Don Mario Project
A HSE-Porphyry Gold Discovery in “Elephant Country”
Project Highlights
Large underexplored 8×6 km property in the Maricunga – 100% owned by Astra
Limited drilling in 1990 (8 holes, 1660m) into a very discrete zone
120 km east of Copiapo – nearby infrastructure and skilled labor
Oxide mineralization – favorable metallurgy for gold recovery and lower costs
Don Mario is a large area approximately 8 by 6 km, located in the southern region of the Maricunga gold-rich belt. It is approximately 25km northeast of the ~50Moz Au + 12.5B lbs Cu Norte Abierto project (Caspiche & Cerro Casale deposits)1 and lies along a NNE-SSW alignment with multi-million ounce mines and projects like Marte-Lobo and Pantanillo. (Refer to map figure)
A discrete area within the project of 2.5 by 1.5 km (the NNE-oriented Cerro Bayo Hill) was the subject of exploration in the early 1990s, which included geochemical grid sampling and approximately 1600 meters of drilling in 8 holes. This high sulphidation system reports several Au anomalies at surface and at 6 of the 8 shallow RC holes. Notable drill intercepts include BDH-01 and BDH-08 where Au was encountered over continuous intervals of 36m and 32m respectively.
Note: These results are historical in nature and have not been independently verified by Astra. Cerro Bayo hill is a lithocap developed in a dacitic lava dome with intense acidic alteration creating secondary permeability for later silica flooding. The best gold values in surface samples and drill holes are related to presence of a phreatic to phreatomagmatic breccia, mainly in the southern portion of the hill. This shallow oxide ore is open in all directions and could be part of a larger magmatic-hydrothermal system related to a porphyry system at depth. Astra is considering multiple avenues for advancing the project.
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