VANCOUVER, Nov. 3 /CNW/ - Peter Bradshaw, President and Chief Executive
Officer of First Point Minerals Corp., announced that the company has
completed a first-phase mapping, sampling and hand trenching exploration
program at the Cacamuya gold-silver property in southern Honduras. This work
has resulted in the identification of new gold targets, which appear to have
similar geological characteristics to the high-grade, low sulphidation,
epithermal gold-silver mineralization in the Cerro Chachagua target.
Values up to 104.7 grams/tonne gold (3.05 ounces/ton) and 743 grams/tonne
silver (21.7 ounces/ton) over a 6.2 meter (20.5 foot) interpreted true width
were previously intersected in the Cerro Chachagua target by the Battle
Mountain/Breakwater joint venture in 1995-96. During this 14-hole diamond
drill program, designed to evaluate the property for bulk gold, four of five
holes that tested the structure intersected ore grade mineralization over an
average width greater than 3 meters.
The most significant new mineralized target area is near hole 4 that is
located 300 m north of the Cerro Chachagua zone. This hole, previously
drilled by the Battle Mountain/Breakwater joint venture, intersected two
mineralized zones grading 18.1 grams/tonne gold over 1.1 metres and 19.1
grams/tonne gold over 4.0 meters. A trench excavated by First Point and
located 100 meters north of hole 4 exposed a quartz vein with a grade of 1.32
grams/tonne gold over a 2.5 meter true width. A second trench, 150 meters
north of hole 4, encountered 2.2 grams/tonne gold over 7 meters open ended in
both directions in strongly altered volcanics. These trenches lie within the
northern margin of a broad, greater than 100 ppb gold, soil anomaly, which is
open to the east and northeast in the area of recently defined 608 and 933 ppb
gold stream silt anomalies. The gold values at surface, style of
mineralization and widths in hole 4 and the first trench are similar to the
anomalous surface values and ore grade intersections at the Cerro Chachagua
target to the south. Further work is required to define the nature and
geometry of targets in this area, particularly off the soil grid to the
northeast.
First Point also mapped portions of the main target region and plotted
all data from an earlier grid controlled soil survey consisting of more than
2,200 samples that had been analyzed for 32 elements by ICP and gold by fire
assay. This work indicates the character of quartz filling and replacement
and coincident soil anomalies dramatically changes along the strike of the
Cerro Chachagua and surrounding targets in a roughly east-west trending belt
that measures at least 1 by 3 kms. Typical epithermal vein characteristics
and strong Au soil anomalies, dominate the eastern third of the target area
but change to pervasively silicified sediments in central regions where Au is
more diffuse and Mn and Mg are strongly anomalous. Still farther west, and
both topographically and stratigraphically higher in the upper volcanic
package, siliceous breccias and intensely sericite or argillically altered
volcanics correlate with very strong As and Mo soil anomalies.
Geological and geochemical patterns, coupled with known mineralized
structures, suggest that mineralizing events are controlled by a broad pattern
of older northeast structures which are cut by younger east-striking breaks
like the Cerro Chachagua zone. The entire 1 by 3 km region of intersecting
structures and coincident known mineralization, soil anomalies and alteration
features is considered a high potential exploration target for bonanza grade
gold-silver mineralization.
The company plans to complete additional surface work this year to
further define targets prior to a significant drill program to commence during
the dry season early next year.
First Point entered into an option agreement with Battle Mountain Gold in
March, 1999, to purchase Battle Mountain's 60% interest in the Cacamuya
Gold-Silver Property in southern Honduras. Breakwater Resources holds the
remaining 40% interest in the property.
First Points' shares trade on the Alberta Stock Exchange under the symbol
FPX. |
