LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - SolGold updated the market on exploration activities at its wholly-owned Chical Project in northern Ecuador, held by its subsidiary Carnegie Ridge Resources, on Wednesday, reporting that a follow-up of anomalous stream sediment geochemistry had identified a 5.8 square kilometre area of mineralised epithermal gold and porphyry style mineralisation comprising three prospect areas - the Pascal, La Esperanza and Espinoza prospects.
The London-listed firm said the Chical Project was held under the 100%-owned Chical 1, 2 and 5 tenements.

It said mineralisation was associated with an "extensive" contact zone between intrusive granodiorite and gabbro with volcano-sedimentary units.

Gold mineralisation consisted of epithermal stockwork quartz veining with an abundance of 10 to 15 veins per metre, the board said, which was "significantly" more intense than that required for a significant mineral system associated with strong chlorite-sericite-epidote hydrothermal alteration.

Rock chip sampling of mineralised quartz veins and stockworks at Pascal and Espinoza prospects over a two kilometre length returned significant gold values, including R01003083 at 45.5 grams per tonne, R01003217 at 7.05 grams per tonne, R01003148 at 3.27 grams per tonne, and R01003134 at 2.57 grams per tonne.

Rock chip samples of sulphide veinlets associated with potassic alteration, and alteration style diagnostic of a significant porphyry system, from the La Esperanza prospect returned high copper and molybdenum values over an area 2.5 kilometres long and up to one kilometre wide, SolGold said.

Those included R01003071 at 1.04% copper, 0.42 grams per tonne of gold and 886 parts per million molybdenum; R01003095 at 0.94% copper, 0.18 grams per tonne of gold and 5.84 parts per million molybdenum; and R01003156 at 0.9% copper, 0.44 grams per tonne of gold and 348 parts per million molybdenum.

"The large areas of geochemical anomalism, the widespread extent of the altered and mineralised outcrops and the mineralisation style comprising multi directional veining accompanied by molybdenum are strong indicators of a large copper rich porphyry system at La Esperanza," said SolGold exploration and country manager Jason Ward.

"Peripheral high-grade gold rich epithermal veins have also been identified at Pascal and Espinoza.

"The high-grade gold vein occurrences also indicate potential for early high-grade gold resources beside the porphyries."

Ward said the proximity of Chical to Cascabel was geologically and logistically encouraging, adding that it "vindicated" the company's opinion that it had discovered a new copper porphyry province.

"The generative foundations laid in 2014 are certainly paying off."

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