MINING IN MEXICO — San Fernando prepares for major drill

Weather permitting, exploration and development drilling will soon begin at the San Fernando project in Durango state.

Owner San Fernando Mining (VSE) expects to drill about 40,000 ft. in the upcoming phase of work.

The program will include 20,000 ft. of reverse-circulation infill drilling near the mine known as La Fortuna. Earlier this year, 38,000 ft. of core drilling was carried out in the area.

Kilborn Engineering has calculated a drill-indicated resource of 5.1 million tons grading 0.27% copper and 0.078 oz. gold plus 1.1 oz. silver per ton. The gold mineralization is contained in quartz, tourmaline, pyrite and chalcopyrite stockwork veins and veinlets in amounts consisting of up to 10% of the host rock. The zone dips at about 45 to the west and steepens with depth, with thickness varying up to 120 ft.

Having been traced for a north-south strike extent of about 700 ft., the zone has a dip extent of 11,500 ft. The structure remains open downdip, while its strike extent to the north and south in the upper portion of the deposit is now defined. San Fernando President Mohan Vulimiri says there is still potential to expand the strike extent at depth.

He adds that the zone appears to be down-dropped on strike to the north and may also be down-dropped to the east (beyond its outcrop). The upcoming drilling will test both areas.

San Fernando envisions an open-pit operation, potentially extending underground at a later date. The stripping ratio should be favorable since the deposit outcrops on the east side of a ridge and dips down the slope of the other side of the ridge.

Production at La Fortuna dates back to the late 1800s, when a 200-ton-per-day gravity mill treated an estimated 220,000 tons grading 0.6 oz. gold. The company has completed only preliminary metallurgical tests on the Fortuna material. Flotation techniques on material crushed to minus-150 mesh returned a recovery of 98%. Preliminary tests using cyanide leaching were also positive, returning an 85% recovery on 300 mesh material.

In addition to 20,000 ft. of infill drilling, a further 20,000 ft. of core drilling is planned in an effort to test extensions of the deposit and specific targets. Those targets include large circular structures identified by satellite.

San Fernando expects to spend at least $1.5 million on the upcoming phase of work.