Virginia
-
Property Type
LSE Silver Project
Size
74,429 ha
Status
Signed a Definitive Option Agreement with Silver Sands Resources Corp.
Exploration Stage
Completed a NI 43-101 Resource Estimate report
2,831m Phase I drill program completed in Q4 2020
2,700m Phase II drill program ongoing
Location
- Located in the prolific epithermal province of Santa Cruz, Argentina
- Approx. 100 km south of Newmont’s Cerro Negro Mine
Mirasol discovered the Virginia silver deposit in 2009 following-up a high-priority reconnaissance target identified by its generative team. Mineralization at Virginia consists of high-grade vein/breccia structures most of which outcrop on surface. After drilling at Virginia from 2010 to 2012, Mirasol completed a NI 43-101 Resource Estimate report (amended and filed in 2016) defining seven outcropping bodies of high-grade silver mineralization, constrained[1] within conceptual pits, with an indicated mineral resource of 11.9 million ounces of silver at 310 g/t Ag and a further inferred 3.1 million ounces of silver at 207 g/t Ag.
Mirasol Resources later expanded its claims holdings at the project and in 2018 announced that high-grade silver assays were returned from three new reconnaissance target areas located to the south and southeast of the resource drilling, suggesting that further exploration may identify new veins and expand the size of the Virginia silver district.
In late 2020, Mirasol completed a Phase I drilling program at Virginia, which encompassed 18 drill holes for a total of 2,831m, confirmed the potential to identify new well-mineralized structures that were not previously included in the NI 43-101 resource. All the drilling in Phase I, except for the holes at the Magi target, focused on potential strike extensions along the known trends that host the current resource and also previously untested vein structures.
In February 2021, Mirasol has commenced the 2,700m Phase II drilling program to continue testing gaps and extensions of the principal veins at the Martina NW and SW, Magi, Julia South Extension, Naty Extension and Ely Central targets. In addition, Mirasol will also follow-up and drill down dip and adjacent to soem of the better intersections returned during the Phase I program at both Martina and Ely.
DEFINITIVE OPTION AGREEMENT
On May 21, 2020, Mirasol announced that it signed a definitive agreement with Silver Sands Resources Corp. (Silver Sands) for its Virginia Silver project. Silver Sands has completed two private placements raising almost C$5 million and providing it with ample capital to move the project forward.
Mirasol has granted Golden Opportunity the option to acquire 100% of the Project over 3 years by:
- Making share issuances totalling 19.9% of the shares outstanding of Golden Opportunity at the time of vesting
- Completing US$6 M in exploration expenditures, including a US$1 M firm commitment
Upon completion of the option, Golden Opportunity will have earned a 100% interest in the Project and Mirasol will retain a 3% NSR royalty, of which 1% can be bought back by Silver Sands for US$2 M.
[1] The Qualified Persons responsible for this amended Technical Report were commissioned by Mirasol Resources Ltd. to review all geologic, geochemical, geophysical, surface trenching, diamond drill core sampling and metallurgical recovery data pertaining to the Virginia project for the purpose of completing a Mineral Resource estimate in accordance with the guidelines of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CIMM). For calculating conceptual pits, a silver price of US$20 per ounce was used. Sensitivity analyses by the Qualified Persons indicate that the Mineral Resources are not particularly sensitive to operating costs or silver price fluctuations. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Mirasol first discovered the Virginia silver deposit in 2009, following-up a high-priority reconnaissance target identified by its generative team. Over the next few years, Mirasol defined high-grade, intermediate sulfidation epithermal style mineralization in a series of prominent outcrops of vein-breccia that are associated with a rhyolitic volcanic flow dome field. Rock chip and saw-cut channel sampling over these outcrops defined significant strike lengths of continuously mineralized vein-breccia, with many samples assaying over 1,000 g/t Ag. From 2010 to 2012, Mirasol completed a series of drill programs at the project, drilling a total of 23,318 m of diamond core in 223 holes, testing the mineralized structures to a maximum depth of 266 m. This work was followed by the filing of an amended NI 43-101 Resource Estimate report in 2016 defining seven outcropping bodies of high-grade silver mineralization, constrained[1] within conceptual pits, with an indicated mineral resource of 11.9 million ounces of silver at 310 g/t Ag and a further inferred 3.1 million ounces of silver at 207 g/t Ag (amended NI 43 -101 technical report filed February 29, 2016).
