Toro
The TORO gold-silver prospect is located 110 km SE of the city of Copiapó, 20 km SW of the Cerro Casale gold-copper project (Barrick-Goldcorp)
The TORO model corresponds to a high sulfidization «Gold-Silver porphyry with, with quartz-alunite».
Aerial magnetometry, soil geochemistry in grid, geological mapping, trench sampling and 6 RC drill holes were performed.
The basement is constituted in the SE by a Red Beds sediment sequence. In the W these are covered by fossiliferous sandstones and conglomerates. Towards the North there is a thick sequence of volcanoclastic rocks.
The alteration-hydrothermal mineralization is associated with a riodacitic dome and a granodioritic porphyry that intrude the basement.
A NNE structural system seems to be the main control of alteration-mineralization. Silicification and hydrothermal brecciation follow this orientation, however, a local fracturing EW to NE also controls silicification in some places. Most gold and silver values are related to the silicified rhyodacitic dome, to hydrothermal breccias and to silica veinlets in sediments, sub-aligned in a NE direction. The Toro project is located on a magnetic low.
Soil geochemistry shows anomalies of Ag, Au, Pb, Zn, As and Hg in an area of 800 meters NS, by 900 meters EW, open to the south. Notable are the anomalies of lead (up to 1%) and mercury (up to 2,500 ppm).
6 drill holes were made with a total of 1,130 m. All intercepted gold/silver anomalies. The most significant intervals were: 2 m with 1.55 g/t Au; 8 m with 0.69 g/t Au and 26.5 g/t Ag; 6 m with 0.72 g/t Au.
The Lead average of the 518 samples analyzed from trenches and drill holes is 1,200 ppm, of which 19 are over 0.5%, with a maximum value of 1.7%. The high content of Pb and Hg would be indicating a high position of the Toro hydrothermal system, expecting to find a gold porphyry at greater depth. The copper values for the same samples are low, averaging 51 ppm Cu. The real potential for gold-silver of the Toro prospect is still unknown; 80% of the area with hydrothermal alteration has no trenches nor has it been sampled.
The existence of quartz and feldspar porphyry bodies and the structural characteristics of the area are positive evidences of a possible porphyry system of Au-Ag type Maricunga in depth. The high content of Mercury, Lead and Zinc near the surface could indicate that the gold-silver mineralization is at a greater depth. Consequently, it is advisable to carry out an IP-Resistivity survey and execute a drill program that reaches at least 500 meters deep.
Expectations
Geochemistry, geophysics and hydrothermal alteration allow estimating the possible presence of a mineralized body in depth, probably a «Gold Porphyry», hidden by a layer of around 100 to 150 meters of altered rock, anomalous in gold and silver.
The mining project is covered by 900 Ha of concessions.