Weststar retains services to start phased exploration program at La Paloma

Weststar Resources Corp. (CVE:WER) said Wednesday that it has retained geological consulting services to help it execute an exploration program at its recently optioned La Paloma property, located in the State of Jalisco, Mexico.
Alberta-based APEX Geoscience will be on site to implement a phase one exploration program at the property, which covers 160 hectares. APEX will be following the recommendations of Snowden Industry Mining Consultants, who was hired to provide an NI 43-101 compliant mineral report for La Paloma, Weststar said.
The recommendation was for Weststar to undertake a $1.4 million phased exploration program of mapping, geophysics and drilling, with the phase one scope of work estimated to cost around $0.5 million.
The phase one program will consist of geologic mapping, ground geophysical surveys (magnetic and induced-polarization), as well as rock and soil/stream geochemical sampling. A preliminary engineering assessment of underground tunnel stability will also be completed at the same time as surface exploration, Weststar said.
The idea will be to create a three-dimensional and digital elevation model of the historic underground workings, while surface investigations will focus on the development of a detailed geologic data-set for the property, including surface mineralization exposures. Surveys, once completed, will be combined with the data to identify targets for phase two diamond drilling, expected to total roughly 3,000 metres based on the results of the phase one program.
Historic government data reported a "potential reserve" of 750,000 tonnes at the site, grading 4.19 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold and 123 g/t silver.
During Snowden's work, the company collected ten samples from outcrops and structures, with assays returning gold values of up to 49.2 g/t and silver values as high as 385 g/t.
Weststar said that eight of the ten samples returned "very good" to "excellent" grades, with the eight taken from inside the old mine workings. Snowden confirmed the presence of both gold and silver mineralization in its report, concluding that La Paloma hosts epithermal-style mineralization and is a property "of merit".