Sascha-Marcelina
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Property Type
LSE Gold Silver Project
Size
30,600 ha
Status
Self-funded Exploration
Exploration Stage
3,266m drill program completed in 2021 at Pellegrini, Estancia and Igloo Trends
4,333m drill program at the Sascha Main zone completed during previous JV (2006 - 2009)
Geological mapping, rock chip sampling, IP geophysics and soil grid samplingLocation
- Jurassic age volcanic rocks of the Deseado Massif in north-central Santa Cruz province, Argentina.
- Low altitude - 1,000 meters ASL
Ownership
- 24,900 ha 100% owned by Mirasol,
- 5,700 ha controlled by Mirasol under an option to purchase agreement
Sascha Marcelina is a 30,600 ha LSE gold-silver property located at the north-central part of Santa Cruz in Argentina. The project is conveniently accessible to the provincial road, Ruta 39, and with potential trucking distance of the multiple mine facilities.
The project is located 100 km south of Newmont’s Cerro Negro mine and displays similar geologic and geomorphic settings. Anomalous rock chip Au+Ag assays and Aster satellite alteration anomalies have defined a large-scale, zoned alteration system characteristic of an LSE Au+Ag system. Multiple, multi-kilometre long, mineralized vein and silicified breccia trends have been recognized across the project.
Option to Purchase Agreement - Property Claim Consolidation
In early 2019, Mirasol consolidated the large prospective Sascha-Marcelina property by signing an option to purchase agreement for the 5,700 ha from a privately-owned mining company.
Mirasol can acquire 100% of the 5,700 ha claims by making staged option payments totalling US$3.4 million over four years, with US$3.15 million due on the 4th anniversary. If the option is exercised, the Marcelina claims will be subject to a 1.5% NSR royalty. There is a minimum US$300,000 exploration spending commitment by Mirasol during the first three years of the option period.
In January 2022, Mirasol amended the terms of the option to purchase agreement. The option period for the Marcelina property has been extended by two years with no payment due in 2022. Future payments of US$50,000, US$100,000 and US$3.45M will be due in January 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively, if the project is advanced.
2021
Mirasol completed a 2,814m drill program in Q2 2021. The program was focused on quality targets at the Estancia, Pellegrini and Igloo prospects, which are characterized by coincident large-scale outcropping alteration, anomalous rock chip geochemistry and Induced Polarization (“IP”) geophysical anomalies. These prospects had not previously been drilled tested (see news release August 9, 2021). In December 2021, Mirasol followed up with a 450m deep hole at the Pellegrini breccia target.
- Pellegrini Trend:
At the Pellegrini Trend, five diamond drill holes were completed at the main breccia target area with two additional scout holes drilled outboard on two other major northwest trending faults structures to the west and north, for a combined total of nearly 1,900m.
Holes PEL-DDH-001, PEL-DDH-002 and PEL-DDH-005 all encountered, within their upper levels, restricted zones of anomalous mineralization associated with hydrothermal brecciation. Hole PEL-DDH-005, which was drilled deeper below PEL-DDH-002, exhibits the best precious metal mineralization intersection to date. This hole intercepted a wide zone of peripheral crackle brecciation which starts at 170m vertically below surface and continues into an inner core of hydrothermal polymictic brecciation for a total intercepted width of brecciation >25 m. This inner zone returned an intersection of:
- 20.4m at 0.24 g/t Au and 39 g/t Ag (58 g/t AgEq1) from 242.5m,
- including 10.5m at 0.28 g/t Au and 66 g/t Ag (87 g/t AgEq) from 249m.
- High Zn and Pb base metal results are also associated with this brecciated body with 0.82% Pb and 0.7% Zn over the broader 20.4m interval, including 1.3m with 3.19% Pb and 2.56% Zn.
In late 2021, Mirasol drilled hole PEL-DDH-007 behind and under PEL-DDH-005 to test the depth and lateral extent of the breccia body previously intercepted. No significant Au and Ag mineralization was encountered apart from isolated values of 0.4 g/t Au and 140 g/t Ag from narrow veinlet zones. These veinlets are generally sub-parallel to the core axis and potentially have an antithetic structural configuration. However, broad Pb and Zn mineralization was intercepted returning:
- 33.9m at 1.3% Pb and 0.5% Zn from 298.6m (250 ppm Pb cut-off)
- including 15.85m at 2.1% Pb and 0.8% Zn from 285.15m (1,000 ppm Pb cut-off)
- including a higher-grade section of 7.2m at 4.1% Pb and 1.4% Zn from 289m (1% Pb cut-off)
Evaluation of the three holes drilled at Pellegrini in the breccia zone (PEL-DDH-002, 005 and 007) suggests that the mineralized zone may have a west-dipping orientation. A scissor drill hole oriented from west to east will be required to confirm if the drilling to date has been parallel to the dip direction. Furthermore, it appears that the three holes have not adequately tested the coincident chargeability/resistivity anomaly defined from the recent deep penetrating IP geophysics located to the west of holes PEL-DDH-005 and 007 and directly at depth below PEL-DDH-002. The mineralization also appears to decrease in intensity, most notably in Au/Ag, further to the east, outboard and distal to this remaining untested central target.
