Westridge Resources extends high grade El Padre vein to 150 metres down dip

Westridge Resources (CVE:WST) said Wednesday that drilling at its Charay project in Mexico extended high grades in the El Padre Vein to depths of around 150 metres down dip.

The junior miner said drilling has also intersected high grade veins not previously known, with drill hole 12-28. This hole intersected the El Padre vein and three hanging wall veins, the highest of which returned 1.0 metres at 20.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, followed by a second vein of 1.2 metres at 9.56 g/t gold and greater than 100 g/t silver.

"These veins were not known prior to this round of drilling and clearly indicate high grade potential in numerous veins sub parallel to the El Padre Vein," said chief geologist, Dr. John Dreier.

The extension of high grades to depths of around 150 metres down dip within the El Padre Vein was seen in hole 12-31, which returned an assay of 2.4 metres at 10.15 g/t gold. This included 1.4 metres at 15.25 g/t gold and 127 g/t silver, showing high grades intersected well below previous shallower drilling, the company said.

"These grade intervals all represent grade-thickness, values well above cutoff grades in many Mexican underground gold-silver mines. Our drilling has shown high grades in the El Padre Vein to approximately 150 meters down dip, three times the depth previously known," continued Dreier.

The company's surface sampling has indicated a cumulative strike length of mineralized veins to about 3,000 metres, more than ten times the strike length known when Westridge began exploring the property.

"With each step of our exploration, this district simply continues to get larger and respond with high grade results," said board member Robert Barker.

"We continue to intersect high grades in newly discovered veins. Our surface sampling has identified values in veins of up to 12.5 gpt Au, including 8.3 gpt Au in a vein approximately 600 meters along strike and northeast of the Tiro Barraza shaft.

"We are particularly pleased with the widths of some of the vein structures, namely the 3.25m intersection of the El Padre Vein in drill hole 12-32, including 1.0m at 7.68 gpt Au.

"This is very encouraging, particularly when coupled with a previously reported intersection in our due diligence drilling of 9.8m at 18.78 gpt Au."

Barker further said the company is eager to initiate a large, more aggressive drill program to properly test the large number of targets in the growing gold system. So far, Westridge has explored far less than one percent of the 105 square kilometre property package, it said.

Indeed, the company said that aside from surface samples northeast of Tiro Barraza, anomalous gold values were also seen in a vein structure roughly 400 metres southeast of the main El Padre vein, but due to poor outcrop and exposure, the true width represented by these samples was not well understood.

Subject to a financing, the company's upcoming drill program will include, mapping and trenching to continue to define the veins on the surface, and geochemical sampling to prioritize the potential drill targets and to identify additional mineralized structures on the property.

The company said in a statement that management believes there is "excellent potential" for the discovery of new epithermal gold-silver veins elsewhere on the property, as proven by the finding of additional quartz veins that have not yet been mapped or sampled.

Westridge has an option to acquire up to a 100 percent interest in the Charay gold-silver project, located in Sinaloa State, Mexico. The relatively new company has maintained investor support since it emerged in 2010, largely due to the management and the successes at its flagship project.

President and CEO Peter Schulhof has over 10 years in small cap junior mining companies, coupled with over 30 years of experience in the start up, management and financing of public and private companies.

The company says that significant cost advantages are associated with the Charay project due to mineralization at surface, ease of access and "excellent infrastructure" that currently exists on or very nearby the property.

The property is comprised of five concessions totaling 11,000 hectares close to railroads, trans-continental power lines and large water sources. It is just 15 minutes away from two major four-lane highways, and power and water are already on site and it is easily accessible by road.

With only 15 million shares outstanding, Westridge has a market capitalization of C$9 million - leaving oodles of upside potential in the share price if the company continues to hit mineralization.