PUR confirms district scale gold-silver system for project in Argentina

Our Investment Pursuit Minerals (ASX: PUR) just put out a technical exploration update on its gold-silver project in Argentina.

It is a very long (but very good) update, with PUR doing all the things we want to see our junior explorers do before drilling for new discoveries.

Things like:

1. Detailed geological mapping - 2x field programs over 30 days.
2. IP geophysics - an electrical survey that "lights up" sulphide-rich zones hiding under cover and at depth (where the gold could be).
3. And then consolidating all of the data over the project - overlaying the new mapping with historical drilling, soil samples and geophysics to rank the best drill targets.

The result is PUR's first fully integrated geological model for the project...

... and a ranked list of five targets across what PUR is now calling a district-scale gold-silver system.

The three PUR will chase first:

(source)

PUR is fully permitted to drill (first drilling targeted for September).

Here is what we already knew about PUR's gold-silver project before today:

1. The project is in the Santa Cruz province, Argentina - a region that hosts 50+ gold-silver deposits and 8 operating mines.
2. PUR's ground is ~100km south of Cerro Negro - the 8 million ounce gold mine owned by $159BN capped Newmont.
3. PUR is hunting a "Cerro Negro lookalike" - Cerro Negro was discovered by drilling underneath a silica cap, and PUR's ground has the same silica caps sitting on top of untested ground.
4. Historical drilling on PUR's project never went deeper than 170m... and some holes ended IN mineralisation, including 1.55m @ 8.92 g/t gold.

(source)

After today's announcement we also have:

1. Five named, ranked drill targets 
2. A confirmed 5.5km mineralised corridor
3. Marcelina shaping up as the big concealed target - a gold-silver-lead-zinc soil anomaly AND a strong IP chargeability anomaly... all stacked beneath a preserved silica cap.

PUR still has one final geophysical (IP) survey to come before the end of this month - that will be the final bit of news before that drill program planned for September.

What else is PUR up to?

PUR recently got drilling underway and has taken its first samples from its Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project, also in Argentina, this one located in the Lithium Triangle:

(source)(source)

The big blue sky exploration upside is IF the brine reservoirs inside the salt lake extend below the ground into the margins (where PUR is drilling right now).

The brines are there… we just don't know if there is lithium in them (YET) - assays from the brines are pending right now from the first samples. (source)

We also noticed the hole is planned to a target depth of 700m, so will be testing through most of the 1km deep conductive system revealed from the geophysics.

Here some details from that in the prior drilling commencement announcement:

(source)

We think this hole could transform the size/scale of PUR’s project IF the results come in…

We covered why in our most recent note here: PUR: Lithium back. Market back? Drilling just started on the "blue sky" target

What’s next for PUR?

🔲 Lithium asset (Drilling started early July)

PUR kicked off its drill program on this project recently.

We have been waiting for a hole to be put into this part of PUR’s project for a few years now so it will be interesting to see what comes from it.

We are hoping to see PUR hit grades similar to what its Canadian peer did when it drilled on the edges of the salt lake (up to 925m/li).

(source)(source)

🔲 Drilling at PUR’s gold-silver project in Argentina

PUR also owns 100% of an earlier stage gold-silver project in Argentina.

On that project PUR is hunting an 8M ounce "Cerro Negro lookalike" gold discovery.

Cerro Negro is the 8 million ounce mine owned by US$112BN capped Newmont, ~100km north of PUR's ground.

Recently on that project ~55% of priority mapping was complete and an IP survey was underway to define targets - with maiden drilling to follow "in the near term". (source)

Recently PUR confirmed that this mapping and field work had been completed with drilling expected in September (source)

See why we like that project from the acquisition in a Deep Dive here: PUR: Acquires Gold Project in Argentina - Gold price smashing records