Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX:STM) has received more high-grade gold exploration results from the Bramaderos project in southern Ecuador with trenches returning up to 18 metres at 4.8 g/t gold around 900 metres from Limon Central Shoot but still within the Limon epithermal discovery.
The results indicate that Limon, which has already been established as a significant discovery, could be a very large gold-silver system by global standards with shallow, high-grade mineralisation.
Emerging as a very large, shallow discovery, it has scope for a large future open pit development, with managing director Malcolm Norris saying the results showed Limon was set to move to a new level as a major discovery.
Strong trenching results
Sunstone now has confidence that there is epithermal gold-silver mineralisation in many areas within the 1.7-kilometre by 700-metre Limon alteration zone.
Results include:
Trench LM-04 intersected multiple intervals of epithermal mineralisation, with the best mineralised interval being 7.1 metres at 3.0 g/t gold and 2.8 g/t silver.
Trench LM-05 intersected very high-grade gold and silver of 2.0 metres at 32.9 g/t gold and 29.5 g/t silver within a broad interval of 18 metres at 4.8 g/t gold and 6.1 g/t silver, and another interval which remains open at the west end of the trench of 7.9 metres at 3.2 g/t gold and 8.9 g/t silver.
Trench LM-06 intersected 2.0 metres at 5.9 g/t gold and 1.0 g/t silver. This trench has additional intervals of anomalous silver indicating other targets along its length and is also open on its eastern end.
Sunstone says that two other significant epithermal zones at the Bramaderos Project have been identified closer to the Brama and Porotillo porphyry targets, with follow-up sampling and trenching underway.
"A very large gold system"
“Limon is now a very large gold system. The team is doing an outstanding job of defining targets, with focused follow-up in the field and delivering discoveries,” said Norris.
“Such positive results early in an exploration program give you confidence that this will be a large system with widespread gold and silver from surface.
“We know from the Central Shoot drilling results that we have considerable vertical extent, so planned drilling here on this new western gold anomaly, has the possibility of delivering rapid growth in contained ounces. We are confident of significantly increasing our recently released exploration target.”
Limon gold in soils map showing extensive anomalous gold over an area of 1.7km x 700m. The circled areas have seen only partial testing. Trenches LM-04, 05 and 06 are shown in the northern and western parts of the large Limon system. The black dashed line shows the Limon porphyry target outline.