Outcrop conducts fieldwork at Santa Ana, plans drilling
2019-10-30 18:34 ET – News Release
Mr. Joseph Hebert reports
OUTCROP GOLD PROVIDES UPDATE ON EXPLORATION ACTIVITY AT SANTA ANA PROJECT AND AMENDS ACQUISITION AGREEMENT
Outcrop Gold Corp. has provided an update of work done on the high-grade silver-gold Santa Ana project and the company’s plans for a 1,000-metre drill program commencing before the end of the year. Drilling and water permits, and surface easements are in place and the Company will use Major Drilling. Man-portable rigs will be used to minimize impact to the environment.
The Company has agreed to acquire the Santa Ana project from Cedar Capital Corporation, a private British Columbia company. The acquisition of the Santa Ana project is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, including TSXV review of a Technical Report on the project.
In anticipation of completion of the acquisition and as part of its technical review of the Santa Ana project, Outcrop has conducted some initial exploration activities on the project including field work and data compilation and review. As part of those activities, Outcrop discovered new veins at the La Ivana target area where six or more subparallel vein zones extend for more than 1 km. The vein zones are inferred to each contain multiple, close-spaced veins. The veins show both high-grade gold and high-grade silver mineralization. Gold assays in the La Ivana target show the highest gold values recognized to date on the project, including values to 42.4 g Au/t with 338 g Ag/t sampled across a 2 m vein and 82.6 g Au/t with 476 g Ag/t in vein float.
The unusually high gold values in the La Ivana samples confirm that gold mineralization is zoned or overprinted with respect to silver mineralization and that both high-grade silver as well as is high-grade gold veins provide targets on the Santa Ana project. It is also possible that some gold is present as natural alloys with silver.
Outcrop Gold believes Santa Ana is strong high-grade primary silver project, and that the project potential is significantly enhanced by the recently recognized high-grade gold with silver in the veins. Historic colonial mining records, and limited historic drilling and high values in rock samples all indicate exceptional potential for Santa Ana.
Field Work Conducted
Outcrop exploration work includes mapping, identifying and surveying the portals of historic workings, and acquiring and compiling and historic exploration results. Local underground mapping was done to understand controls to mineralization and prevalent geometry of high-grade shoots within the veins.
Outcrop has recovered a long section of one of the historic mines that surveys shaft, production levels, and stope development to more than 260 m below the surface. Other workings are reported to extend to depths over 100m. These mining depths support a geologic and exploration model for a composite mesothermal and epithermal vein system having mineralization that likely extends to great depth. At Santa Ana it is unlikely that there is an elevation restriction to high-grade zones common in many epithermal systems.
Veins are observed to occur in packages of 3 or more parallel veins each separated by a few meters within a zone with a horizontal interval 15 to 30 m wide.
At least seven principle vein zones are recognized on the project that cumulatively provide over 7 km of length. Detailed work in the La Ivana area suggests there are numerous more unmapped or unexposed veins.Map 1: Phase one work area delineated by black circle. La Ivana target area delineated by yellow polygon. Detailed work in the La Ivana area shows multiple parallel vein zones that are not mapped or projected. The La Manta and La Porfia veins are probably principle veins mined in the Spanish colonial era.
The La Ivana Target Area
Planned drilling for a Phase 2 Exploration Program will be focused in the La Ivana target area shown in Map 1. The main vein zones in the La Ivana target area are La Manta and La Porfia veins. The Company identified a new vein zone named Guanabana. At least 400 m of strike inferred by outcrop, vein float and rubble, and historic workings. The Guanabana and Porfia vein zones probably reflect close-spaced vein packages and can be traced for greater than 1 km in length.
The veins range from range from 0.25 m to greater than 2 m in width and probably pinch and swell along strike. The veins show crustiform to colloform epithermal textures with secondary silica-flooding.