- Estancia Trend:
At the Estancia Trend, six holes (1,011m) were completed. Three of these holes located in the southern part of the prospect (Estancia Sur) returned anomalous Au results. This drilling demonstrated that Estancia Sur is located in the lower part of the Matilda formation or upper part of the Chon Aike, neither of which are good, competent host rocks for productive fissure veins. Instead of concentrating mineralization, their physical characteristics allow for wider intersections of lower grade and dispersed mineralization, as illustrated by the results from drill hole EST-DDH-003 (8.7m at 0.32 g/t Au). However, with focused, deeper drilling, it is considered likely that a stronger mineralization could be encountered in the more permissive rock type (mid to lower Chon Aike formation).
Mineralization encountered to date at Estancia Sur occurs as narrow sheeted veinlets, pseudo-stockworks zones and fluidized channels with crackle brecciation, infilled with two styles of mineralization with an initial pulse of massive pyrite with dark grey silica and a second pulse of more epithermal crypto-crystalline quartz hosting the higher Au grades.
- Igloo Trend:
At the Igloo Trend, limited initial drilling intercepted mineralization very similar to that of Estancia Sur, related to narrow veinlets, zones of pseudo-stockwork and fluidized channels hosting brecciation, with Au grades up to 0.57 g/t. This mineralization is associated with a pronounced and widespread “cloud” of pathfinder elements characterised by arsenic, antimony and mercury + barium. Such zones of anomalous pathfinder elements typically reside above productive systems in several low sulfidation Au-Ag epithermal mines and deposits in Santa Cruz and provide a strong vector to depth for stronger mineralization.
2019/2020
In 2019, Mirasol signed an option to purchase agreement for 5,700 ha claims from a privately-owned mining company and consolidated the large prospective Sascha-Marcelina property under one company for the first time.
Following this consolidation, Mirasol completed an integrated interpretation of district-scale exploration data sets collected prior to 2009. Anomalous rock chip Au+Ag assays and Aster satellite alteration anomalies define a 16.5 x 4.0 km (65 km2) “footprint” to the district, showing a large-scale, zoned alteration system characteristic of a large LSE Au+Ag system. Five, multi-kilometre long, mineralized vein and silicified breccia trends have been recognized to date across the consolidated district. The trends traverse the Pellegrini Silica Cap, or outcrop through post-mineral gravel and basalt cover that surrounds the Silica Cap.
The geologic and geomorphic setting of the Pellegrini Silica Cap and related silica structures and veins is analogous to the setting of the Cerro Negro Mine, which is a high grade, low-cost underground mine operated by Newmont and located approximately 100 km to the north of the Sascha-Marcelina project.
Interpretation of mapped volcanic and sedimentary stratigraphy, Au+Ag and multi-element geochemistry and alteration mineralogy shows that different levels of the epithermal system outcrop across the district, exposing what are interpreted to be different levels of the mineralized column of an LSE Au+Ag system.
The surface exploration activities completed on the Sascha-Marcelina project (see news release July 18, 2019) include geological mapping aided by the acquisition of drone supported high-resolution base images, detailed rock chip sampling, extensive soil grid sampling (with PXRF sourced geochemistry) and the acquisition of alteration data using in-house handheld ASD (Analytical Spectral Devices) technology on all of the rock chips and soil samples collected to date. New prospects were recognized, with the “Estancia trend” and the “Igloo trend”, both located in close proximity to an extensive Pellegrini Silica Cap, which is interpreted as representing the preserved fossil paleosurface of a low sulfidation system.
A total of 422 new rock chip samples have been collected from within the Marcelina area with assays averaging 0.25 g/t Au and 2.46 g/t Ag and up to 27.7g/t Au and 121g/t Ag, taken from epithermal silica vein/veinlets and silica-hematite hydrothermal breccias. These precious metal values are accompanied by highly elevated epithermal pathfinder elements including arsenic, antimony, tellurium, and anomalous lead and zinc.
BEFORE 2009
Mirasol staked the Sascha Project in 2003 to secure the 5 km long Sascha Vein Zone, which was partially drill tested on the western end while under an exploration agreement to Coeur Mining (“Coeur”) from 2006 to 2009. Coeur terminated the agreement in 2009 and returned 100% of the project to Mirasol.
Coeur’s exploration program included:
- 356 line-km of detailed ground magnetics,
- 24 line-km of gradient array geophysics,
- 3,400 m of infill trenching and mapping, and
- 32 shallow diamond holes (average depth 135 m) in 2 campaigns for 4,333 m along the 4.5 km, NW trending epithermal Au-Ag mineralized Sascha Vein Zone and two shallow holes at Sasha Sur.
[1] Silver equivalent (“AgEq”) is calculated using metal prices of US$ 1800/oz for Au and US$ 24/oz for Ag. Recoveries are assumed to be 100% as no metallurgical test data is available.
The equation used is: AgEq g/t = Ag g/t + (Au g/t x 75)
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