VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Panoro Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:PML) (Lima:PML) (Frankfurt:PZM) ("Panoro", the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed an updated semi-detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIAsd”) to expand the permitted area for drilling to include the Chaupec Target zone in Cluster 2 of its 100% owned Cotabambas Project in Southern Peru.
This is the second modification to the original EIAsd by Panoro and the first to include parts of Cluster 2. The original EIAsd was approved in June of 2012 and was subsequently expanded in November of 2015 to include the Maria Jose Target in Cluster 1. The current EIAsd covers an area of 1,400 hectares, the proposed expansion will add an additional 1,687 hectares to the permit area.
The second modification will permit Panoro to expand the area covered by the existing EIAsd to include areas of Cluster 2 including the Chaupec target, the new Porphyry/Skarn zone of mineralization hosting high copper grades located 3 km to the west of the proposed North Pit. This target was the subject of a press release dated July 25, 2016
Luquman Shaheen, President & CEO of Panoro states, “We look forward to receiving the approval of our expanded EIAsd in the near future. The Chaupec target represents another potential quantum step in the exploration upside for the already large resource at the Cotabambas Project. The higher grades and large footprint of both the surface exposures of skarn and porphyry mineralization and the geophysical anomalies indicate the potential for significant scale, similar to the Las Bambas Project located approximately 40 km to the south.”
The Chaupec Target
Mineralization at Chaupec consists of a polymetallic skarn developed at the contact between Cretaceous diorite and carbonate rocks of the Lower Tertiary Ferrobamba Formation. Work completed to date includes geological mapping, rock chip sampling and geophysical surveys including Induced Polarization, Magnetics and Self Potential.
Of the three main mineralized zones defined at Chaupec, two consist of outcropping garnet skarns that have in part been retrograded to epidote and chlorite. Porphyry-style mineralization has also been observed in outcrop and there is some evidence that it may continue to the north under the limestone and colluvial cover. The skarn contains variable amounts of chalcopyrite, pyrite, bornite, chalcocite and copper oxides along with massive magnetite in places.
Values of copper and gold in the rock chip samples from these two zones range from 0.21% Cu to 8.15% Cu and 0.005 g/t Au to 2.69 g/t Au. The third prospect consists of outcropping quartz-monzonite porphyry with stockwork quartz veining that is situated at the contact between the diorite and limestone. The rock chip sampling estimated copper and gold values ranging from 0.21% Cu to 1.52% Cu and 0.005 g/t Au to 0.255 g/t Au. The complete sampling data set is summarized on the Company’s website.
In general, the skarn mineralization in Chaupec has the highest grades found yet at the Cotabambas project. Skarn-type mineralization plays an important role in other major deposits in the region, including Las Bambas, Constancia, Antapaccay and Coroccohuayco, where higher grades in the skarn in the first years of mining can contribute to more rapid payback. For more information about Chaupec, see Panoro’s website.
The Company is planning to complete the approval process by the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines over the next few months prior to commencing a Phase I drilling campaign of 5,000 m at the Chaupec target.
About Panoro
Panoro Minerals is a uniquely positioned Peru focused copper exploration and development company. The Company is advancing its flagship project, Cotabambas Copper-Gold-Silver Project and its Antilla Copper-Molybdenum Projects located in the strategically important area of southern Peru. The company is well financed to expand, enhance and advance its projects in the region where infrastructure such as railway, roads, ports, water supply, power generation and transmission are readily available and expanding quickly. The region boasts the recent investment of over $US 15 billion into the construction or expansion of four large open pit copper mines.
