Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX:STM) has increased confidence in an exploration opportunity of at least 3.3 million ounces of gold equivalent at the Melonal porphyry target of the Bramaderos Project in Ecuador, with strong gold and gold equivalent results from a channel sampling program.
The samples confirmed the presence of a porphyry gold-copper system, registering at 136.5 metres at 0.31 g/t gold and 0.12% copper for a gold-equivalent of 0.51 g/t and 179 metres at 0.37 g/t gold and 0.11% copper for 0.54 g/t gold.
The second channel sample also produced a smaller intersection of 75 metres that assayed at 0.52 g/t gold and 0.14% copper for 0.75 g/t gold equivalent.
Results highlight scale of Bramaderos
“The Melonal porphyry is an exciting emerging target at the Bramaderos Project that has seen minimal historical exploration,” Sunstone Metals managing director Patrick Duffy said.
“These low-cost and very valuable trenching results from Melonal are located adjacent to the 2.7-million-ounce gold equivalent Brama-Alba Resource, highlighting the scale of the opportunity at Bramaderos.
“The additional geological information greatly enhances our confidence for future drilling programs at Melonal.
“Geological mapping has also highlighted additional porphyry targets to the south-east of Melonal. While still at an early stage, these results suggest that the scale of the system is significantly larger than we originally thought when preparing the Bramaderos Exploration Target (NYSE:TGT).
“Taken together, it further reinforces the Bramaderos Project as a world-class multi-decade mining opportunity and only increases the project’s attractiveness to third parties, where the ever-decreasing global reserves of gold and copper only emphasise the importance and value of discoveries of this scale.”
Exploration work highlights compelling opportunity
STM says the combination of magnetic modelling and trench sampling at Melonal have highlighted a “very compelling opportunity” with potential to deliver higher grades than the current Brama-Alba mineral estimate.
Brama-Alba currently holds a JORC resource of 156 million tonnes at 0.35 g/t gold, 1.3 g/t silver and 0.11% copper for 0.53 g/t gold equivalent or 2.7 million ounces of gold equivalent.
The company’s geological mapping has also identified several additional mineral targets to the south-east of Melonal, outside the current exploration target area.
Sunstone is taking trench samples from this new area alongside further exploration work, with the goal of creating partnerships for both the El Palmar and Bramaderos projects that will accelerate resource growth and unlock the value of the assets.