Later that year, Mirasol reported that preliminary prospecting of new claims identified quartz vein and vein-breccia rock float, scattered along a 2 km trend. With a strong belief in the exploration potential of the Virginia district, Mirasol further expanded its property holdings in 2017 with an extra 27,017 ha of claims to the south of the limit of the previous drilling. In May 2018, high-grade silver assay results were reported from the additional prospecting of three new target areas, suggesting the potential for an unrecognized, shallow soil covered, high-grade mineralization that would expand the potential of the Virginia silver project.
2020/2021 Exploration Program
In late 2020, Mirasol completed the Phase I exploration program at Virginia, under the partnership with Silver Sands, that tested the potential for new high-grade silver zones to expand on the existing NI 43-101 resource. The program comprised a total of 2,831m in 18 diamond drill holes (“DDH”), which was 331m more than originally planned. The results confirmed the potential to identify new well-mineralized structures that do not outcrop on surface and the potential to identify new well-mineralized structures that were not previously included in hte current resource estimate. See news release January 21, 2021 and February 23, 2021 for more details on the drill program.
Notable Intervals from Phase II Drill Program
- Martina Target: MSE-DDH-001 - 33.5m at 198.51 g/t Ag, including 17.7m at 316 g/t Ag
The Martina hole MSE-DDH-001 collared 70m to the southeast of the current conceptual pit outline was located to test a significant structural “jog” in the mineralized Martina structure. The drill hole encountered significant Ag mineralization at a depth of 79.5m downhole returning a wide intersection of 33.5m grading at 198 g/t Ag, with a higher-grade section of 17.7m grading 313 g/t Ag. Additional anomalous Ag intersections were also encountered in this hole and are reported in Table 1.
- Ely Central Target: EC-DDH-001 - 9.25m at 233.54 g/t Ag, including 4.5m at 441.71 g/t Ag
This first hole at Ely Central was collared along the structure within an 850m gap between the Ely South and Ely North conceptual pit shells, some 470m south of the Ely North resource. The hole returned a 12m intercept of 184 g/t Ag, which includes a higher-grade intersection of 4.5m at 442 g/t Ag. This intersection is significant and confirms the potential to grow the current resource base along the Ely structural trend.
- Julia South Target: JS-DDH-001 - 8.50m at 123.43 g/t Ag, including 3.90m at 168.34 g/t Ag
The Julia South hole JS-DDH-001, collared 100m south of the previous drill holes incorporated in the conceptual pit confined resource, intersected an 8.5m thick brecciated structure grading 123.43 g/t Ag, including 3.90m at 168.34 g/t Ag. Colloform to crustiform banded crypto crystalline vein fragments with sulfides returned a peak result of 271 g/t Ag over 0.33m. This intercept is hosted in low temperature late cross-cutting chalcedonic silica with a latter and final manganese oxide (MnOx) rich pulse. Minor hydrothermal breccia structures with Ag anomalies exist throughout the hole. It is interpreted that this hole sits within a downthrown structural block that is less eroded than the area to the north, which hosts a significant part of the Virginia Ag resource. Phase II drilling will test beneath this intercept to confirm this concept.
- Martina SE Target: MSE-DDH-003 - 16.05m at 63.97 g/t Ag including 0.90m at 352.32 g/t Ag
The Martina SE hole MSE-DDH-003 hosts a 1m wide weakly banded sulfide rich (galena) vein with micro crystalline quartz and MnOx cavity infilling discrete fractures with up to 596.54 g/t Ag over 0.3m. This banded vein with hematite/limonite seams hosts values of 16.05m at 63.97 g/t Ag including 0.9m at 352.32 g/t Ag.
