Turmalina Completes Mapping and Sampling Program and Prepares for Phase 2 Drilling Campaign
Turmalina Metals Corp. (“Turmalina” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce that the company has completed a project-scale mapping and sampling program at the San Francisco project (the “Project”), resulting in multiple new drill targets.
Highlights
Completion of project-wide mapping and sampling program
Program included 4494 soil samples, 1240 rock chip samples and mapping of 60 breccias
Rock chip samples from one of the high priority exploration targets included 79 g/t gold, 385 g/t silver and 7.7% copper.
Drill program to commence targeting both expansion of initial breccia drilled in 2019 and new discoveries.
Energold Drilling has been contracted to conduct the upcoming drilling program at the Project, located in the mining-friendly state of San Juan, Argentina.
Two diamond drill rigs will be utilized to drill a total of 4000m at the Project, with drilling expected to commence in late March. Approximately 2000m will be drilled at the San Francisco de Los Andes breccia pipe (“SFdLA“) testing for extensions to high-grade gold-silver-copper mineralisation encountered in 2019. The remaining 2000m will test several mineralised breccia pipes identified during the recently completed mapping program.
Turmalina’s initial drill program at the SFdLA breccia pipe in 2019 intersected high-grade gold-silver mineralization in multiple holes (i.e. 36.95m @ 6.31 g/t Au, 122 g/t Ag & 0.88% Cu for 8.7 g/t AuEq; see Turmalina News Release dated December 9, 2019 for details). This 2019 campaign tested the top 150m of the breccia pipe, with mineralisation remaining open at depth and along strike (Figure 1). The planned drill holes will test below existing intersections to a depth of ~400m below surface, as well as target along-strike extensions to the breccia evident in surface mapping and sampling.
Over the last four months the Company has conducted an aggressive mapping and sampling program in order to prioritize the large number of other breccias on the Project (Figure 2). With approximately 1240 rock chip and 4494 soil samples taken to date this program has identified and sampled 60 breccia occurrences. Of these, twelve breccia pipes have undergone detailed follow-up studies based on anomalous assay results that included maximum rock chip assay results of 79 g/t gold, 385 g/t silver and 7.7 % copper (Figures 3 & 4). Four of these pipes are scheduled to be drill tested to a depth of 150m in the upcoming drilling program (Figure 6).
Dr. Rohan Wolfe, Chief Executive Officer, states:
“Turmalina is looking forward to commencing Phase 2 drilling at San Francisco. While our drilling in 2019 returned multiple holes with high grades it is important to note that we only drill tested the top 150m of the SFdLA breccia pipe. We look forward to extending drilling beneath and along-strike from the 2019 drill holes – drill holes that indicated the pipe dimensions were increasing with depth. Furthermore our recently completed field program has identified multiple mineralised breccia pipes in the adjacent area, with rock chip assay results of up to 79 g/t gold at one of the high-priority targets. With our recent raising of $9.7M we now have a strong balance sheet to support the exploration and development of our projects.”
About the San Francisco Project, San Juan, Argentina
The 3404 ha San Francisco project is located in San Juan, Argentina. The project area contains more than 60 tourmaline breccia occurrences, several of which have supported small-scale mining. The Company is focused on mapping and sampling the breccias, and drill testing prioritised targets.
About the Turmalina Project, Piura, Peru
Turmalina has entered into an agreement to explore the Turmalina copper-gold molybdenum project located in Piura, Peru (the ‘Turmalina Project’). The Turmalina Project hosts a cluster of undrilled tourmaline breccias that were historically mined for copper, gold and molybdenum. The Company is currently engaged in the permitting process and will commence exploration on completion of permitting and the filing of a 43-101 report.
Work Program
The field program at San Francisco extended geological mapping, portable XRF analysis and geochemical sampling (rock chips and soils) over the entire Project area. High-priority breccia targets defined by this first-pass sampling are subject to detailed mapping and channel sampling prior to the selection of drill targets for the March 2020 drill program. The company is also consolidating our regional holdings as San Francisco is located within an 80 km long gold-copper mineralised belt.
At the Turmalina Project in Peru, the Company is conducting social studies and applying for all required permits prior to commencing exploration.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical data contained in this news release pertaining to the San Francisco and Turmalina projects has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Rohan Wolfe, Chief Executive Officer, MAIG, who serves as the Qualified Person (QP) under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.
On Behalf of the Company,
Dr. Rohan Wolfe, Chief Executive Officer and Director.
Email: rohan@turmalinametals.com
Mobile: +976 9999 6994
Website: turmalinametals.com
Address: #488 – 1090 West Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6E 3V7.
For Investor Relations enquiries, please contact Bryan Slusarchuk at +1 833 923 3334 (toll free) or via info@turmalinametals.com.
Statements
About Turmalina Metals and the San Francisco Project: Turmalina Metals is a TSXV-listed exploration company focused on developing our portfolio of high grade gold-copper-silver-molybdenum projects in South America. Our focus is on tourmaline breccias, a deposit style overlooked by many explorers. Turmalina Metals is led by a team responsible for multiple gold-copper molybdenum discoveries who are highly experienced in this deposit style. Our projects are characterised by open high-grade mineralisation on established mining licenses that present compelling drill targets. The principle project held by Turmalina is the San Francisco project in San Juan, Argentina. For further information on the San Francisco Project, refer to the technical report entitled “NI43-101 Technical Report San Francisco Copper Gold Project, San Juan Province, Argentina” dated November 17, 2019 under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com.
Forward Looking Statement: This news release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as “anticipates”, “plan”, “continue”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “potential”, “proposed”, “positioned” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks (including those risk factors identified in the Corporation’s prospectus dated November 21, 2019) and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Corporation is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.