Mariana Resources has commenced 2011 drilling campaign at the Los Amigos joint venture (JV) area in Argentina.
The JV covers properties located in the western sector of the highly prospective Deseado Massif gold-silver province of Santa Cruz.
Mariana Resources holds a 49% interest in the JV, while Hochschild Mining holds the remaining stake and is the operator.
The Bajo quartz vein system is located in the western part of the JV area and comprises sub-outcrop and float of a NW trending swarm of drusy quartz veins with associated breccias, iron oxides, silicification and sinter bodies characteristic of epithermal vein systems.
The vein swarm is hosted by rhyolitic ignimbrites and tuffs and strikes for five kilometers with individual quartz veins from 0.4m to 1m wide.
It has coincident chargeability induced polarisation anomalies, magnetic lows and strongly anomalous molybdenum (7,000 ppm maximum), gold (1g/t maximum) and arsenic (2,560 ppm maximum) in rock chips (61 samples).
Alteration suites identified are consistent with known epithermal systems in the Deseado Massif and include kaolinite, illite and smectite.
Mariana Resources is an exploration and development firm with a portfolio of gold, silver and copper projects in Argentina and Chile.