Orosur Mining has reported six further drill holes at its Pepas West prospect in Colombia, confirming an extensive, flat-lying zone of shallow, high-grade gold that the company sees as a priority for near-term production.
The AIM and TSXV-listed explorer said the holes, part of drilling around its Pepas deposit at the Anzá project west of Medellín, returned consistent gold intercepts from surface.
Among the best intercepts of the campaign were hole PEP103, which cut 10.2m at 5.77g/t gold from surface, including a narrow 2.45m section grading 22.3g/t, while PEP104 returned 19.8m at 1.77g/t and PEP105 15m at 2.03g/t.
The company said the results point to a flat-lying, surface-mineralised zone perhaps 10m thick spread over a wide area, grading between 1 and 5g/t and often hidden beneath a thin veneer of barren soil.
Orosur also said the picture is proving more complex than first thought, with the high-grade material appearing to be a mix of in-situ mineralisation and heavily weathered rock that may have moved downslope from the neighbouring Pepas deposit.
Orosur CEO Brad George said: “The geological nature of Pepas West is complex as a result of mixing of totally weathered and transported material. However, the grade is there which in the end is all that matters. With Pepas entering feasibility and permitting, additional cheap ounces are worth their weight in gold.”
Because the zone is shallow, weathered and “free-digging,” the company views it as attractive on cost and time in a near-term mining scenario.
It plans to trial a smaller auger rig in the coming weeks to more quickly define the volume and grade than diamond-core drilling allows, while keeping its diamond rig on site to test deeper targets around Pepas West.