Coro drills 36 m of 0.32% CuT at El Desesperado

Feb 27, 2014

CORO ANNOUNCES DRILLING RESULTS FROM ITS EL DESESPERADO PROJECT, CHILE

Coro Mining Corp. recently completed a five-hole, 1,191-metre diamond drilling program (EDH-01 to 05) and a seven-hole, 950-metre reverse-circulation drilling program (CED-R-9 to 15) at its El Desesperado copper project, located seven kilometres northwest of the city of Calama in the II region of Chile and immediately west of Codelco’s Toki Cluster of copper deposits.

The objective of this drilling program was to confirm the presence of significant near-surface leachable copper mineralization contained within a partially oxidized chalcocite blanket, similar to that intersected in the company’s 2012 drilling. Assay results and drill description for the program are summarized.

                      DRILL INTERSECTIONS                                

Hole            From        To    Length       CuT       CuS
                  (m)       (m)       (m)        %         %

EDH-01          12.8        28      15.2      0.26      0.19
EDH-03            16        40        24      0.26      0.25
                  46        52         6      0.38      0.35
                  56        68        12      3.03      2.22
EDH-04            20        30        10      0.39      0.28
CED-R-11          32        68        36      0.32      0.24
CED-R-12           6        32        26      0.40      0.38

EDH-01, 03 and 04, and CED-R-11 and 12 intersected the same partially oxidized and leached chalcocite blanket as CED-R-04, but significantly thinner. EDH-05 was a diamond tail of reverse-circulation hole CED-R-04 drilled in November, 2012, which intersected 204 metres at 0.55 per cent total copper from surface before the hole was lost. Core logging of EDH-05 indicates that the RC hole was lost in a major fault, and only sporadic mineralization was encountered at depth. EDH-02 was targeted at intersecting primary mineralization at depth beneath the old workings; trace amounts of bornite and chalcopyrite were intersected over a 48 m width, but this mineralization did not return copper assays in excess of 0.2 per cent CuT. CED-R-9, 10, 13, 14 and 15 were drilled to test possible extensions to the north and east, but did not intersect significant mineralization and were not assayed.

Alan Stephens, president and chief executive officer of Coro, commented: “These results indicate that the supergene mineralization is of more reduced dimensions than we had expected, due to a more pronounced structural control, a greater degree of leaching, and the presence of a postmineral porphyry and breccia complex which has invaded the prospective area. A major north-northeast-oriented fault, as well as northwest-oriented structures, appear to have influenced blanket thickness, and the north-northeast Main fault may also be controlling the emplacement of primary mineralization. Finally, the copper oxides are present partly in the form of water-soluble copper sulphates, and it is possible that some of this copper may have been washed away during diamond drilling, particularly in more heavily fractured core.

“The area drilled is some 200 m to 300 m topographically higher than the adjacent Toki deposits, and this is reflected in the higher-level alteration assemblage at El Desesperado. Mineralization identified so far is almost entirely supergene in nature and is associated with quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) alteration of Triassic sediments, particularly where these have been converted to a crackle breccia; and of a hydrothermal breccia emplaced in the Main fault. The primary driver for this QSP alteration and supergene chalcocite has not yet been found, but may be a Toki-style porphyry copper system located at depth. The trace amounts of bornite intersected in EDH-02 support this concept.

“As recently announced, Coro has agreed a three-month extension to the Feb. 17, 2014, option payment with the property owners, at a cost of $20,000 (U.S.) per month. During this period, we will evaluate all of the available data and determine our next course of action.”

Sampling and assay protocol

The mineralized sections of diamond drill holes were sampled on a two-metre continuous basis, with core samples split on site and one-half delivered to the Andes Analytical Assaying (AAA) prep lab by Coro personnel. The remaining core was stored at a Coro facility for reference. Pulp samples were transported to the AAA assay laboratory in Santiago by AAA personnel. RC holes CED-R-11 and 12 were sampled on a two-metre continuous basis, with dry samples riffle split on site and one-quarter sent to the Andes Analytical Assaying prep lab by Coro personnel. A second quarter was stored on site for reference.

Samples were prepared using the following standard protocol: drying, crushing to better than 80 per cent passing minus 10 mesh, homogenizing, splitting and pulverizing a 400-gram subsample to 95 per cent passing minus 150 mesh. All samples were assayed for total copper, soluble copper and molybdenum by AAS. A full quality assurance/quality control program involving insertion of appropriate blanks, standards and duplicates was employed for the diamond drill core sampling with acceptable results. True widths have not been determined.

About El Desesperado

The El Desesperado copper project is located seven kilometres northwest of the city of Calama in the II region of Chile and immediately west of Codelco’s Toki Cluster of copper deposits.

Sergio Rivera, vice-president of exploration, Coro Mining, a geologist with more than 31 years of experience, and a member of the Colegio de Geologos de Chile and of the Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas de Chile, was responsible for the design and execution of the exploration program and is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101. Alan Stephens, FIMMM, president and CEO of Coro Mining, a geologist with more than 38 years of experience, and a qualified person for the purposes of NI 43-101, is responsible for the contents of this news release.

http://www.coromining.com/s/newsreleases.asp