FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 31, 2009
SOLTORO LTD. ANNOUNCES RESOURCE DRILL
PROGRAM AT EL RAYO
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->Soltoro
Ltd. (SOL-TSX:V) is scheduled to resume resource definition
drilling in September on its El Rayo Silver-Gold-Lead Project in Mexico.
Drilling will be carried out to define a NI 43-101 compliant silver
resource on a section of the Las Bolas structure, to test a recently identified
gold mineralized flexure on the north-west extension of the El Rayo
structure and to conduct preliminary drill testing of the Highway Zone.
Over 5 km
of mineralized strike has been defined within the Las Bolas and El Rayo V
shaped structures where, upon finalization of permitting, approximately 5,300 metres of
reverse circulation drilling is planned.
At
the Las Bolas structure, drilling is designed to increase the size of the
deposit down dip and along strike in both directions. To date a 650 metre section of
the structure has been tested to a 100 metre depth which
returned an independent target deposit calculation of 16 to 18 million
ounces silver grading between 100 to 117 gpt silver using a cut off between
40 to 60 gpt silver (GeoVector/2009). In this round of drilling a further 450 metres of strike
along the trend to the north-east and south-west will be tested as well as
testing the structure deeper down dip. Deeper holes are planned to test 200 metres down dip
from surface. Drilling to date has not been conducted below 100m from
surface and intercepted silver mineralized oxides in every hole.
At
the El Rayo structure, drilling is designed to test a 300 metre section of
a gold flexure recently identified through soil sampling and trenching
programs. The gold flexure is an extension of a 1,065 metre oxide
gold section of the El Rayo structure and remains open to the north-west.
Two trenches were completed over the NW extension of the Rayo Structure
gold zone where the second trench successfully located the main vein within
the flexure zone and returned the following values:
Trenching
was also carried out at the 650 metre long Highway Zone, located at the
‘V’ junction between the Las Bolas and El Rayo structures. The mineralized
veins at surface in the El Rayo and Las Bolas zones have an average width
of between 6 and 8
metres. The surface expression of the Highway Zone
is significantly broader and previous sampling along a road cut returned a 34 metre width of 65
gpt silver. During the program two historic underground mines were located
near the top of the hill above the road cut and 12 new trenches have been
completed to date. Highlights of the program are shown in the table below.
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<!--[if
!supportEmptyParas]-->Further trenching in the Highway Zone is underway
as a number of trenches ended in mineralization and need to be extended to
better define the width of the zone. The mineralized trenches
completed to date cover a strike of about 330 metres with 200 metres left to
be tested. This zone has never seen drilling and two holes are planned to
test this area at depth.
<!--[if
!supportEmptyParas]--> Trenches were excavated for the sampling of
surface exposures at El Rayo. Due to the nature of the outcrop in this area
trenches were excavated in soil overburden down to bedrock and through surface
outcrop exposures where removal of small areas of rock rubble and soil were
required. Continuous channel sampling was conducted in trenches with chisel
and hammer at the bottom of the excavations on rock exposure. The
average length of channel samples is approximately 1.5 metres, normally
ranging from 1.2 to 2.0
metres. The average weight was 3 kg to 5 kg.
A
series of metallurgical tests on two separate rock types were carried out
in the last 3 months; 1) hematite matrix breccia containing gold from the
El Rayo structure and 2) oxide silver material from the Las Bolas
structure. A series of bottle roll tests were completed at different
grind sizes ranging from -3/8 inch to -100 mesh. At the coarse size
of -3/8 inch the gold recovery by cyanide leaching of the El Rayo gold
material was 93.8% after 48 hours. At the same size grind, samples
from the Las Bolas silver structure returned recoveries between 74.3% and
86.9% for the gold and between 23.8% and 29.0% for the silver after 48
hours. At the finer grind size of -100 mesh, material from the Las
Bolas silver structure returned recoveries of 83.8% for gold and 64.3! %
for silver after 48 hours and rose to 100% for gold and 78.6% for silver
after 120 hours. Column testing is being considered for the El Rayo
structure gold material based on the high leaching percentage, while
further studies are planned to optimize the silver recovery from the Las
Bolas structure. Metallurgical testing was conducted by Laborotorio
Technologico de Metalurgia LTM S.A. de C.V., located in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Assaying
from the trenching program was completed by ALS Chemex through their office
in Guadalajara, Mexico. Gold was analyzed using
a 30g fire assay with AA finish. Mr. William McGuinty, P.Geo., a director
of the Company and qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 has reviewed
the contents of this press release. Field supervision of the El Rayo
project is provided by Mr. Chris Lloyd, M.Sc., Vice President, Exploration.
GeoVector
of Nepean, Ontario conducted the independent assessment of the deposit and
provided the target deposit calculation for the Las Bolas area. The reader
should be cautioned that the potential quantities and grades reflected in
the target deposit potential calculation are conceptual in nature, that there
has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and that it
is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being
delineated as a mineral resource.(see May 15, 2009 / NR51).
Soltoro
is a junior exploration company active in Mexico. The Company is
exploring for bulk tonnage gold, silver and copper deposits in Mexico. The
Company is conducting a resource definition drill program on its El Rayo
silver-gold-lead project, has a significant joint-venture partner working
on its Quila project where drilling is planned in 2009 and is advancing its
Chinipas and El Santuario gold projects. Soltoro has 27,228,650 shares
outstanding after completing the financing and trades on the TSX Venture
Exchange under the symbol SOL.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
PLEASE CONTACT:
Andrew Thomson, President
Phone: (416) 987-0722 or visit www.soltoro.com.
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TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release
