Sunstone Metals Limited (ASX:STM) has secured A$4.6 million from its latest capital raising to help fund an accelerated exploration programne at the Bramaderos Project in Southern Ecuador.
Sunstone Managing Director Malcolm Norris said the company’s ability to secure the funds reflected the potential of the Bramaderos copper-gold project.
“Drilling at the Bramaderos Main prospect has delivered significant grades and widths of mineralisation in an outcropping gold-copper porphyry deposit and demonstrates the potential to deliver a sizeable gold-copper system,” Mr Norris said.
“We now also have a parallel program drilling the high-grade West Zone epithermal gold target.
“And drilling at the Limon prospect is progressing well. Hole LMDD004 is at a depth of ~520m and has intersected a sequence of altered rock consistent with the exploration model. LMDD004 is approaching the target zone and it is expected that the hole will be drilled to ~1,000m.”
The Limon target is part of a number of multiple outcropping and near-surface gold-copper porphyry systems identified atBramaderos, with only two holes drilled to date. Those holes have intersected alteration and weak copper-gold-molybdenum mineralisation consistent with being in close proximity to a large porphyry system.
Mr Norris said Bramaderos Main has delivered intersections such as 172m at 0.52g/t gold and 0.16% copper, and 242m at 0.42g/t gold and 0.14% copper, including intervals such as 18m at 1g/t gold and 0.19% copper – with mineralisation extending from surface to depths of at least 300m below surface.
Drilling has now commenced at the high-grade West Zone gold target with a second rig. The hole is testing underneath trenching results in the epithermal breccia of 6.9m at 12.7g/t gold within a broader interval of 30m at 3.6g/t gold.
The first hole has a planned depth of ~100m, with a series of eight holes following that for a total meterage of 1530m.
The first pass West Zone drilling programme is expected to be completed by the middle of October and assays likely to be received from the middle of October.
