- 104 million inferred silver ounces to date and growing.
- NI 43-101 report released June 25, 2008.
- $20 million 2008 exploration budget.
- 10 kms of strike length in 2 sub-parallel zones.
- High grade zone - 400m depth and 650m strike.
The San Miguel project is located in Chihuahua, Mexico and lies in the Temoris mining district, part of the prolific gold-silver belt of the Sierra Madre Occidental. It can be accessed by vehicle and railway and has well-developed infrastructure with a recently constructed 33,000 volt power line. Gold/silver mineralization in the project area occurs as quartz veins and breccias within the west-northwest- and north-northwest-striking faults.
In August, 2005, Tara Gold Resources signed an agreement with Paramount Gold Mining Corp. giving Paramount the right to earn up to a 70% interest in the project by spending US$2.5 million, delivering 700,000 shares, and making various payments to Tara Gold. Paramount Gold is the operator of the project and manages the exploration program. An exploration program budget of $20 million for 2008 has been approved by the joint venture partners. A total of approximately 17,510 metres diamond drilling and 7,110 metres RC drilling have been budgeted for 2008. Additional drilling is also planned for four areas on the Guazapares structure where approximately 28,910 metres diamond drilling and 14,490 metres RC drilling are budgeted for 2008. Approximately 14,180 metres diamond drilling is also budgeted for the Santa Clara, Guadalupe de los Reyes and San Juan-Rosario concession areas.
San Miguel is currently comprised of 16 concessions covering two sub-parallel mineralized zones approximately 10 kms strike lenght of silver and gold mineralization. The San Miguel project has been divided into four zones, each with different geology, and thus, with a different development strategy, including the San Antonio Zone, San Luis Mine Zone, Montecristo Zone, and San Miguel Zone.
69 trenches totalling 3899 metres in various exploration areas along the Guazapares Fault structure have been completed. The trenches have been mapped and sampled and have guided diamond drilling. Channel sampling of surface outcrops and roadcuts was also completed at the San Miguel vein in the Batosegachic Fault structure approximately 3 km west of the Guazapares Fault.
Diamond core drilling was initiated in April 2006. As of April 30th, 2008, 176 HQ size diamond drill holes (2.5 inch core) have been completed totalling 34,926 metres. 132 of the holes have been drilled in mineralised areas along the Guazapares Fault structure and 44 holes have targeted the San Miguel vein in the Batosegachic Fault. Drill core from all holes has been photographed, logged, split, sampled, and analysed by ALS-Chemex Laboratory for silver, gold, lead and zinc, as well as a suite of trace elements. The diamond drill program is ongoing, with two diamond drills operating on the San Miguel vein.
The NI 43-101 compliant report was recently completed by ACA Howe International Ltd. on behalf of Paramount Gold, the operator. The report calculated that at a cut-off grade of 25 g/tonne of silver equivalent, undiluted Indicated Resources totaled 1.36 million tonnes grading 71 g/tonne silver and 0.27 g/tonne gold. Inferred Resources totaled 29.5 million tonnes grading 67 g/tonne silver and 0.43 g/tonne gold. This is equivalent to 104 million inferred silver ounces or 2 million inferred gold equivalent ounces.
Drilling has outlined a zone of higher-grade mineralisation at the San Miguel vein structure referred to as “Clavo 99”. Drilling to date has shown that “Clavo 99” persists for nearly 400 metres below the surface and has a strike length of at least 650 metres at this depth. “Clavo 99” mineralisation remains open to the southeast and at depth, and its northwest limit is not well defined. The San Miguel vein structure continues to be the current exploration focus at the San Miguel project with two diamond drills actively delineating the “Clavo 99” mineralised shoot and testing the extensions of the San Miguel vein.
The Batosegachic Fault structure trends north-northwest of the “Clavo 99” mineralisation for an additional 1 km. This section of the structure remains relatively untested and exploratory drilling is warranted. The Guazapares structure is also highly prospective and additional exploratory and infill drilling is warranted to follow-up the mineralisation intersected in surface trenches and drill holes to date both along strike to the NNW and SSE and down-dip.
The report recommends infill drilling to better define the existing resource, preliminary metallurgical testing and additional exploration along strike. Extensive work is currently being carried out.
All tables, maps and results have been provided by and reproduced with the permission of Paramount Gold & Silver Corp., the project operator.