The Escalones property lies within the well-known central Chilean porphyry copper belt that runs north-south through Chile in the central Andes Mountains. It is located approximately 100 km southeast of Santiago and 35 kilometers due east of El Teniente, the world's largest underground copper mine. The project has excellent infrastructure including road access and a gas pipeline that crosses the 70 square kilometer property.
The Escalones project hosts a four-square-kilometer area of hydrothermal alteration with coincident geophysical anomalies that has demonstrated significant grades of copper, gold and silver in replacement-style "skarn” mineralization hosted in limestones and in porphyry related mineralization. Road cuts across surface exposures of this mineralization includes 116 meters of 1.4% copper, 0.57 g/t gold and 21 ppm molybdenum (1.83% copper equivalent1) and drill intersections including 75 to 100 meters wide zones grading over 1% copper.
To date, only limited drill testing has been completed on the property with mineralization open to further expansion laterally and at depth. The extensive scale of the replacement-style mineralization near surface indicates that it may be related to a significant copper porphyry deposit at depth. A single step-out drill hole to test a potential porphyry target under glacial till cover intersected 293 meters of continuous porphyry style mineralization grading 0.36% copper with 0.1 g/t gold (0.42% copper equivalent1) and included an intersection of 91 meters grading 0.5% copper with 0.1 g/t gold.
The first phase of work at Escalones by South American Silver included re-opening access roads and the project camp, relogging and sampling of historic drill holes, re-interpretation of IP (induced polarization) and other geophysics and trench sampling across surface exposures of geophysical anomalies and zones of visible copper mineralization. The verification of previous data and addition of new sampling enables the Company to complete a first independent NI 43-101-qualified resource estimate for the known zones of mineralization by the end of 2011.
Based on this information, South American Silver has now initiated a Phase-II exploration program, which includes a property wide ZTEM deep penetrating, airborne geophysical survey to assist in mapping and targeting of replacement style and porphyry-related mineralization and a substantial drill program designed to extend zones of known mineralization and test additional geologic and geophysical targets. The initial drill program will commence in December with mobilization of the first drill to site with a second to follow in January.
The Escalones deposit was discovered in the late 1990's by members of the current executive team at South American Silver, including Ralph Fitch, Executive Chairman, and Felipe Malbran, Vice President of Exploration, with the first modern surface sampling and drilling. The exposed mineralization at Escalones occurs in limestones and interbedded shales that have been intruded by andesite and dacite porphyry bodies which are key ore hosts at El Teniente. Copper mineralization occurs primarily as chalcopyrite, as well as copper oxides near surface. The hydrothermal alteration exposed at surface includes intense zones of quartz-sericite, potassic, and calc-silicate alteration assemblages.
Read the latest news release on Escalones: South American Silver Reports Surface Sampling and Drill Results from Escalones Copper-Gold-Silver Project and Initiates Phase II Exploration Program.
View surface sampling and drill results highlights.
