The Mamatla Project is host to both epithermal vein systems and volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits. IMPACT's initial interest lies in the silver and gold epithermal vein systems which were not the primary focus of past exploration work.
The VMS mineralization known at Mamatla varies from copper and gold rich systems to zinc, lead, gold and silver rich systems. The Mamatla project covers the same stratigraphy as the Campo Morado VMS belt where Farallon Resources has announced a production decision on the G-9 VMS deposit (5.57 million tonnes grading 7.3%Zn, 1.0%Pb, 1.3%Cu, 186g/t Ag and 2.8g/t Au). The G-9 VMS deposit is located along trend 45km southwest of Mamatla.
In the 1990s, Valerie Gold Resources carried out extensive VMS exploration on the eastern half of the Mamatla district. Later, TVX Gold Inc. carried out a small exploration program on a limited part of the area for bulk tonnage epithermal precious metal deposits. This exploration identified over 70 VMS and epithermal prospects including many old mine workings. Some of the main prospects identified are Aurora I, Aurora II, Capire, Sara Ridge, Velixta, Yerba Buena, Tlanipla, Los Mantos, and Cruz Blanca. A major difference between IMPACT's plans for the Mamatla Project and those of Valerie Gold in the 1990s is that IMPACT owns and operates the 500-tonne-per-day (tpd) Zacualpan processing plant within trucking distance of several of the Mamatla deposits and prospects, which significantly lowers the economic threshold for potential future production decisions.
HISTORIC EXPLORATION RESULTS -- VMS ZONES
Aurora I is a VMS deposit that in part appears to have been overprinted by epithermal silver mineralization. In the auction bid document publicly released by the Mexican Geological Survey, the Aurora deposit is described with an indicated resource of 194,000 tonnes grading 1.28g/t gold, 180g/t silver, 2.13% lead and 4.45% zinc. Some past drill highlights include:
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Width Au Ag Pb Zn Cu
Zone (m) g/t g/t % % % Source
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Aurora I 7.5 0.54 230 3.67 6.71 0.44 See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated April 3,
1997
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including 1 0.65 693 4.16 6.85 1.28
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including 1 1.34 353 5.18 10.6 0.67
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Width Au Ag Pb Zn Cu
Zone (m) g/t g/t % % % Source
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Capire 4 2.66 430 2.88 7.18 0.35 See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated April 3,
1997
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6 3.65 2218 2.38 5.67 0.66 See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated May 22,
1996
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Width Au Ag Pb Zn Cu
Zone (m) g/t g/t % % % Source
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Capire/
Aurora I 38.3 0.24 94.5 0.54 1.26 0.09 See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated July 15,
1996
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6.9 0.74 476.3 3.26 7.08 0.64
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8.3 0.33 170.5 0.97 2.95 0.20
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9.55 3.04 267.7 3.17 5.59 0.52
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concluded it was small deposit with some significant drill results as
follows:
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Width Au Ag Pb Zn Cu
Zone (m) g/t g/t % % % Source
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Aurora II 8.6 1.16 480.7 0.93 2.11 0.18 See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated July 15,
1996
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3.2 1.27 346 1.85 4.34 0.35
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1 10.8 99 1.48 2.8 0.31 See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated
February 7, 1997
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2 1.82 247 1.68 3.4 0.26
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Width Au Ag Pb Zn Cu
Zone (m) g/t g/t % % % Source
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Tlanipla 3.1 - 52 1.88 7.55 - See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated April 3,
1997
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Velixtla 2 - 30 0.01 0.02 2.24
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HISTORIC EXPLORATION RESULTS -- EPITHERMAL VEIN ZONES
Valerie Gold and TVX Gold Inc. carried out limited exploration for epithermal deposits in the 1990s and identified several significant zones of mineralization northeast of the VMS mineralization trend.
Yerba Buena is located about 3km northeast of Aurora I. It is a zone of siliceous epithermal breccia measuring 50m by 450m+ in cross section. Valerie Gold found that grades increased with depth. The deepest hole drilled in the breccia returned the best values as follows:
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Width Au Ag Pb Zn Cu
Zone (m) g/t g/t % % % Source
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Yerba Buena 22.2 0.14 20 0.5 3.64 0.02 See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated April 3,
1997
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Reconnaissance drilling returned highlights of:
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Width Au Ag Pb Zn Cu
Zone (m) g/t g/t % % % Source
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Los Mantos 1 1 1101 1.51 2.63 0.48 See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated May 22,
1997
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0.38 0.69 1200 5.78 9.77 2.31
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Width Au Ag Pb Zn Cu
Zone (m) g/t g/t % % % Source
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Sara Ridge 4 0.57 374 - - - See Valerie Gold Press
Release dated June 27,
1995
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IMPACT has not independently verified the resource estimates in this news release and the estimates are not compliant with NI 43-101 requirements, therefore they should not be relied upon. IMPACT has also not verified the results of the previous exploration work quoted from news releases of Valerie Gold Resources (now ValGold Resources Ltd.), a TSX Venture Exchange company. These news releases were issued in the 1990s and therefore readers are cautioned that the results, as presented, may not comply with current NI43-101 standards of disclosure. However, IMPACT believes the historical resource estimates and results provide an indication of the potential of the Mamatla Project, and are clearly relevant to IMPACT's decision to purchase the project and to IMPACT's plans for further exploration work.
Management is pleased to have acquired this highly-prospective district and plans to commence exploration immediately. Fred Davidson, President and CEO of the Company, said: "This is a major acquisition for IMPACT. Districts scale projects like Mamatla do not become available often and we are fortunate to have added it to our portfolio. Based on the information available we feel that the project has significant potential and opens a host of new growth opportunities for IMPACT."
George Gorzynski, P.Eng., a Qualified Person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and Vice President, Exploration of IMPACT Silver Corp., has reviewed the technical content of this news release.
IMPACT Silver Corp. is a Tier 1 silver focused mining and exploration company with two producing silver mines at Zacualpan, Mexico just north of the Mamatla area; an advanced-stage silver project at Zacatecas, Mexico; and, other projects in the Dominican Republic. Energold Drilling Corp. (EGD: TSX.V) owns 6.6 million shares of IMPACT.
On behalf of the Directors of IMPACT Silver Corp.
"Frederick W. Davidson"
President, CEO
For further information please contact:
Darrell Rader, Corporate Development
Telephone: 604-681-9501
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
