Overview
Figure 2: Regional Geology Map
In addition to the San Francisco Mine, Timmins Gold owns the mineral rights to approximately 53,394 hectares distributed over 32 claims in Northern Sonora. Figure 1 shows the location of these claims. The claims on which Timmins Gold has performed the most exploration work are El Durazno, La Pima, Norma and El Picacho. In addition the Company has drilled the La Mexicana target located approximately 6.5km north of the Mine within the main claim block.
These include concessions of the San Francisco mine and all those located along of the San Francisco-Pima structural mineral trend. More than two of the concessions contain important mineral targets west of the mine and to the NE. All concessions are located within the Mojave-Sonora Mega-Shear, a mineral belt with multiple occurences of gold and gold mines presently in operations extending over 300 kilometers from the SW of California USA in a SE direction into the state of Sonora.
Figure 1:
Map Showing San Francisco Regional Claims
El Durazno Property
Figure 1:
Regional Air-Magnetic Map
Figure 2:
El Durazno target showing previous workings
Figure 3:
Geochemical rock sampling of the El Durazno
target showing gold values
Figure 4:
Geochemical rock sampling of El Durazno
target showing silver values
Figure 5:
El Durazno Geology Map, Drilling and Sampling
Location: Sonora, Mexico
Land Package: 22,000 Ha included in the main land package
Status: Active
Property Summary
The El Durazno target lies approximately 12 km north of the San Francisco Mine and is within the regional claims package. It was previously home to artisanal gold mining activities, as evidenced by the array of old shallow workings across the property. Old-time mining activities were primarily carried out via extraction from placer deposits and high-grade, narrow mineral structures. Mineralization was mainly hosted in quartz veins and veinlets in the granodiorite or potentially in some different variations of granodiorite within the sedimentary sequence.
Mapping and sampling by Timmins Gold geologists shows gold, silver and polymetallic mineral occurrences (Cu, Pb, Zn, Mo) along a zone 4.5 km long and 1.5 km wide. In 2012 the Company undertook an initial rock chip sampling program which returned values as high as 2.056 g/gold, 104 g/t silver, 4253 ppm lead and 436 ppm Mo (on 2 meter wide samples associated with quartz-tourmaline veins and veinlets into the granodiorite) and 2.8 g/t gold, 14.8 g/t silver, 1.05 g/t lead, 499 ppm zinc and 212 ppm Mo (on 2 meter wide samples into quartz veins hosted in the sedimentary sequence). Initial telluride values related to gold and silver values indicate that part of the mineralization could be in the form of silver and gold tellurides as is the case at the San Francisco Mine.
A follow up drill program initially planned to drill 20,000 metres was commenced in 2013 and was cut short at the end of June after drilling only 2,340 metres in 15 holes. The drill program was cancelled in order to save capital during a period of low gold prices. Significant results from the drill program include a zone in hole DRC13-005 which returned 1.53 g/t gold over 21.34 meters (which includes 2.91 g/t gold over 10.67 metres and 1.47 g/t gold over 10.67 metres) and hole DRC13-011 which returned 0.42 g/t gold over 28.96 metres (including 1.11 g/t gold over 9.14 metres).
Nine of the fifteen drill holes were drilled within an area 450m long by 350m wide where strong evidence of quartz-tourmaline veins and sheeted veins are hosted on a Laramide granite intrusion. The overall drilling at this zone has returned anomalous values over 0.1 g/t gold.
DRC13-011 which is a step out hole 225 meters to the north of the main drill area returned 0.42 g/t gold over 28.96 meters including 1.11 g/t gold over 9.14 meters. DRC13-011 was collared on sediments with the objective of testing the structural contact between the granitic intrusion and the sediments.
DRC13-011 which is a step out hole 225 meters to the north of the main drill area returned 0.42 g/t gold over 28.96 meters including 1.11 g/t gold over 9.14 meters. DRC13-011 was collared on sediments with the objective of testing the structural contact between the granitic intrusion and the sediments.
