Las Pintadas
LAS PINTADAS is a gold prospect located 12 km west of the Cerro Casale project (Barrick-Goldcorp). In the area there is a sequence of andesites and tuffs intercalated with sandstones, conglomerates and shale, intruded by dacitic and andesitic porphyries. These rocks are affected by a strong hydrothermal alteration that varies from argillic to quartz-sericite, with local presence of K feldspar in veinlets and disseminated. Locally is observed the presence of hydrothermal breccias and stockworks of gray and white quartz veinlets.
ENAMI (Empresa Nacional de Minería),owner of 50% of this prospect, made 21 IP-resistivity lines with a total of 31.5 km in an area of 2 x 1.5 km. Four zones with a strong chargeability anomaly were detected, which are linked by lower chargeability in an NW strip of 300 to 600 meters wide and a minimum of two kilometers in length (open to NW and SE). This extensive IP anomaly is supported by numerous anomalous gold and copper geochemical values.
Expectations
For LAS PINTADAS, a «Porphyry Gold-Copper» model of the Cerro Casale or Refugio type is proposed.
For the next stage of reconnaissance, the construction of trenches for continuous rock sampling and then exploration drilling has been recommended.