Initial Drilling at Chanape Intersects Shallow Au-Ag Mineralisation in Multiple Breccias
Vancouver, B.C., Turmalina Metals Corp. (“Turmalina”, or the “Company”; TBX-TSXV, TBXXF-OTCQX) is pleased to announce that initial drilling at the Chanape project (“Chanape” or the “Project”), located 87 km east of Lima, Peru, has intersected extensive gold-silver mineralisation in the first breccias to be drill tested by the Company. This release summarizes the first results of the program representing 1003.7 m from four holes of a planned 2,300 m drill program.
Selected intercepts from this first batch of results include:
Breccia 8:
39.6m @ 3.79 g/t Au, 18 g/t Ag & 0.45% Cu (4.7 g/t EqAu); CHT-DDH-034 from 60m.
Including 8.5m @ 9.2 g/t Au, 27 g/t Ag and 0.48% Cu (10 g/t EqAu) from 65.5m.
Breccia San Antonio:
33m @ 1.55 g/t Au, 66 g/t Ag, 0.18% Cu & 1.7% Zn (2.6 g/t EqAu); CHT-DDH-037 from 31.4m.
Including 10.3m @ 4.2 g/t Au, 75 g/t Ag, 0.28 % Cu & 4.5% Zn (5.6 g/t EqAu) from 47.9m.
The Chanape project is characterised by multiple tourmaline gold-silver-copper (Au-Ag-Cu) breccia pipes, with over fifty identified to date. Detailed samplingalong with favourable rock chip and channel assays led to the prioritisation of Breccia 8, Breccias 10 & 11 and the San Antonio Breccia to be tested by the first holes of this drill program. The Clint Breccia, which does not outcrop but has been intercepted by previous drill campaigns, will also be drill tested during this program.
Drill hole CHT-DDH-034 tested the extent of shallow Au-Ag mineralisation at the approximately 80 m wide Breccia 8. Drill holes CHT-DDH-035 and CHT-DDH-036 tested the shallow long-section and cross-section respectively of the approximately 110 m by 50 m Breccias 10 & 11, while CHT-DDH-037 tested the shallow levels of the approximately 40 m wide San Antonio Breccia (Figures 1 to 5).
The Au-Ag grades indicate strong potential for high-grade copper-gold-silver grade mineralisation at depth. The Company currently has one drill conducting deeper drilling under the best intersections and testing of additional priority targets.
Mr James Rogers, Chief Executive Officer, states:
“The initial drill results from our Chanape drill program are highly encouraging, and we look forward to testing the deeper zones of these breccias which are typically larger, higher-grade and copper-rich. This first-pass of drilling is intended to systematically test a number of breccias defined by our sampling and mapping programs, with a goal of defining the best breccias for deeper follow-up drilling.”
Tourmaline breccias typically display strong vertical zonation, with Au-Ag in the narrow top (the ‘roof’) of the breccia pipe underlain by deeper and broader high-grade Cu-Au-Ag mineralisation. This is seen in historic drilling at Chanape, where shallow Au-Ag bearing breccias such as Breccia 8 (i.e. 64 m @ 0.87 g/t Au & 25 g/t Ag from 0 m; CHDDH012) are found 200 m above deeper Cu-Au breccias such as Clint (i.e. 71 m @ 1.92 % Cu, 0.81 g/t Au & 41 g/t Ag from 232 m; CHDDH013).
Table 1 Phase 1 drill hole intersections at the Chanape Project.
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Interval (m) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | Cu (%) | Pb (%) | Zn (%) | AuEq g/t | CuEq (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHT-DDH-034 | composite | 34.6 | 41 | 6.4 | 1.67 | 23.86 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 2.04 | 1.34 |
| CHT-DDH-034 | composite | 60 | 99.6 | 39.6 | 3.79 | 18.38 | 0.45 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 4.71 | 3.1 |
| CHT-DDH-034 | including | 65.5 | 74 | 8.5 | 9.21 | 27.44 | 0.48 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 10.28 | 6.76 |
| CHT-DDH-035 | composite | 14.5 | 221.4 | 206.9 | 0.42 | 3.64 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.04 | 0.49 | 0.32 |
| CHT-DDH-035 | including | 14.5 | 109 | 94.5 | 0.59 | 4.44 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.06 | 0.66 | 0.44 |
| CHT-DDH-035 | including | 70.9 | 82.5 | 11.6 | 0.91 | 10.22 | 0.03 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1.09 | 0.72 |
| CHT-DDH-036 | composite | 138.6 | 140.7 | 2.1 | 0.85 | 2.5 | 0 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.89 | 0.58 |
| CHT-DDH-036 | composite | 174.1 | 221 | 46.9 | 0.37 | 4.23 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.48 | 0.32 |
| CHT-DDH-036 | including | 176.6 | 187.6 | 11 | 0.55 | 2.57 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.64 | 0.42 |
| CHT-DDH-036 | composite | 308.4 | 316.6 | 8.2 | 0.22 | 6.05 | 0.06 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.39 | 0.26 |
| CHT-DDH-037 | composite | 31.4 | 64.8 | 33.4 | 1.55 | 66.21 | 0.18 | 1.7 | 0.02 | 2.66 | 1.75 |
| CHT-DDH-037 | including | 47.9 | 58.2 | 10.3 | 4.25 | 75.87 | 0.28 | 4.45 | 0.04 | 5.64 | 3.71 |
*Intersections are not true widths and additional drilling and geological modelling of the mineralised zones in the breccia pipes is required to determine the true widths of the drill hole intersections. Intersections are selected based on a 0.5 g/t Au or 0.3% Cu cut-off grade, a minimum downhole length of 2 m and a maximum waste inclusion of 2 consecutive meters. Equivalent gold (AuEq) and equivalent copper (CuEq) values are calculated assuming 100% recovery using USD$ 1670/t oz Au, $21/t oz Ag and $7900/t Cu (~$3.6/lb Cu)
Table 2 Chanape diamond drill hole locations and targets included in this release.
