July 29th, 2020 Altamira Gold Corp.’s (TSXV: ALTA) (FSE: T6UP) (USA: EQTRF), (“Altamira” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the discovery of several new mineralized structures at the Cajueiro gold project in Brazil resulting from a recently completed trenching program originally designed for the collection of bulk samples of oxidised material for metallurgical testwork.
Highlights:
- As part of the engineering and design work for the construction of the 1000 t/d processing plant, Altamira completed a total of 6 surface trenches and collected 55 bulk samples of 50kg each for metallurgical testwork in early July to ensure that the plant design is optimized for maximum gold recovery
- In the course of this work, several previously unknown mineralized structures were identified within the Baldo and Crente gold resource areas from which production is planned for H2 2021
- At Baldo, new trenches exposed three previously unknown mineralized structures which extend for a combined strike length of approximately one kilometer and are open along strike
- Within the Crente area, the first trench exposed several sub-parallel mineralized structures east of the principal structure and trenches opened over gold-in-soil anomalies to the NE of the Crente deposit suggest that several of these structures may extend for an additional 900m
- Preliminary panning of samples taken from the oxide material from the new structures in both the Baldo and Crente areas has revealed the presence of visible gold. Geochemical assays are pending
- These new discoveries are extremely important for both the initial trial mining pit design and are likely to add significant mineral resources to the current 43-101 resource
Michael Bennett, President and CEO stated, “The discovery of multiple new mineralized structures at both the Baldo and Crente resource areas shows that there is significant potential to expand the present 43-101 resource within the central area and suggests that there is a strong possibility of discovering additional new mineralized structures at Cajueiro. These new mineralized structures and others yet to be discovered by pre-stripping will be incorporated in the pit design in advance of gold production in H2 2021”
New Mineralized Structures at Baldo Gold Deposit
The Company recently announced (see press release dated 14th July 2020) that it was collecting a series of bulk samples for metallurgical testwork, and given that Baldo is one of the two largest gold deposits at Cajueiro, five trenches were initially planned. During the course of this trenching, several new additional mineralized structures were identified. These are shown in Figure 1 and are summarised as follows :
- Baldo 3 – ENE structure located approximately 350m north of the known Baldo 1 zone and appears to be parallel to Baldo 1. This structure was cut in a recent trench on the NE part of the main Baldo deposit and correlates with an intercept of 10m @ 1.48 g/t gold in a previous trench. Baldo 3 is open to the east and west in areas with gold-in-soil anomalies
- Baldo C – NE trending structure located immediately south of Baldo 1 where previous trenching returned 7m @ 5.53 g/t gold. Minimum estimated strike length of 400m, and is open to the south
- Baldo D – NE trending structure located immediately north of Baldo 1 where previous trenching returned 4m @ 1.07 g/t gold and 3m @ 6.54 g/t gold. The estimated strike length is approximately 500m
It is important to note that none of these new structures form part of the published 43-101 resource estimate for Cajueiro.
New Mineralized Structures at Crente Gold Deposit
Similarly, at Crente, which is currently the largest gold deposit at Cajueiro, trenching on the NE extension of the deposit (Figure 2) revealed the presence of several new mineralized zones which suggest that the Crente deposit has a series of sub-parallel mineralized zones to the south-east of the main mineralized zone. An additional two trenches opened over gold-in-soil anomalies approximately 900 metres to the NE of Crente also suggest an important possible NE extension to the deposit. The original interpretation of the outline of the Crente deposit is shown on Figure 3 and the new structural interpretation is shown on Figure 4.
As a result of these new discoveries at both Baldo and Crente, the number of trenches was expanded from the original 6 trenches planned for the metallurgical work to a total of 13 with a combined total length of 600m, with 338 channel samples collected from all trenches. Preliminary panning of samples taken from the oxide material from the new structures in both the Baldo and Crente areas has revealed the presence of visible gold and samples and geochemical results are pending.
Cajueiro Development Update
The initial first tranche payment of US$1M required pursuant to the Gold Forward Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) signed with Metalstream Ltd. (“Metalstream”) on April 24, 2020 (see April 27, 2020 news release for full description of the Agreement) is expected to be completed shortly. Metalstream remains fully committed to the Agreement, as does Altamira.
The engineering and design work phase of the Cajueiro project is nearing completion with the 3D mine model being finalized. Detailed design plans for the 1.5MW substation prepared by Lider Construcoes Eletricas LTDA will be submitted in early August to CELPA, the electrical power supplier in the state of Para, and will secure Altamira enough power to run the 1000 t/d processing plant and the mine camp facilities using a clean and environmentally friendly power source.
Construction of the plant is still scheduled to commence during H2 2020.
Overview of Cajueiro Gold Project
The Company’s advanced Cajueiro project has NI 43-101 resources of 5.66Mt @ 1.02 g/t gold for a total of 185,000 oz in the Indicated Resource category and 12.66Mt @ 1.26 g/t gold for a total of 515,000oz in the Inferred Resource category.
A total of 14,000m of drilling (105 holes) and over 4,000m of trenching have been completed to date within 285ha in the central part of the 28,577ha claim package (or 1% of the Cajueiro project area). Numerous other gold-in-soil anomalies remain untested.
A production decision at Cajueiro is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and as a result there is increased uncertainty and there are multiple technical and economic risks of failure which are associated with this production decision. These risks, among others, include areas that are analyzed in more detail in a feasibility study, such as applying economic analysis to resources and reserves, more detailed metallurgy and a number of specialized studies in areas such as mining and recovery methods, market analysis, and environmental and community impacts. In accordance with NI 43-101 and the companion policy to that instrument, Altamira cannot provide any guidance either in terms of anticipated gold production or net cash flows.
Qualified Person
Guillermo Hughes, P. Geo., a consultant to the Company as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it’s Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
About Altamira Gold Corp.
The Company is focused on the exploration and development of gold projects within western central Brazil. The Company holds 9 projects comprising approximately 280,000 hectares, within the prolific Juruena gold belt which historically produced an estimated 7 to 10Moz of placer gold. The Company’s advanced Cajueiro project has NI 43-101 resources of 5.66Mt @ 1.02 g/t gold for a total of 185,000 oz in the Indicated Resource category and 12.66Mt @ 1.26 g/t gold for a total of 515,000oz in the Inferred Resource category.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
ALTAMIRA GOLD CORP.
“Michael Bennett”
Michael Bennett
President & CEO
Tel: 604.676.5660
Toll-Free: 1-833-606-6271
info@altamiragold.com
www.altamiragold.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company’s actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update these forward-looking statements.