Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX:STM) has received further strong gold-silver assays from trenching at the Limon gold-silver deposit within its Bramaderos gold-copper porphyry project in Southern Ecuador.
The results continue to demonstrate that Limon is a large system with numerous clusters of high-grade mineralisation and pave the way for a new drilling program to test below the mineralised trenches.
These results of up to 18.9 g/t gold and 5.2 g/t silver set up Sunstone for what could be an extremely rewarding drill program as multiple areas of high-grade surface mineralisation have been identified.
The trenching program provides more evidence of numerous epithermal centres across a 1.7-kilometre by 700-metre mineralised system and has also better defined the style and orientation of the mineralised veins.
Limon hosts an epithermal gold-silver exploration target of 0.9-1.7 million ounces of gold equivalent within 30-44 million tonnes at a grade of between 0.9 g/t and 1.2 g/t gold equivalent. These results further strengthen this target.
In addition, surface sampling has identified new areas of porphyry mineralisation immediately north of Limon with results of 1.4 g/t gold and 0.3% copper, significantly expanding the broader Limon target area to 2 kilometres by 2 kilometres.
This provides strong evidence that Limon hosts a cluster of high-grade gold-silver bodies, underpinning Sunstone’s belief that Limon is a large discovery with multiple epithermal gold-silver centres.
The trenching program is ongoing with soil sampling expanded to define the extent of the epithermal gold-silver areas and to define the new porphyry gold-copper areas.
It has also prompted a review of other soil geochemical anomalies within the broader Limon area and these are being refined with an extensive infill soil sampling program.
Geological mapping north of Limon has also identified new at-surface porphyry gold-copper mineralisation which will be followed up.
Potential to unlock substantial value
Sunstone managing director Patrick Duffy said the next drilling program had the potential to unlock substantial value for shareholders and demonstrate the significance of the Limon discovery.
"Delivering these compelling results and growing the Bramaderos gold-copper-silver endowment in the current environment of strong gold, copper and silver price growth and positive anticipated future demand adds significant value to Sunstone’s portfolio.
“These results set us up for what could be an immensely productive drilling program because they lead us to the areas of high-grade shallow mineralisation from the outset,” Duffy said.
“These clusters of mineralisation are now outlined over a huge area measuring 1.7 kilometres by 700 metres, which shows Limon is a big mineralised system. We are also seeing strong evidence of new centres of porphyry gold-copper mineralisation.
“We are increasingly confident that Limon will be a major contributor to resource growth at Bramaderos and provide the early development opportunity as more studies are undertaken. We look forward to unlocking the full value of this discovery over the coming months.”