| Hole ID | mE (EPSG 32718) | mN (EPSG 32718) | Elevation (m) | Azimuth | Dip | Depth (m) | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHT-DDH-034 | 362202 | 8681746 | 4610 | 1.5 | -50 | 179.5 | Breccia 8 |
| CHT-DDH-035 | 362575 | 8681646 | 4721 | 250 | -60 | 250.1 | Breccia 10 & 11 |
| CHT-DDH-036 | 362409 | 8681656 | 4691 | 110 | -60 | 455.9 | Breccia 10 & 11 |
| CHT-DDH-037 | 362388 | 8682285 | 4501 | 44 | -60 | 118.2 | Breccia San Antonio |
About the Chanape Project
The 677 ha Chanape copper-gold project is located approximately 87 km east of Lima and is accessed via 24 km of unpaved road from Turmalina’s operational centre in the town of San Damian. The Project contains several strongly mineralised tourmaline breccia pipes that are clustered around a large, copper-molybdenum mineralised intrusion. Historical drill holes have confirmed mineralisation in breccia pipes and recent surface geological mapping have added new mineralised bodies for follow-up.
Turmalina’s work to date has been focused on interpreting historic work while mapping and sampling over 50 documented tourmaline breccias and epithermal veins at the project and drill-testing the best targets. A phreato-magmatic breccia, measuring 700 m by 200 m has also been identified as a potential target for bulk tonnage mineralisation, hosting a gold anomaly that is coincident with a chargeability high (IP)”.
Turmalina has an option to acquire 100% of the Chanape Project.
Other Projects
The 34,600 ha San Francisco project is located in San Juan, Argentina. The project area contains over 60 tourmaline breccias and numerous epithermal vein occurrences, several of which have supported small-scale mining. The Company is focused on mapping and sampling the breccias and veins in the project area, and drill testing the highest priority targets.
On Behalf of the Company,
Mr James Rogers Chief Executive Officer and Director.
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 our projects: Turmalina Metals is a TSXV-listed exploration company focused on developing our portfolio of high-grade gold-copper-silver 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-silver discoveries who are highly experienced in this deposit style. Our projects are characterised by open high-grade mineralization on established mining licenses that present compelling drill targets. The principal 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. Turmalina is also exploring the Chanape project in Peru. For further information on Chanape please refer to the technical report “National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Chanape Gold-Silver-Copper Project” dated July 5, 2022 under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com.
Sampling and Analytic procedure: Turmalina Metals follows systematic sampling and analytical protocols which exceed industry standards and are summarized below.
All drill holes are PQ, HQ or NQ diameter diamond core holes. At Chanape drill core is collected at the drill site and transported by vehicle to the Turmalina core logging facility in San Damian where recovery measurements are taken before the core is photographed and geologically logged. The core is then cut in half with a diamond saw blade with half the sample retained in the core box for future reference and the other half placed into a pre-labelled plastic bag, sealed with a plastic zip tie, and identified with a unique sample number. The core is typically sampled over a 0.5 to 1.5 metre sample interval unless the geologist determines the presence of an important geological contact. In this case, the samples can have a minimum of 20 centimetres length. The bagged samples are then stored in a secure area pending shipment to the ALS laboratory in Lima where they are dried, crushed and pulverized. Following sample preparation the prepared pulps are then analysed using a 50g digested sample with fire assay-AA finish analysis for gold and four acid digestion with ICP-MS analysis for 53 other elements. Samples with results that exceed maximum detection values for gold are re-analysed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish and other elements of interest are re-analysed using precise ore-grade ICP analytical techniques. Turmalina Metals independently inserts certified control standards, coarse field blanks and duplicates into the sample stream to monitor data quality. These standards are inserted “blindly” to the laboratory in the sample sequence prior to departure from the Turmalina Metals core storage facilities.
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, Technical Advisor, MAIG, who serves as the Qualified Person (QP) under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.
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.
There is no assurance when the government-imposed measures related to COVID-19 in Argentina and Peru will be lifted. There is uncertainty over the form and duration of government measures and multiple policy changes may occur with regards to these measures over time. The Company may not provide updates on various government measures and changes to these measures as they occur. Protocols related to COVID-19, and the effects of the pandemic on service providers located throughout South America, may lead to delays in the future reporting of results.