Southern Silver completes phase 2 drilling at Oro, gets permits for drilling at Dragoon

Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (CVE:SSV) said Thursday it has completed phase II drilling on its Oro project in New Mexico, and received final permits for additional drilling on its Dragoon project in Arizona.
At Oro, about four core holes were drilled on the project totalling 1,697 metres. Southern said three holes tested the system to over 400 metres depth along a strike-length of 3.5 kilometres, and within a five plus square kilometre area of pervasive hydrothermal alteration. The fourth shorter hole targeted the depth projection of a surface-exposed, high-grade mineralized structure.
The Oro project is a contiguous block of Federal, State and private land that totals 17.2 square kilometres within the historic Eureka mining district of southwest New Mexico, U.S.
The company said drilling found thick intervals of pyritic and less abundant base metal sulphides in a number of holes.
Southern Silver president, Lawrence Page, said: "Geologic characteristics of the holes are strongly encouraging and continue to define a strong intrusion related hydrothermal system that is highly prospective for the discovery of gold and copper deposits."
Recent work on the project suggests a high potential to host further gold-silver enriched deposits, and also bulk tonnage gold mineralization, Southern said.
Logging and sampling of the holes continues, while assays are spending. The final targets for future exploration and drilling on the project will be developed upon receipt and compilation of the results, the company added.
Southern has the right to earn a 100 percent stake in the property if it makes payments worth $425,000 to private vendors by December 2012.
Production estimates from small mines and workings inside the Oro district between 1880 and 1961 were 2.9 million pounds of lead, 0.5 million pounds of copper, 450,000 ounces of silver and 5,000 ounces of gold mined from shallow workings, according to the New Mexico Bureau of Mines.
Separately, Southern Silver on Thursday also announced that optionee Freeport McMoran Exploration Corp. has received final drill permits for four extra holes on the Dragoon project, with a fifth hole in the application stage.
The planned holes are northeast-southwest step-outs from two prior drilled holes on the project. The company is slated to begin next phase drilling early next year.
The Dragoon property is a contiguous block of 12.8 square kilometres, consisting of 68 mining claims and four State leases situated in southeast Arizona. The property holds areas of exposed copper molybdenum mineralization.