Vancouver-based Marifil Mines (CVE:MFM) says it has found a potential "heap leachable" gold deposit at the zone 34 area on its San Roque property in Argentina.
The zone hosts two sub-parallel gold-bearing structures about 125 metres apart, each more than 200 metres in length - named the west and the east system.
The company said mineralization at both systems is "thoroughly oxidized", to a depth of 30 to 35 metres.
Zone 34, which represents a "sparsely explored" sector of the property, differs from the focus area of past drilling, Marifil said, as it lacks significant base metal and indium mineralization.
The absence of base metals, especially copper, boosts the leachability of precious metals mineralization, the junior explorer noted.
The last episode of drilling on the property ended with diamond drill core hole DDHMSR-0034, which returned 35 metres (oxidized) of 2.27 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 42.6 g/t silver from surface down followed by 37.5 metres (unoxidized) of 1.12 g/t gold and 15.3 g/t silver from 155.5 to 193.0 metres.
These intercepts average less than 0.01% copper, 0.10% lead and 0.15% zinc, Marifil added.
The east system of zone 34 is defined by nine drill holes, including DDHMSR-0034, with an average thickness of 16.8 metres and weighted average grade of 3.18 g/t gold.
The west system, meanwhile, is defined by six holes with an average thickness of 14 metres and a weighted average grade of 1.50 g/t gold.
The company said its geologists are preparing composite samples from drill core for metallurgical testing to find out whether the deposit can be exploited by low-cost heap leach extraction.
If results from lab bottle roll cyanide leach tests are positive, Marifil expects to follow them with column leach tests to further determine "gold leachability characteristics".
Marifil is a Canadian exploration company that focuses on Argentina. Through its joint venture opportunities, it has been able to develop a diverse portfolio of properties, including several with bonanza grade gold, silver, copper and indium values.
The company has a land position of 20 properties, totalling more than 400,000 hectares within nine provinces of Argentina. It recently resumed the operator role at its Las Aguilas property after miner Prophecy Platinum (CVE:NKL) decided not to move forward with their joint venture agreement.
In late November, the company also said the deal to sell 100 per cent of its Toruel copper-silver project in Argentina to Netco Silver was terminated.
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