Mariana Resources hires drilling contractor for Las Calandrias

South American based explorer Mariana Resources (LON:MARL) has signed a drilling contract with Argentine company Eco Minera covering a minimum 10,000 metres at its Las Calandrias gold-silver project in the Santa Cruz province.
The drilling programme is expected to take four months, starting in early September 2010, with an aim to produce a maiden resource estimate at the Calandria Sur target.

The programme will consist of delineation drilling of a breccia-hosted gold-silver resource at Calandria Sur with indicated bulk tonnage potential, priority drilling below and along strike from previous exceptional drill intersections of the gold-silver mineralisation and drilling of the entire 450m-long target trend at Calandria Norte and exploration drilling of the 1.5 km (kilometre) long target trend at El Nido Norte prospect and new targets identified at the El Nido Dome field.

Best drill intersections at Calandria Sur include 68 metres grading 2.4 g/t (grammes per tonne) gold and 24 g/t silver and 106 metres at 1.6 g/t gold and 27 g/t silver. Intersections from the Calandria Sur mineralisation included 4 metres at 76 g/t gold and 70 g/t silver and 4.5 metres at 102 g/t gold and 72 g/t silver.
The company expects to complete the maiden estimate by the end of Q4 2010.

“The signing of the contract signals the next exciting stage of our programme which will fast-track the Calandria Sur bulk tonnage target towards a maiden resource... n  tandem  with  this,  we will carry out further exploration  drilling  at  Calandria  Norte  which  we  believe could become the stand-out discovery  at  Las  Calandrias,  with previous drill intersections of bonanza-grade  vein-breccia-hosted  gold/silver  mineralisation. Additionally, intensive exploration of the El Nido Dome field is well underway and we expect to generate additional drill targets which could further expand the project's economic potential,” said managing Director of Mariana Resources John Sutcliffe.

The first of two SANDVIK DE710 diamond drill rigs will be mobilised onsite at the end of August 2010 with a second drill rig to follow at the end of September 2010.

Mariana is currently conducting exploration of the Las Calandrias rhyolite dome field, which includes ground magnetics, lag/trench sampling and 2D/3D IP surveying. In addition to that, the company has commenced the preliminary metallurgical testwork for the Calandria Sur target has commenced.

Back in June, the company raised £6.75 million through a placing for the fast-track exploration drilling at Las Calandrias.