West Perth-based metals explorer Azure Minerals Ltd has applied for a 258 sqkm mining concession with potential for zinc, copper, molybdenum and uranium mineralisation in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, the company has announced.
West Perth-based metals explorer Azure Minerals Ltd has applied for a 258 sqkm mining concession with potential for zinc, copper, molybdenum and uranium mineralisation in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, the company has announced.
The full text of a company announcement is pasted below
Azure Minerals Ltd (ASX: AZS) is pleased to announce that it has made application for a large 100%-owned mining concession in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Azure identified the El Cuervo project as having excellent potential for zinc, copper, molybdenum and uranium mineralisation as part of its ongoing program of regional exploration and target identification.
Tenement applications in Mexico are typically granted within a three to four month period from the date of application.
El Cuervo is located 50 kilometres north of Chihuahua City, the capital of the state of Chihuahua (Figure 1). The property is located on the western margin of the Chihuahua Trough, a major geological feature containing numerous base metal mines including the giant, limestone-hosted Santa Eulalia and Naica silver-lead-zinc mines.
Highlights of the El Cuervo mining concession include the following:
- Large claim holding of 25,756 hectares (258km2);
- Located 5 kilometres north of the Terrazas zinc-copper skarn deposit (90Mt @ 1.37% Zn & 0.32% Cu), which is currently under feasibility study by TSX-listed Constellation Copper Corporation; and
- Surrounds the historic Peña Blanca molybdenum-uranium field, which is reported as hosting deposits containing 25.8Mlbs of molybdenum and 4.9Mlbs of U3O8.
El Cuervo contains more than 20 strike kilometres of the limestone and associated felsic intrusive sequence that hosts the Terrazas and other contact skarn deposits in the district. Azure believes the El Cuervo property holds good potential for repetitions of Terrazas-style deposits and for massive sulphide silver-lead-zinc mineralisation similar to Santa Eulalia and Naica.
Importantly, the El Cuervo property surrounds the Peña Blanca mineral field, which contains numerous molybdenum and uranium deposits (Figure 2). Peña Blanca is held as a Mexican Government-owned mining reserve.
El Cuervo has excellent potential for hosting molybdenum deposits of the Peña Blanca style. The southern portion of the Peña Blanca mineral field hosts several high grade molybdenum deposits, which are reported to contain a total of 9.3Mt @ 0.13% Mo for approximately 11,700 tonnes (25.8Mlbs) of molybdenum. These shallow deposits, which are currently unmined, are located adjacent to the volcanics-limestone contact.
The Peña Blanca mineral field is also reported as containing more than 2,200 tonnes (4.9Mlbs) of uranium (U3O8) mineralisation in three main deposits - Margaritas, Puerto III and Nopal - which are hosted in a similar geological setting as the molybdenum deposits. Extensive drilling and underground mine development was carried out on these deposits by the Mexican Government up until the 1980's, when all activity was ceased. In addition, more than 20 other uranium occurrences have been identified in the district. However under Mexican law exploitation of uranium is not currently permitted and consequently Azure will not be undertaking uranium exploration.
El Cuervo contains more than 100km2 of the same geological sequence that hosts the Peña Blanca deposits. Reconnaissance exploration on El Cuervo by Azure indicates that the volcanicslimestone contact dips gently to the northwest and is at easily explorable depths throughout the property. No known drilling has been completed within the El Cuervo property, with all historical exploration being focused on the neighbouring occurrences at Peña Blanca with its outcropping mineralisation.
El Cuervo is an excellent acquisition in a strongly mineralised district, and Azure expects its ongoing target generation programs to result in further acquisitions in the state of Chihuahua in the near future.