Soltera’s structural survey results from El Torno

Soltera Mining Corp. announces the results of geochemical and structural surveys on the El Torno gold property in Argentina. The property, consisting of mining rights covering 7,863 hectares, contains a 14 km long north-south quartz vein system that cuts metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. A central part of the vein shows old workings, and drilling by Puma Minerals and Penoles in the late 1990s over about 1 km discovered a gold rich zone on the western side of the vein carrying up to 37 gpt (grams per ton) gold and identified stockwork systems in the country rock with up to 112 gpt gold.

Soltera undertook stream sediment sampling throughout the whole property as a first check to establish whether only the central part of the vein system was gold-rich. The country is rolling highland dissected by streams, so is well suited for this type of survey. A total of 596 samples were collected at selected locations on stream courses and the -80 mesh fractions analysed in Canada.

The results show a series of distinct, very strong anomalies extending the full 14 km length of the vein system, and also up to 2 km away where they appear to be centred over large areas of vein suites and stockworks in the country rocks. One of these anomalies alone is 2 km long by 1.5 km wide. This indicates that the gold mineralization is far more extensive than previously thought and offers the distinct possibility of wide mineralised areas of country rock that could form previously unrecognised large-scale open-pit targets.

The structural study concentrated on parts of the main vein system exposed at surface and in the old mine workings. The results suggest that the structure is broader and more complex than the simple vertical vein interpreted by previous workers. In fact, the re-interpretation suggests that the gold-bearing quartz could be concentrated in anticlinal structures, rather similar in character to those of the Bendigo and Ballarat gold fields in Australia. This opens up the possibility that the mineralised system could be much more extensive than previously thought and that there may be repetitions of the vein at depth. If this proves correct, the earlier non NI-43-101 compliant Penoles Minerals estimate of more than 500,000 ounces of gold to 100 metres depth could be increased very substantially.