accurate summary of
the original reports and data provided to or developed by Atico Mining
Corporation.


Atico Mining Corporation

Atico is a growth oriented, copper and gold exploration and development company
focused on mining opportunities in Latin America. The Company's primary property
is the El Roble Project. The Company is selectively pursuing additional
acquisition opportunities. For more information, please visit our website at
www.aticomining.com.


ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Fernando E. Ganoza, CEO

Atico Mining Corporation

Symbol: TSX VENTURE:ATY

The securities being offered have not been, and will not be, registered under
the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities
Act"), or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the
United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, a "U.S. person" (as
defined in Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act) unless pursuant to an
exemption therefrom. This press release is for information purposes only and
does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any
securities of the Company in any jurisdiction.


Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than
statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation the use of
net proceeds, are forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements
involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain factors and
assumptions. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from
those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include
uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology,
continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital
and operating costs; the need to obtain additional financing to maintain its
interest in and/or explore and develop the Company's mineral projects;
uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones for the Company's mineral
projects; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk
Factors" in the prospectus of the Company dated March 2, 2012 filed with the
Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR website at
www.sedar.com.


Vortex Metals (TSXV:VMS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024 Click Here for more Vortex Metals Charts.
Vortex Metals (TSXV:VMS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024 Click Here for more Vortex Metals Charts.