Importantly there are three areas of veins and old workings within or near the Ivana target area – La Porfia La Manta, and El Dorado that are named in Spanish archives from 1585. Outcrop is probably drilling in a core area of the colonial era high-grade mines. The Company believes three of the fourteen mines Spanish colonial era mines as averaging 4,300 g Ag/t from the smelter returns over an average of 1.4 occur within the La Ivana target area. (Outcrop news release of May 14, 2019).
Sampling within La Ivana target area (Phase 1 Exploration Program):
For recently the compiled historic and recent samples collected by Outcrop in the tables below – the silver equivalent values range from 7.0 g Ag Eq/t to 8,417 g Ag Eq/t- with a mean value of 1295 g Ag Eq/t and a median value of 403 g Ag Eq/t.
The respective gold equivalent values range from a 0.08 g Au Eq/t to 95 g Au Eq/t with a mean value of 15 g Au Eq/t and a median value of 5 g Au Eq/t.
La Manta vein zone: Sample Sample Type Width Au Ag (m) (g/t) (g/t) 5381 Rock Grab 68.60 422.00 5382 Rock Grab 2.32 48.30 5383 Rock Grab 27.50 159.00 5384 Rock Grab 27.80 130.00 5385 Rock Grab 36.10 163.00 5386 Channel 0.20 48.30 81.00 5387 Channel 0.30 7.45 20.90 5388 Channel 0.45 14.60 21.80 5389 Channel 0.30 26.20 73.10 5390 Channel 0.50 3.05 6.57
Sampling between La Manta and La Porfia, which are 500 m apart:
Sample Widt (m) Au Ag (g/t) (g/t) RX1346 0.40 3.15 45.80 RX1348 0.35 2.02 123.00 RX1347 0.30 15.80 277.00 RX1349 Chip 5.70 595.00 RX1341 Dump 82.60 476.00 RX1354 Dump 6.73 18.65 RX2940 Chip 2.45 39.10 RX2939 Chip 1.79 40.50 RX2938 Float 0.08 1.36 RX2918 2.00 42.40 338.00 RX1369 Float 0.57 69.80 RX2969 0.40 1.31 200.00 RX2970 0.70 19.00 68.80 RX2971 0.20 26.40 91.40 RX2973 2.40 31.80 143.00 RX2974 0.80 4.76 246.00 RX2975 1.20 3.48 478.00 RX2976 0.85 4.38 217.00 RX2946 0.20 2.40 237.00 RX2947 0.20 3.69 30.70 RX2950 Dump 43.30 98.50 RX2951 0.22 0.45 147.00 RX2953 Chip 0.51 476.00 RX2955 0.06 1.10 662.00
Sampling outside of La Ivana target but within the Phase 1 work area:
El Dorado vein zone 500 m north of the central La Ivana Area but within Phase 1 work area Sample Sample Width Au Ag Type (m) (g/t) (g/t) RX1331 Channel 0.45 0.20 6.31 RX1344 Channel 0.45 1.43 16.10 RX1333 Channel 0.40 0.39 53.80 RX1334 Channel 0.45 4.93 218.00 RX1335 Channel 0.30 0.09 8.04 RX1336 Channel 0.45 0.59 33.70 Rx1337 Channel 0.60 0.33 76.90 Rx1338 Channel 0.60 1.64 14.60 RX1339 Channel 0.90 2.51 252.00
Royal Mines or Mina Vieja 500 m south of the La Ivana area but within Phase 1 work area Sample Sample Type Width Au Ag (m) (g/t) (g/t) RX1366 Channel 0.25 2.99 3.12 RX1327 Channel 0.6 2.39 61 RX1329 Rock Dump 0.04 3.11 RX1330 Rock Dump 0.16 58.9 RX2923 Channel 0.25 0.15 0.28 RX2924 Channel 0.65 0.14 4.17 RX2934 Channel 0.53 0.62 93.7 RX2922 Channel 0.6 0.15 4.14 RX2929 Rock Float 94.3 93.8
Planned drill program (Phase 2 program)
Following the completion of a sampling and mapping program in the Phase 1 work area, the planned drill program will include five to six drill holes on three sections are planned to test up to 400 m length of a closely spaced vein. Depths of 60 to 120 m are planned as in most cases the veins are sub-cropping or near surface. Drill stations will be located generally between Guanabana Mine and vein outcrops to the north. Vein geometry here is best understood and rock samples have the highest gold and silver values. Importantly, the Ivana target area may contain some of the principle veins in the Santa Ana project that correspond with the extremely high-grade with fourteen mines producing extremely high silver grades.