Mirasol also completed two IP pole dipole (PDP) geophysical campaigns at Virginia. Most of the previous electrical geophysics at Virginia used the gradient array method, which is effective at mapping the chargeable mineralized vein structures. The PDP method was deployed to better understand the orientation of the structures at depth, enabling improved planning for drill campaigns. In total, 95.5 line-km were completed with 80.5km in Virginia and 15km at the Santa Rita prospect in the north of the project.
Mirasol has commenced Phase II drill program at Virginia in February 2021. This program is designed to continue testing gaps and extensions of the principal veins at the Martina NW and SW, Magi, Julia South Extension, Naty Extension and Ely Central targets. Mirasol will also follow-up and drill down dip and adjacent to some of the better intersections returned during the Phase I program at both Martina and Ely.
In addition, 3 drill holes are planned at the Santa Rita target in the northern part of the property, where prior exploration by Mirasol defined an open ended 3,500 m long by 500 m wide northwest orientated trend containing mapped breccia veins with Ag epithermal mineralization generally less than 10 m wide (news release February 2, 2021).
Mirasol and Silver Sands are continuing to drill extensively with the objective of expanding the mineralized footprint and potentially upgrading the resource in late 2021.
[1] The Qualified Persons responsible for this amended Technical Report were commissioned by Mirasol Resources Ltd. to review all geologic, geochemical, geophysical, surface trenching, diamond drill core sampling and metallurgical recovery data pertaining to the Virginia project for the purpose of completing a Mineral Resource estimate in accordance with the guidelines of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CIMM). For calculating conceptual pits, a silver price of US$20 per ounce was used. Sensitivity analyses by the Qualified Persons indicate that the Mineral Resources are not particularly sensitive to operating costs or silver price fluctuations. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.-
Virginia 2020/2021 Exploration Program Initial Phase I Assay Table
Hole ID
From
To
Interval (m)1
Ag g/t2
Ag x Interval3
Cut-off4
MSE-DDH-001
36.00
37.00
1.00
30.23
30
30 g/t
68.00
71.00
3.00
36.09
108
30 g/t
72.60
73.00
0.40
35.93
14
30 g/t
74.60
75.60
1.00
37.70
38
30 g/t
79.50
113.00
33.50
198.51
6,650
30 g/t
Including
83.30
83.80
0.50
92.79
46
63 g/t
and
85.80
103.50
17.70
316.86
5,608
63 g/t
and
105.00
109.00
4.00
82.37
329
63 g/t
and
111.00
113.00
2.00
65.34
131
63 g/t
115.00
130.00
15.00
40.91
614
30 g/t
133.00
134.00
1.00
30.94
31
30 g/t
EC-DDH-001
21.20
21.70
0.50
35.61
18
30 g/t
92.75
102.00
9.25
233.54
2,160
30 g/t
Including
94.55
99.05
4.50
441.71
1,988
63 g/t
103.00
105.00
2.00
32.77
66
30 g/t
NE-DDH-001
14.00
42.75
28.75
51.45
1,479
30 g/t
Including
15.00
15.50
0.50
70.20
35
63 g/t
and
17.70
18.70
1.00
64.28
64
63 g/t
and
27.00
28.00
1.00
63.95
64
63 g/t
and
40.00
41.10
1.10
250.06
275
63 g/t
and
41.90
42.45
0.55
65.47
36
63 g/t
MG-DDH-001
152.00
158.00
6.00
53.51
321
30 g/t
Including
156.00
157.00
1.00
70.08
70
63 g/t
MR-DDH-001
43.70
44.00
0.30
32.52
10
30 g/t
RO-DDH-001
no interval above cut off
30 g/t
Notes:
1 Reported interval length are down hole widths and not true widths.
2 Reported intervals are stated at a cut-off grade of 30 g/t and 63 g/t Ag, but may include up to a maximum of 1m individual section below cut-off grade.
3 Ag Gram Meter interval is calculated using: Ag (g/t) x down hole intersection length (m)
4The higher-grade intervals were selected using the 63 g/t cut-off grade used in the NI 43-101 resource estimate.- March 29, 2016
March 29, 2016
February 20, 2014
