Aurcana Corporation (TSX:AUN)  is pleased to provide a further update of the exploration drilling programme at Shafter, Texas.

Five exploration core holes were completed on the western portion of the property, approximately 1.4 miles west-southwest of the current mineral resource area and 900 feet from the 400 level of the historical Mina Grande West underground workings of the Presidio Mine.

The programme was intended to test for new styles of mineralization in the district, centered upon high gold and silver intervals that were intersected in SD-264 and SDH17-468.  Now a third hole, SDH17-472, has also intersected highly anomalous gold mineralization approximately 700 feet to the west-northwest. Again, it is spatially associated with highly brecciated and altered lower Mina Grande limestone, iron mineralization and intrusive dykes.

For comparison results for SD-264 and SDH17-468 (previously released) include:

There has not been enough drilling to define the orientation of mineralized structures and true thicknesses are uncertain. Drill holes SDH17-469 and 470 did not intersect gold-silver mineralization of note in the lower Mina Grande position. Drill hole SDH17-471 did not target mineralization.

The Shafter and Presidio deposits are manto-style zones of silver mineralization located in the uppermost massive limestone units of the Permian-aged Mina Grade Formation. This mineralization has been classified as an oxidized “carbonate replacement deposit” similar in origin to the large polymetallic deposits located south of Shafter in Mexico.  The lower Mina Grande intervals reported here are different, with evidence of strong brecciation, open-space fillings “jasperoid” and specular hematite-quartz mineralization. Trace elements suggest a possible geochemical connection to an epithermal origin for the gold at Shafter, but exploration in this new environment is at too early a stage to allow getting locked-in to any one exploration model. The initial target area is an 800 by 600 foot “hockey stick”-shaped target area concealed by 250 to 500 feet of un-mineralized Cretaceous cover that is open for expansion south and west.

In previous operations at Shafter gold has been recovered as an incidental by-product of silver in the Merrill-Crowe circuit. Grades within the resource area are not known but are assumed to be an order of magnitude less than those reported in this new area.

Aurcana is strongly encouraged by the results to date and intends to press ahead with its low-cost, paced approach to exploration at Shafter. Results to date indicate more work is necessary, including additional drilling to define the orientation, nature and significance of the gold-bearing structures. Geological mapping, sampling and geophysical surveys may precede the next phase of drilling.

Aurcana has implemented a programme of QA/QC procedures to insure sample integrity and reliable results. Core samples are logged on site at Shafter and sent to ALS Global’s Mineral Division laboratory in Tucson, Arizona for sample preparation. Final analyses and assays are done at ASL Global’s North Vancouver, BC facilities.

Jerry Blackwell, P.Geo., Director of Aurcana, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.

The Shafter Silver Project is located in Presidio County, Southwestern Texas, centered upon the historical Presidio Mine and the un-mined Shafter Deposit.  For more information, including a current Preliminary Economic Assessment go to the website at www.aurcana.com or the company’s disclosure documents housed at www.sedar.com.

ABOUT AURCANA CORPORATION
 

Aurcana Corporation owns the Shafter Silver Project in Texas, US. The Shafter Silver Project was put on care and maintenance in December 2013.