Outcrop Gold believes from mapping and reconnaissance prospecting that historic drilling by Condor Precious Metals (“Condor”) did not test a principle district vein or principle historic mining area, even though it provided intercepts as high as 1.3 m at 2,545 g Ag Eq/t (Outcrop news release dated May14, 2019).
There is no historic testing the of the veins developed in the Spanish colonial are but three of those veins (La Manta, La Porfia, and El Dorado) are thought to be in the La Ivana target area or the Phase 1 work area. It is highly likely that many of the principle Spanish colonial mines are caved and or flooded but still with high-grade silver and gold mineralization continuing below the lowest level worked and horizontally strike. Map 2: Drill locations are shown. La Ivana target shows evidence of at least six vein zones.
QA/QC for sampling
Outcrop Gold’s control procedures for sampling including the insertion of commercial certified standards and blanks. Samples were sent to the ALS laboratories sample preparation laboratory in Bogota, Colombia, where they were dried, crushed, split and pulverized and subsequently delivered to the ALS Laboratory in North Vancouver for analysis. The samples were analysed for gold using standard fire assay on a 50-gram sample with a gravimetric finish, and for multiple elements by ICP-MS using either an aqua regia (ME-MS41) digestion. High silver results triggered ore grade Ag analysis using the AG-OG62 procedure.
Outcrop Gold believes that based on a comparison of current sampling results to historic sampling results, that historic samples are reliable at this stage of exploration.
Transaction Update
The Company had previously entered into a share purchase agreement dated May 13, 2019 with Cedar Capital Corporation to acquire the Santa Ana project. Under the agreement terms, Cedar could terminate the agreement by providing notice to the Company if the transaction did not complete by June 30, 2019. As a result of the decrease in the market price for the Company’s shares, and in lieu of termination of the transaction, the Purchaser and Company agreed to an amended and restated share purchase agreement, pursuant to which the the Company may acquire the Santa Ana project for 24 million consideration shares. Closing of the Santa Ana acquisition is subject to TSXV and shareholder approval. The Company expects to hold a shareholder meeting in the coming weeks to approve the issuance of the consideration shares as provided under the amended and restated agreement.
Private Placement
The Company will limit the previously announced placement to $1,250,000 for currently needed funding in order to reduce the impact of share dilution.
About Santa Ana
The Santa Ana project comprises one concession of 669 ha and two applications that total 2,869 ha located in the Municipality of Falan, Tolima Department, Colombia, approximately 15 km southeast of the of the town of Mariquita, and 190 km from Bogota, Colombia’s capital city. The Santa Ana project covers a significant part of the Mariquita District where mining records date to at least 1585.
The Mariquita District is the highest primary silver district in Colombia. Under colonial Spanish era control of the mines, silver grades were reported to be among the highest in Latin America with the fourteen mines of Santa Ana producing average smelter returns of 4,300 g Ag/t from veins averaging 1.4 m wide.
About Outcrop Gold
Outcrop is a gold prospect generator active in Colombia acquiring gold exploration projects with world-class discovery potential. Outcrop performs its own grass roots exploration and then employs a joint venture business model on its projects to maximize investor exposure to discovery and minimize financial risk. Outcrop has Newmont Goldcorp as a funding partner on its Lyra project in Antioquia directly south of Buritica.
Qualified person
The technical information in this news release has been approved by Joseph P Hebert, a qualified person as defined in NI43-101 and President and CEO of the Company.
We seek Safe Harbor.