The El Durazno area is a high-priority target for Timmins. Although it is a recent discovery, the target appears to show significant mineral potential, along the structure in both directions and at depth, to the SE and to the NW of the El Durazno target and within the Cretaceous sediments. Although the exploration model is still being built and much more information needs to be obtained, the target shows many similarities to the main deposit at the San Francisco Mine, including similar telluride levels observed in geochemical sampling and the association with quartz-tourmaline within the shear zone (albeit with the mineralization being hosted by a different rock type).
La Pima Property
La Mexicana Property
Figure 1:
Location of the La Mexicana Target
Table 1
Significant Drill Assays
Location: Sonora, Mexico.
Land Package: It is included in the land package of the San Francisco property.
Status: Stand by
Property Summary:
The La Mexicana target is located only 6.5kms north of San Francisco mine (Figure 1). It consists of a series of very spaced outcrops of gneiss, schist, lenses of pegmatites, gabbro, granite and dikes aligned E-W just over 800 meters in an area mostly covered by alluvial material, and situated along the north border of the San Francisco metamorphic belt. This is probably related to a regional thrust or detachment type structure. The same area also has outcrops of sedimentary rocks which seem to belong to the El Coyotillo group of Jurassic age. Along these outcrops numerous trenches and shallow underground works follow the trace of the possible controlling structure (280° with an apparent dip of 60-70° to the SW). Excavations and underground works have indicated a mineralized structure seen as a breccia formed by large fragments of granite and gneiss cemented by silica.
The most attractive occurrence is in the La Mexicana mine and consists of a series of shallow shafts connected at depth by underground works. There are three levels in a vertical distance of 30 meters and a longitude of 70-80 meters.
Exploration Activities:
Mapping and sampling was done along the north portion of the Metamorphic Precambrian belt of San Francisco, which includes systematic channel sampling of the existing underground works on the La Mexicana mine. The returned assays include gold values as high as 28.908 g/t and values below this but in general showing consistency along of the underground works.
A drill program was undertaken in 2011 which returned anomalous gold values. The significant drill results can be found in Table 1.
Norma Property
Figure 1: Regional Geology
There is a mega shear parallel trend
of gold prospects that extend for 10 km
through the clastic rocks with the claim.
Table 1:
Mineral Interceptions Drill Program
on the Norma Project
Location: Sonora, Mexico.
Land Package: 5,000 Ha in a separate claim
Status: Stand by
Property Summary:
The Norma claim is located 30 Km WNW of the San Francisco pit and 60 kilometers SE of Aurico Gold's El Chanate mine. Lying between the San Francisco and El Chanate gold districts, the highly prospective area of northern Sonora is traversed by a series of shear structures related to strong tectonics processes of the Sonora-Mojave Mega Shear. The claim takes numerous prospects in a geological setting thought to be similar to which is hosting the El Chanate gold deposit.
Geology Setting:
The Norma claim lies well within the belt of numerous gold prospects and gold mines linked to the Sonora-Mojave Mega Shear. Geology in the northern half of the claim is dominated by Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks with a pronounced NW structural grain. The latter is expressed by common NW strike direction to folds, faults and alignment of old prospects. The southern and western portions of the claim were mapped by the Servicio Geologico Mexicano (SGM) as Cambrian and Proterozoic rocks cut by Cretaceous or Tertiary diorite intrusions. As with much of the Sonora-Mojave Mega Shear zone much of the area is covered by alluvium. (Figure 1)
Exploration Activities:
Initial exploration work consisted of a regional mapping and sampling on the existing prospects and old workings identified by SGM. Sampling produced gold anomalies along the W-NW trend which cuts across both ridges and areas of shallow alluvium. This work combined with the processing and interpretation of the raw data of the SGM air-magnetic and radiometric surveys by Zonge Engineering of Tucson Az, USA., provided Timmins with targets to drill.
Three targets were chosen for initial drilling. On the north target, Timmins completed 2,090 meters of reverse circulation drilling distributed in 16 drill holes along of 2,000 meters of gold anomalous outcrops.
Gold and silver values hosted in veins, veinlets and breccia were intercepted by the drill holes, mainly in and close to the contact of the sandstones and siltstones with dikes of monzonite.
