Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX:STM) is inching ever closer to defining a 10-million-ounce gold equivalent district at its Bramaderos project in southern Ecuador after receiving further strong high-grade gold-silver assays from surface trenching at the Limon discovery.
The latest results of up to 16 g/t gold and 376 g/t silver are further evidence that the large deposit hosts multiple epithermal gold-silver centres across a 1.7-kilometre by 700-metre mineralised system.
Among the results, trenches LM-07, LM-08 and LM-09 returned:
- 3.9 metres at 8.4 g/t gold and 191.8 g/t silver in LM-07b, including 1.9 metres at 16.2 g/t gold and 376 g/t silver;
- 2.2 metres at 6.2 g/t gold and 19.9 g/t silver in LM-07; and
- 39.3 metres at 0.3 g/t gold and 14.2 g/t silver in LM-08.
READ: Sunstone Metals’ Limon discovery in Ecuador on track to be substantial gold-silver deposit
Sunstone managing director Malcolm Norris said the latest results reinforced the company’s expectation that Limon was a large significant gold-silver deposit.
“Limon is growing with each round of sampling,” Norris said.
“So far, the trenching program has delivered significant gold and silver mineralisation wherever we have sampled – this is an outstanding track record.
“We have a lot of trenching ahead of us to define the ultimate scale of this system further.
“This work will set us up for a very exciting drill program, which will follow the trenching phase.
“We are becoming increasingly confident of growing our recently released gold-silver exploration target for Limon and moving closer to our stated goal of identifying a 10-million-ounce gold-equivalent district at Bramaderos.”
Limon gold-in-soil map showing extensive anomalous gold over an area of 1.7km x 700m. The circled areas have seen only partial testing.
STM’s planned trenching program in Limon is relatively low cost, which means a significantly lower expenditure going forward than in previous months.
The company is currently trenching near the Central shoot and on the western boundary to follow up on results from trench LM-05, which intersected 18 metres at 4.8 g/t gold and 6.1 g/t silver and is open to the west, north and south.
It is also exploring for higher grade epithermal mineralisation around the margins of the Brama, Alba, Melonal and Porotillo porphyry systems, four of the six most significant centres of porphyry gold-copper mineralisation at Bramaderos.
The other two are Limon and Playas.
Reports of unrest
Meanwhile, the ASX-lister’s operations in Ecuador have not been impacted by social unrest related to a significant government crackdown on the transport of drugs from neighbouring countries.
Its activities and work are continuing as planned.
It noted that other exploration companies remained active, including Ecuador’s largest gold producer Lundin Gold, which announced plans on January 11 to undertake its largest-ever exploration program in the country this year.
Additionally, the new government has continued to issue permits, while more advanced projects such as Solaris Resources’ Warintza Project and Lumina Gold’s Cangrejos are attracting strategic investments.
Ecuador sources 93% of its power from renewables.
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