Minera IRL Announces Exploration Update, Escondido Project, Argentina
London and Toronto, 3 March 2011: Minera IRL Limited (“Minera IRL” or the “Company”), (TSX:IRL) (AIM:MIRL) (BVL:MIRL) the Latin American focused gold mining, development and exploration company, announces an exploration update at the Escondido Project in Patagonia, Argentina. Assay results have now been received from 9 new widely spaced holes into the
Northern Breccia trend.
Highlights:
• Best intersections into the bulk tonnage target area include
E-D10-020 with 33.5 meters grading 0.89g/t gold and 2.83g/t silver, including 10.2 meters of 1.83g/t gold and 4.45 g/t silver and E-D10-24 with 17.0 meters grading 1.13g/t gold and 8.23g/t silver
• A new IP Gradient Array geophysical survey east of the previous IP grid has defined a highly encouraging resistivity and conductivity anomaly along the untested 900 meter south-easterly trending extension of the Northern Breccia trend
• The next stage of diamond drilling into the Northern Breccia Zone, with a program of approximately 4,000 meters, is scheduled to commence during March 2011
Minera IRL Limited announced a new discovery in September 2010 at the Escondido Project, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Drilling identified wide zones of potentially bulk minable gold and silver mineralization, contiguous to Mariana Resources Las Calandrias Project. More encouraging assay intersections have now been received from the widely spaced second-pass scout drilling program carried out in December 2010. The drill program confirms that mineralization extends over almost 700 meters of strike from the northern tenement boundary and remains open-ended toward both the east and south-east.
Results have also been received from an extended IP Gradient Array geophysical survey which shows a wide resistivity anomaly over the remaining 900 meters of untested ground between the current drilling and the eastern boundary of the Escondido tenement block. A substantial, chargeability anomaly coincident with the resistivity has also been identified. The extended geophysics provides another excellent drill target for the 4,000 meter diamond drill program about to commence in March.
“The recent drill results provide a significant step forward in progressing our immediate objective of probing the limits of mineralization on the Escondido Northern Breccia trend” said Courtney Chamberlain, Executive Chairman of Minera IRL. “A new fence of holes to the south east has confirmed continuity of gold/silver mineralization along strike of a newly defined chargeability high within a broad resistivity geophysical anomaly. This confirms a strong probability for disseminated sulphide mineralization within a silicified zone giving us another excellent target for the pending drilling program.”
Selected intercepts from the second pass Escondido scout drilling are tabulated below.
minera-irl.com
Minera IRL considers that there are several significant findings in these results. Hole E-D10-024 confirms the presence of precious metal mineralization in a central area where results reported in September 2010 were weak. Gold and silver values from step out holes E-D10-027 and E-D10-033 suggest mineralization is open toward the south-east where extended geophysics has identified highly encouraging drill targets spanning over 900 meters.
Additional information on Escondido, including plans and drill sections as well as the extended geophysical images, can be found on the Minera IRL website www.minera-irl.com
In addition, Minera IRL continues to advance the Don Nicolas feasibility study and is actively exploring a number of highly promising grass roots precious metal prospects that are also located within the 2,700 square kilometre lease holding in Patagonia. |
