Minera
IRL Limited ("Minera IRL" or the
"Company"), (TSX:IRL
- News;
AIM:MIRL)(BVLAC:MIRL) the Latin American focused gold mining, development and
exploration company, announces an exploration update at the Escondido Project
in Patagonia, Argentina. Assay results have now been received from 9 new
widely spaced holes into the Northern Breccia trend.
Highlights:
-- Best intersections into the
bulk tonnage target area include E-D10-020
with 33.5 meters
grading 0.89g/t gold and 2.83g/t silver, including 10.2
meters of 1.83g/t
gold and 4.45 g/t silver and E-D10-24 with 17.0 meters
grading 1.13g/t gold
and 8.23g/t silver
-- A new IP Gradient Array
geophysical survey east of the previous IP grid
has defined a highly
encouraging resistivity and conductivity anomaly
along the untested
900 meter south-easterly trending extension of the
Northern Breccia
trend
-- The next stage of diamond
drilling into the Northern Breccia Zone, with
a program of
approximately 4,000 meters, is scheduled to commence during
March 2011
Minera
IRL Limited announced a new discovery in September 2010 at the Escondido
Project, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Drilling identified wide zones of
potentially bulk minable gold and silver mineralization, contiguous to Mariana
Resources Las Calandrias Project. More encouraging
assay intersections have now been received from the widely spaced second-pass
scout drilling program carried out in December 2010. The drill program
confirms that mineralization extends over almost 700 meters of strike from
the northern tenement boundary and remains open-ended toward both the east
and south-east.
Results have also been received from an extended IP Gradient Array
geophysical survey which shows a wide resistivity anomaly over the remaining 900
meters of untested ground between the current drilling and the eastern
boundary of the Escondido tenement block. A substantial, chargeability
anomaly coincident with the resistivity has also been identified. The
extended geophysics provides another excellent drill target for the 4,000
meter diamond drill program about to commence in March.
"The recent drill results provide a significant step forward in progressing our immediate objective of probing the limits
of mineralization on the Escondido Northern Breccia trend" said Courtney
Chamberlain, Executive Chairman of Minera IRL.
"A new fence of holes to the south east has confirmed continuity of
gold/silver mineralization along strike of a newly defined chargeability high
within a broad resistivity geophysical anomaly. This confirms a strong
probability for disseminated sulphide
mineralization within a silicified zone giving us another excellent target
for the pending drilling program."
Selected intercepts from the second pass Escondido scout drilling are
tabulated below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intercept
Assay - g/t
--------------------------------------------
Hole Gold
Equivalent -
Number
From
To Meters
Au
Ag
g/t(i)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-D10-020
51.00 84.50 33.50 0.89 2.83
0.91
including
56.15 66.35 10.20 1.83 4.45
1.90
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-D10-022
10.00 62.45 52.45 0.64 9.51
0.80
including
26.00 29.45 3.45 3.53 26.37
3.97
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-D10-024
15.00 32.00 17.00 1.13 8.23
1.27
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-D10-027
20.60 65.00 44.40 0.52 1.79
0.55
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-D10-033
86.25 90.70 4.45 0.82 59.02
1.80
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i)Gold equivalent grade is calculated by dividing the silver value by
60
and adding this to the gold value.
Minera
IRL considers that there are several significant findings in these results. Hole E-D10-024 confirms the presence of precious metal
mineralization in a central area where results reported in September 2010
were weak. Gold and silver values from step out holes E-D10-027 and E-D10-033
suggest mineralization is open toward the south-east where extended
geophysics has identified highly encouraging drill targets spanning over 900
meters.
Additional information on Escondido, including plans and drill
sections as well as the extended geophysical images, can be found on the Minera IRL website www.minera-irl.com.
In addition, Minera IRL continues to advance
the Don Nicolas feasibility study and is actively exploring a number of
highly promising grass roots precious metal prospects that are also located
within the 2,700 square kilometre lease holding in
Patagonia.
Competent Persons Statement
The preparation of the technical information contained herein was
supervised by Donald McIver, VP Exploration of the Company, MSc Exploration
and Economic Geology, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy (AUSIMM), who is recognized as a Qualified Person for the purposes
of National Instrument 43-101, and who has reviewed and approved the
technical information in this press release.
Minera
IRL Limited is the AIM traded and TSX and BVL listed holding company of
precious metals mining and exploration companies focused in Latin America. Minera IRL is led by an experienced senior management
team with extensive industry experience, particularly in operating in South
America. The Group operates the Corihuarmi Gold
Mine and the emerging Ollachea Gold Project in Peru
as well as the advanced Don Nicolas Project in Argentina. For more
information, please visit www.minera-irl.com.
Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking
statements, such as estimates and statements that describe the Company's
future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the
Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since
forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their
very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties.
While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which
they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment
regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always
vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections,
assumptions or other future performance suggestions herein. Except as
required by applicable law or regulation, Minera
IRL Limited does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to
conform these statements to actual results.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures Disclosure
The Company has implemented and maintains a Minera
IRL quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) protocol on its projects to
ensure best industry practice in sampling and analysis of exploration and
resource definition samples. The insertion of field duplicates, certified
standards and blank samples into the sample stream form part of the MIRL
procedure (these act as an independent check on contamination, precision and
accuracy in the analytical laboratory).
Assay results are reported once rigorous QAQC procedures have been
approved.
Independent Audit Programs
Towards maintaining compliancy with international standards as they
pertain to the minerals industry resource evaluation and estimation
procedure, MIRL regularly contracts the services of industry experts to
conduct detailed audits of established QAQC procedures.
The Toronto Stock Exchange neither approves nor disapproves the
information contained in this News Release.
Contact:
Trish Kent
Minera IRL Limited
Vice President, Corporate Relations
+511 4181230
John Prior
Collins Stewart (Nominated Adviser & Broker, London)
Adam Miller
+ 44 (0)20 7523 8350
Geoff Nash (Corporate Finance)
finnCap (Co-broker, London)
Matthew Robinson (Corporate Finance)
Joanna Weaving (Corporate Broking)
+ 44 (0)20 7600 1658
Patrick Piette
TMX Equicom (Investor Relations, Canada)
+1 416 815 0700 ext 267
Simon Rothschild
Bankside Consultants (Financial PR, London)
Louise Mason
+ 44 (0)20 7367 8888
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