El Salvador lawmakers overturn mining ban Bukele called absurd
El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban all forms of metals mining in 2017.
Sample results from this summer’s regional exploration program at Troilus Gold’s 1,073-sq.-km namesake property in Quebec suggest a new zone of mineralization – Beyan – eight km to the southwest of the Southwest zone deposit.
Sample highlights from the new area include 9.7 g/t gold and 1.1 g/t silver; 2.81 g/t gold; 2.69 g/t gold; and 2.24 g/t gold.
With 25 rock sample results from Beyan to date returning anomalous gold (over 0.1 g/t), 14 samples collected from outcrops have defined the mineralization over 225 metres of strike. In addition, it appears that certain geological characteristics link Beyan to the main mineralized zones at the Troilus project.
Earlier this month, Troilus also started a 20,000-metre drill program at the property
The new zone appears to lie within a “larger field gold-bearing block” – as some of these blocks are large (at 1 to 2 metres in length), sub-rounded and sub-angular, they may indicate a “possible nearby source northeast of the new discovery.” The blocks were collected over 2.5 km.
“Located just off of the main access road and 8 km from the Southwest zone discovered earlier this year, we believe Beyan could represent a continuation of the Troilus gold system further along trend,” Justin Reid, the company’s CEO, said in a release.
“The Troilus-Frotet property that we acquired earlier this year represents a major blue sky opportunity for the company. No exploration of any significance had been conducted on this property in recent decades and the historical focus has always been base metal.”
Reid added that by applying its geological model for the main orebodies at the site and through deploying modern exploration technology, the pre-producer has been able to identify near-surface gold, as shown through the initial sample results from Beyan.
In a note to investors, mining analyst Jacques Wortman of Laurentian Bank Securities, wrote that although he is “encouraged by the discovery of the new zone and the potential for new discoveries,” he is not making any changes to any of his assumptions or valuation for Troilus. Wortman has a an unchanged ‘Buy’ rating and C$3.80 target price on the stock.
Results for an additional 50 samples are pending, as are results for over 600 channel samples.
This summer, the company also completed a 23,000-line-km airborne survey – its results are expected to help zero-in on priority targets.
Earlier this month, Troilus also started a 20,000-metre drill program at the property.
In July, the company published an updated resource estimate for the project, with 177.3 million indicated tonnes grading 0.75 g/t gold, 0.08% copper and 1.17 g/t silver, as well as 116.7 million inferred tonnes at 0.73 g/t gold, 0.07% copper and 1.04 g/t silver.
The indicated resource contains 5 million gold-equivalent oz. and features a gold-equivalent grade of 0.87 g/t; the inferred portion features 3.2 million gold-equivalent oz., based on a 0.84 g/t gold-equivalent grade.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
