New Pacific Metals Corp. (TSX-V: NUAG) (OTCQX: NUPMF) is pleased to announce that exploration drilling at the Snake Hole Zone continues to intersect broad zones of silver mineralization and confirms mineral continuity.
The Snake Hole Zone prospect, located approximately 600 metres east of the core area of the Silver Sand deposit, was discovered in late 2019 and returned results such as 279 g/t Ag over 72.44 m, including 517 g/t Ag over 32.96 m in discovery hole DSS5218 (see news release from January 13, 2020).
During the first quarter of 2020, eight new drill holes were completed for a total of 1,589.75 m. The objective of the drill program was to confirm the continuity of silver mineralization as well as to continue to explore the >1,000 m mineralized trend. Seven of the eight holes intersected structurally controlled silver mineralization, of which assay results of six holes have been received and are summarized in Table 1 below, with pending assay results for the remaining two holes. Drill results confirm the continuity of silver mineralization between the holes on section 52, where the initial discovery at Snake Hole was made in 2019.
Table 1: Summary of Snake Hole Zone prospect drill assay results from Q1 2020 drilling.
Drillhole ID | Target | From | To | Length | Weighted Grade Ag (g/t) |
DSS525022 | Snake Hole Zone | 137.50 | 154.03 | 16.53 | 107 |
incl | 137.50 | 145.30 | 7.80 | 216 | |
DSS525023 | Snake Hole Zone | no significant results | |||
DSS5227 | Snake Hole Zone | 45.06 | 75.46 | 30.40 | 172 |
and | 122.53 | 136.80 | 14.27 | 138 | |
DSS5228 | Snake Hole Zone | 57.91 | 97.30 | 39.39 | 126 |
incl | 66.37 | 97.30 | 30.93 | 159 | |
incl | 78.33 | 90.59 | 12.26 | 354 | |
and | 139.00 | 163.60 | 24.60 | 102 | |
incl | 151.47 | 163.60 | 12.13 | 148 | |
DSS5229 | Snake Hole Zone | 134.50 | 144.17 | 9.67 | 166 |
DSS5230 | Snake Hole Zone | 86.15 | 95.00 | 8.85 | 33 |
and | 131.11 | 150.15 | 19.04 | 32 | |
DSS5231 | assay pending | ||||
DSS505020 | assay pending |
Notes:
SNAKE HOLE ZONE
The Snake Hole Zone prospect consists of near-surface artisanal underground workings and related surface dumps which follow several NNW-SSE trending silver-mineralized structures. As is the case with the Silver Sand deposit, historical mining at Snake Hole began during the Spanish colonial era and has continued sporadically to recent times. The workings are developed in altered (bleached) quartz sandstones and are traceable for more than 1,000 m in strike with widths varying from a few metres to locally up to 100 m wide. Geochemical sampling of the workings and mine dumps returned consistent results typically ranging from 100 g/t Ag to 300 g/t Ag.
Surface mapping suggests the mineralized fracture zone remains open to north where it potentially trends undercover towards the Company’s Jisas prospect located approximately two kilometres to the northwest.
COVID-19 & FUTURE WORK
New Pacific’ commitment to the health and safety of its teams and the communities in which it operates is one of the core values of the Company. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and based on guidance and directives from relevant public health authorities, the Company elected to temporarily suspend all field-based operations in Bolivia in mid-March. The Company’s Health & Safety Team has implemented Company-wide safety protocols such as 14-day self-isolation where necessary, travel restrictions, remote working and enhanced hygiene controls. New Pacific continues to monitor the situation and will return to operations when it is deemed safe to do so by international health authorities.
In the interim, the Company is actively completing detailed geological – structural and geochemical studies on the Silver Sand deposit as well as its other exploration properties to support future advanced technical studies.
QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL
HQ-size drill core samples from altered and mineralized intervals are split into halves by diamond saw, with an average sample length of between one to one and a half metres, at the Company’s core processing facility located in Betanzos, a small town located 20 km from the project site. Half core samples are stored in a secure storage facility in Betanzos for future reference, with the other half shipped in securely sealed bags to ALS Global in Oruro, Bolivia for preparation, and ALS Global in Lima, Peru for geochemical analysis. All samples are first analyzed by a multi-element ICP package (ALS code ME-MS41) with ore grade over limits for silver, lead and zinc further analyzed using ALS code OG46. Further silver over limits are analyzed by gravimetric analysis (ALS code of GRA21).
A standard quality assurance and quality control protocol is employed to monitor the quality of sample preparation and analysis. Standards of certified reference materials and blanks are inserted into the normal core sample sequences prior to shipping to the lab at a ratio of 20:1 (i.e., every 20 samples contain at least one standard sample and one blank sample). Duplicate samples of coarse rejects at a ratio of 20:1 are sent to a second internationally accredited lab for check analysis. The assay results of QAQC samples of standards and blanks do not show any significant bias of analysis or contamination during sample preparation.
Technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Alex Zhang, P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration, who is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.
About New Pacific
New Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company which owns the Silver Sand Project in Potosí Department, Bolivia and the Tagish Lake gold project in Yukon, Canada.
Vizsla Silver Corp. (TSX-V: VZLA) (NYSE: VZLA) (Frankfurt: 0G3) i... READ MORE
Reunion Gold Corporation (TSX-V: RGD) (OTCQX: RGDFF) is pleased t... READ MORE
STLLR Gold Inc. (TSX: STLR) (OTCQX: STLRF) (FSE: O9D) announces ... READ MORE
Consolidated copper production is expected to average 153,000i to... READ MORE
Aya Gold & Silver Inc. (TSX: AYA) (OTCQX: AYASF) is pleased t... READ MORE