Azure’s Managing Director, Tony Rovira , stated: " While the IP and soil sampling surveys are in progress at La Morita and San Simon , we’ ve continued our exploration activities across the wider Alacrán property. Results continue to exceed our expectations, with several new areas returning strong precious and base metal mineralisation which we are following up.
"Specifically, at the Mesa de Plata prospect , which is located nearby to San Simon, we’ ve discovered an extensive new zone of high grade silver mineralisation at surface, where almost every sample returned silver grades in the 30g/t to 100g/t range , and even up to 213g/t.
" In addition , high silver , copper , lead and zinc assays , including bonanza silver grades, have been returned from sampling around newly identified, artisanal mine workings in the north and east of the Alacrán project area.
"La Morita, San Simon, Mesa de Plata and Palo Seco are all exciting drill targets . We will start drilling there as soon as all the necessary approvals are received, which are expected in July ."
EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES
Surface mapping and sampling continued across the Alacrán property , identify ing several new area s prospective for precious and base metal mineralisation.
Mesa de Plata
Mesa de Plata is located approximately one k ilometres north west of San Simon , and fo rms a large plateau of outcropping vuggy silica. It s prospectivity was initially identified by grid soil sampling , with 50 metre spaced samples on 200 m etre spaced lines.
Portable XRF analyser readings of soil samples returned strongly elevated values of silver (up to 64ppm Ag ), lead ( up to 5,929ppm Pb ) antimony ( up to 5,251ppm Sb ) and bismuth ( up to 877ppm Bi ). These are all pathfinder elements indicative of epithermal mineralisation.
A 500 metre long traverse, collecting 15 channel samples of outcrop across the plateau , was und ertaken to follow – up the anomalous soil samples. Consistently h igh grades of silver were returned from all samples, ranging from 16g/t Ag to 213 g/t Ag, and averaging 63g/t Ag.
Similarly, elevated levels of the pathfinder elements were returned from the outcrop sampling (up to 1.13% Pb, >4,000ppm Sb and 1107ppm Bi).
The vuggy silica outcrop that caps the plateau is a n intensely silicifie d , flat – lying volcanic unit , approximately 20 m etre to 30 m etre thick and covering about 15 hectares in area. Similar silica – capped ridges occur further to the north, and Azure is currently underta king exploration in these areas by extending the soil sampl ing grid and undertaking additional outcrop sampling.
The Company is currently planning a drill pr ogram to test the grade, thickness and lateral extent of this vuggy silica unit.
No historical mine workings or evidence of modern exploration activities have been observed in the Mesa de Plata area.
La Morita
Final assays have been received from the systematic sampling of the La Mo rita underground mine workings.
Sampling of the northeast – trending off – shoot tunnel near the end of the adit returned high grade copper assays from exposures hosting moderate to abundant exotic copper mineralisation and mixed sulphide min eralisation . This tunnel returned 17m @ 4.26% Cu , with the better individual channel samples returning 2.5m @ 20.48% Cu, 2.2m @ 2.71% Cu and 1.5m @ 3.12% Cu.
In addition, final assays from sampling of the main tunnel extended the continuous mineralised len gth to 117m @ 0.33% Cu . This mineralised zone contains variable amounts of copper oxide mineralisation.
Geological controls and orientations of La Morita mineralisation are not confirmed at this time. However the presence of significant lengths and widths of copper mineralisation in the adit and the cross – cutting tunnels indicate that it is extensive in at least two dimensions.
The next stage of exploration at La Morita will comprise drill testing down dip extensions of the mineralised zones.
North East Alacrán
Reconnaissance exploration was extended out from the Santa Barbara prospect in the northern and eastern part s of the property . This identified several occurrences of old artisanal mine workings containing visible alteration and base metal mineralisation in and around the workings and on the old mine dumps.
Grab and channel sampling around these workings returned some very high silver assays (up to 2,191g/t Ag ), with strong grades of copper (up to 5.8% Cu ), lead (up to 46.34 % Pb ) and zinc ( up to 3.38% Zn ).
Further detailed mapping and sampling work is required to determine the prospectivity for significant mineralisation in these areas.