The best interceptions are in the following holes: RCN-03 an interval of 13.41 m with a gold grade of 0.81 g/t Au at a depth of 41.15 m and other interval from 82.30 to 86.87 m of 6.09 m width with a gold grade of 0.66 g/t Au. Hole RCN-04 intercepted a mineral interval of 14 g/t Au of 3.05 m width at a depth of 80.76 m and from 123.44 to 137.15 intercepted 13.71 m with a gold grade of 1.16 g/t Au. Hole RCN-11 had a mineral interception at a depth of 118.87 m with a gold grade of 0.66 g/t Au.
The drill program confirmed that the gold and silver mineralization is continuous at least from surface up to a depth of 150 m (the depth of the present drill program) hosted basically in veins, stockworks and breccias close to the dike or sill of quartz-monzonite dikes.
Patricia Property
Figure 1:
Mining Concessions of Timmins Gold Corp
in Northern Sonora
Figure 2:
Epithermal vein swarms along the east of the
Patricia Claim
Location: Sonora, Mexico.
Land Package: 3,819 Ha
Status: Stand by
Property Summary:
The property is located in the north-central portion of Sonora state, 50 kilometers to the southwest of the San Francisco mine and 18 kilometers south of the Cerro Colorado mine (Gold Group). (Figure 1)
The property claim covers 3,819 Ha and is 100% owned by Timmins Goldcorp Mexico, SA de CV.
The property is easily accessible by from Hermosillo 260 kilometers to the northwest.
The bulk of the Patricia claim is underlain by Paleozoic to Precambrian sedimentary rocks and probably gneiss. The eastern edge, however, has Paleozoic sandstones either overlain or in fault contact with younger felsic volcanic rocks. Alteration-mineralization appears to be related to these younger felsic rocks as at Cerro Colorado. Mineralization occurs along several westerly trending swarms of narrow, generally less than 1m thick, high grade epithermal veins (Figure 2). Though polymetallic with silver and base metals, the limited past production likely focused on gold. The presence of base metals is a sign that the epithermal system is fairly deeply eroded.
Exploration Activities:
Prospecting including chip sampling at the eastern part of the claim indicated a target formed by a mineral belt running NW hosting an epithermal gold system with a swarm of narrow high grade veins cutting felsic rocks and sandstones. The primary target at the Patricia property is a bulk tonnage taking in the high grade veins and intervening low grade to barren material. Though gold would be the primary commodity, there would be substantial base metal credits. With this simple target within the Patricia property Timmins has undertaken trenching and systematic sampling. Results confirm the large tonnage; low gold grade deposit, in order of 1 to 2 g/t gold credits and potential silver and polymetallics.
El Picacho Property
Location: Sonora, Mexico.
Land Package: 6,427 Ha
Status: Stand by
Property Summary:
El Picacho property is located in the north-central portion of the state of Sonora, 20 kilometers southwest of the San Francisco mine. The property comprises of a total of 14 claims, 13 of them summarizing 702 Ha under an option agreement with the Suarez family of Hermosillo and the last one, the El Exito claim has a surface area of 5.725 Ha surrounding the north of the optioned surface 100% owned by Timmins Goldcorp Mexico, SA de CV.
The geology is comprised of two basic lithological domains, the first one, and the oldest, is the metamorphic Precambrian Complex which includes gneiss, schist, pegmatites, gabbro and granite as is the San Francisco Gold deposit. The other unit corresponds to a setting of sedimentary rocks of Jurassic age formed by sandstone, siltstone and lenses of limestone. Structurally all the setting is strongly deformed and the two domains are in contact through a regional trust fault along which numerous mining works and trenches exist. Most of them are across the main fault or across parallel structures to the main. The most significant targets for exploration, according to the San Francisco model, are La Virgen Maria, El Jabali, La Cornea and the Picacho NW targets. These targets indicate a system of narrow quartz veins and stockworks at the footwall and hangingwall of quartz veins hosting low and high gold grades which can consolidate a depth in a low grade bulk tonnage deposit due the similarities with the features of the rocks hosting the gold mineralization in the San Francisco mine.
Exploration Activities:
Exploration by Timmins includes geology mapping, sampling and compilation of the exploration works done by previous exploration companies on the property.
