Alicanto Minerals confirms high-grade assays from Arakaka gold project

Emerging explorer Alicanto Minerals (ASX: AQI) has confirmed assays grading up to 202.4 grams per tonne gold from a diamond drilling program at its wholly-owned Arakaka project in South America.

The program – which was fully funded under Alicanto’s earn-in agreement with international gold producer Nordgold SE – comprised 10,478 metres of shallow drilling for 51 holes on the underexplored and highly-prospective Arakaka main trend.

Three shallow-stacked, sub-parallel and low-dipping mineralised zones were defined across 1.4km of strike around the Purple Heart prospect area, with initial assays of 19.05m at 7.43g/t gold from 260.75m including 0.5m at 202.4g/t gold from 263.8m.

Other results were 6.0m at 11.15g/t gold from 69m including 0.5m at 111.89g/t gold from 71.5m; 0.54m at 160.13g/t gold from 239.8m; and 6.5m at 5.44g/t gold from 142.2m including 0.6m at 47.44g/t gold from 143.5m.

Alicanto chief executive officer Peter George said the assays highlight the potential of the prolific, gold-producing Arakaka main trend.

“These initial results demonstrate the continuity of mineralisation throughout the area and indicate that multiple high-grade gold shoots exist within shallow-dipping, stacked mineralised structures,” he said.

“These high-grade shoots have an apparent, shallow, north plunge which will be the focus of further drilling following the geological integration of the current drilling.”

Arakaka mineralisation

The northwest-dipping Arakaka mineralised main trend hosts multiple saprolite pits on hill slopes over more than 12km of strike.

It is adjacent to extensive alluvial workings in the Arakaka valley which have produced more than one million ounces of gold over 100 years of operation.

Mineralisation within the trend ranges from bonanza-style gold intercepts of visible gold in quartz veins, to broad zones of disseminated mineralisation associated with arsenian-pyrite and pyrrhotite.

Earlier drilling efforts identified a previously unrecognised high-grade shoot associated with flexures in the trace of the principal Purple Heart and Central structures.

Assays from that program indicated the dimensions of the shoots to be of significant scale to lead to the potential development of gold resources.

Mr George said the most recent drilling results confirm the potential of the Purple Heart area to host a bulk tonnage gold deposit and support historical limited reconnaissance drilling.

Historic exploration

Arakaka is a district-scale exploration project over 300 square kilometres which includes multiple mineralised corridors, with prospects ranging from early to advanced-stage exploration.

Historic exploration work completed by Newmont and Barrick Gold Corporation produced world-class datasets featruing extensive geochemistry, geophysics and camp and access infrastructure and provided a platform for discovery by future owners.

Arakaka is in one of the oldest and most prolific districts in the under-explored Guiana Shield, with historical production of more than one million ounces gold.

It is similar in scale to artisanal workings of the 26.9 million ounce Las Cristinas/Las Brisas deposit in Venezuela.

At mid-morning, shares in Alicanto Minerals were up 4.08% to $0.051.