VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marifil Mines Limited (TSXV:MFM) (" Marifil " or the " Company ") is pleased to announce that following a 6-year hiatus, diamond core drilling has now resumed on the San Roque property (the "Property"), in the Rio Negro province of Argentina. The Property is jointly owned by Marifil’s wholly owned subsidiary Marifil Mines S.A. (51%) and NOVAGOLD RESOURCES Inc. ’s (TSX: NG ) wholly-owned subsidiary NovaGold Argentina Inc. (49%). Marifil will be leading as the project operator.
San Roque is located near the Atlantic coast in southwestern Argentina within an area of excellent infrastructure. It is an advanced exploration stage project involving discovery of an epithermal polymetallic deposit of sulfide minerals where gold and zinc are of principal economic focus. The Property is secured by 42,320 hectares of mine rights, of which 9,449 are patented mining claims covering all known mineralization. All such mine rights are free of any non-governmental production royalties. Historical drilling on the Property totals 15,837 meters (108 holes).
" The recommencement of this drill program marks a very significant development for our Company," stated Robert Abenante, President and CEO of Marifil. "The drilling at our flagship asset at San Roque has been highly anticipated by the Company and its stakeholders for many years. Positive results at San Roque have the ability to significantly increase the fundamental value of the Company and bring the Property one step closer to being considered an economic minerals deposit."
The recommenced drilling program calls for four diamond drill holes for a total of about 800 meters. Its two-fold aim is first to further confirm the Zone 34 gold zone and, secondly, to separately expand the size of the deposit by testing a kilometer-long Induced Potential–Resistivity geophysical anomaly believed to be caused by sulfides.
"This is an exciting drilling campaign, which has the potential to vividly enhance the value perception of the Property," stated Richard Walters, Professional Geologist and Vice President of Marifil Mines . " It is clear to the team of geologists that a large volume of rock is well mineralized. The depth and area limits of this mineralized material remains to be established. We suspect it to be related to a large volcanic paleo-caldera and to possibly be capping a deeper porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit," added Mr. Walters.
The last hole drilled on the Property in 2011 was DDHMSR0034 (-60°), which included an intercept of 35 meters of 2.27 g/t Au with 42.6 g/t Ag. The true width of this cored mineralization is unknown. Bottle roll leach tests of this mineralization averaged 84% gold recovery on a 105 µm (micron) grind after 96 hours, indicating the mineralization may be amenable to heap leaching. The drilling in progress is a 50 meter step back to test the down downward extension of this mineralization. Please see the Company's press release titled " Marifil Reports Positive Drill Results from San Roque Project in Argentina ", dated February 14, 2012, for further information.
The geophysical anomaly is linked to the Zone 33 drilled area on one end, where, by example, angle hole DDHMSR0009 (-60°) in 2011 cored 120 meters assaying 1.16 g/t Au and 10.3 g/t Ag, along with 39 g/t In (Indium), 2.04% Zn and 0.43% Pb. The true width of this cored mineralization (disseminated and stock worked with quartz veinlets) has not been determined. Zone 33 is about one-kilometer northwest of Zone 34. Please see the Company's press release titled " Marifil Reports Significant Gold-Silver-In-Pb-Zn Drill Intercepts at San Roque ", dated July 20, 2011, for further information.
Zone 33 is one of several sites (including Zone 34) of significant gold-silver-indium-lead-zinc mineralization discovered by drilling on a four-kilometer long sector. The mineralization occurs in old volcanic formations and metamorphic rocks under them. Mineralization is manifested by multiple broad zones of narrow, sheeted and banded quartz-carbonate-sulphide veins and stockworks as well as sulphide disseminations within brecciaed volcanic rocks . Please see the Company's press release titled " Marifil Reports Significant Gold-Silver-In-Pb-Zn Drill Intercepts at San Roque ", dated July 20, 2011, for further information.
Additionally, a concomitant trenching program to further examine the extent of Zone 34 and separately examine a swarm of epithermal quartz veins known as the NW Gold Zone is in progress. A swarm of poorly exposed quartz veins (NW Gold Zone) has been discovered approximately two kilometers along the northwest trend from Zone 33. Eight reconnaissance surface grab samples of rock float (mostly quartz) show an assay spread of 0.10 g/t Au to 22.9 g/t Au, and average 4.61 g/t Au. Grab samples are selected samples and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. These samples were taken along a vein(s) strike length of about 200 meters. Geologic mapping has now extended this showing to a strike length of about 1.6 kilometers along which extensive rock chip sampling is taking place and a series of short backhoe trenches are being made. Please see the Company's press release titled " Marifil Reports Positive Drill Results from San Roque Project in Argentina ", dated February 14, 2012, for further information.
This press release has been reviewed and approved by Robert Abenante, CEO of Marifil, and by Richard Walters (P. Geo), Executive Vice President of Marifil. Mr. Walters is Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects .
ON BEHALF OF MARIFIL MINES LIMITED "Rob Abenante" Robert Abenante, President & CEO
Contact Information:
Phone: 604.424.8889 Email: info@marifilmines.com Website: www.marifilmines.com
For further information regarding Marifil Mines Limited, please refer to the Company's filings available on SEDAR ( http://www.sedar.com ) or at Marifil's Website ( http://www.marifilmines.com ).
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