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Impressive Intersection of 103m @ 9.0 g/t Au and 2.2% Cu from Initial Drilling at the Hot Maden Prospect, Eastern Turkey
Mariana Resources Ltd , the AIM listed exploration and development company with projects in South America and Turkey, has reported that its JV partner and operator Lidya Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., earning 70%) has completed an initial 9 hole / 1,647 m diamond drill program at the Hot Maden Prospect in eastern Turkey (Figs 1, 2a & 2b) with excellent initial results. Assays have now been received for the first four holes (HTD-01 to HTD-04), and are pending for the remaining five holes (HTD-04A to HTD-07A).
Highlights from the first four holes:
– Drill hole HTD-04 intersected 103m @ 9.0 g/t Au & 2.2 % Cu from 25m, associated with silicified andesite breccias and massive sulphides (pyrite-chalcopyrite-bornite)
– The intersection included a significantly higher grade massive sulphide zone averaging 18.3 g/t Au & 3.3% Cu over 33.4m from 79.8m downhole
– Zinc mineralisation was also intersected below the Au-Cu zone in HTD-04 with 2m @ 7.0% Zn (from 140m), 6m @ 3.2% Zn (from 154m) and 4m @ 5.7% Zn (from 166m)
– HTD-04 mineralisation is effectively blind with post-mineralisation overburden and clay cover
– Assays pending for HTD-05 and HTD-06 drilled along the inferred strike, 100m north and south of HTD-04 respectively
– Drill holes HTD-01 to HTD-03 included a bonanza grade gold intercept of 1m @ 121 g/t Au (nearly 4 ounces/t Au) and 5 intervals containing >5g/t Au with associated elevated copper values up to 1.16%
Chief Executive Officer Glen Parsons today commented, “We are extremely excited with these significant results, which are game changing not only for the Hot Maden Prospect but also for Mariana. Our objective with this drill programme was to assess the potential for an Au-Cu discovery, however these grades and the extent of mineralisation in Hole 4 with 103m at 9g/t Au and over 2% Cu from 25m have surpassed expectations. These results have taken Hot Maden to the next level especially considering the context of the large alteration area on surface still to be explored and the project’s location in a world-class gold-copper address in the Tethyan Cu Au porphyry belt, just 14km from the +1Moz Eldorado/Ariana Salinbas Project. With this in mind, we look forward to receiving the results from the remaining five holes from our fully funding JV Partner, Lidya, at which point together we will decide on the next steps for Hot Maden.”
“Mariana’s portfolio strategy and ability to identify potential standalone ‘company-maker’ projects offering both scale and prospectivity is yielding exciting results at this early stage. The decision to takeover Aegean Metals and our belief in the assets especially with these amazing results at the Hot Maden prospect has been extremely rewarding considering the value accretion that has been achieved in just four holes.”
“Mariana has an aggressive exploration programme for its assets for 2015 with drilling planned at Soledad and Rurimarac in Peru, its Argentinean assets and the Nassau Gold Project in Suriname. With this in mind, there will be significant newsflow on all fronts and I look forward to keeping the market updated.”
