Company Press Release
Argentina Gold Corp.: Drilling Commences at Veladero
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 1997-- ARGENTINA GOLD(VSE:ARP - news) Argentina Gold Corp. (the ''Company'') is pleased to announce that a 20,000 metre drilling program started yesterday, December 15, 1997 at the Company's Veladero gold exploration project in San Juan, Argentina. The drilling program will initially focus on the Filo Federico target and be conducted in two 10,000 metre stages. The Filo Federico target was tested at the end of the 1996/1997 exploration season by Hole 55 which returned 168 metres of 2.7 grams per tonne gold and ended in strong mineralization. The geological, geochemical and geophysical evidence indicates a large potential for economic gold mineralization at this and other northern Veladero targets. The results from last season support intense drill testing and geological modeling to be the focus of the 1997/1998 season aiming for the definition of an economic deposit.
Initially, one drill rig will be in operation. It is expected that a second rig will be on site by December 20th and a third rig is expected to be available by the end of January. Assaying will be conducted by CIMM of Chile.
The Company's Veladero project is a joint venture with Barrick Gold Corporation [NYSE:ABX - news] who hold a 40 percent non-operating interest. At the northern end of Veladero, the Company had outlined in the 1996/1997 exploration season a large CSAMT (Controlled-Source Audio Magnetotellurics) geophysical anomaly coincident with 2.8 by 3.4 kilometre gold geochemical anomaly and alteration zone known as Cerro Pelado. Within Cerro Pelado there are several target areas, including the 2,000 by 500 metre zone of highly silicified re- brecciation known as Filo Federico.
The strongly fractured and re-brecciated lithologies at the Veladero project host gold mineralization as both fine grained sulphides in silica and oxides filling joints, voids and fractures. These eruption breccias are very similar to those present at Barrick's Pascua and Tambo deposits in Chile and constitute the main type of geological host where mineralization has been encountered on the El Indio Gold Belt. The Pascua deposit is less than 10 kilometres from the Company's Cerro Pelado area and has gold reserves of over 17 million ounces.
Argentina Gold Corp. has gold exploration properties encompassing over 560,000 hectares covering over 80 percent of the extension of Chile's rich El Indio Gold Belt into Argentina.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
''J. Patricio Jones'', President
The Vancouver Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Argentina Gold Corp.
Sophia Shane, 604/689-7842 |
