Estrella Gold Corporation announced that Cliffs Natural Resources Exploration Inc a wholly owned subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc has accepted the Yanac Property as JV Project. Cliffs and Estrella each now hold 50% interest in the property, and Cliffs must spend a firm commitment of USD 500,000 in year one on exploration or payment to Estrella; with an additional USD 250,000 to a total of USD 750,000 to maintain their interest beyond year one. Details of the Agreement are included below.
The Yanac Project is located 50 kilometers northwest of the town of Chincha in the department of Ica in south central Peru. The project contains 5,200 hectares that were acquired by Estrella through concession applications in April of 2011 within the Exploration Alliance Agreement with Cliffs. Results to date identify a prospective outcropping area covering 1.0 km x 0.75 km containing a porphyry copper style quartz iron oxide stockwork zone with 3 centers of silicification, within a phyllic alteration zone.
The alteration and mineralization is hosted by a plagioclase-hornblende biotite quartz eye porphyry intrusion of probable Cretaceous age. Initial rock samples over a 300 x 200 meter area returned copper values ranging from 0.12% to 2.9% with 8 of those samples greater than 0.74%. A systematic grid sampling program was completed with three hundred and five (305) samples of approximately one meter square chip samples, collected on a 100 meter square grid. Assay results identify a continuous core area containing 0.2% to 2.8% copper covering an area extending approximately 900 meters by 400 meters.
Copper mineralization is closely related to stockwork development within this porphyry system. Outcropping mineralization occurs within a zoned ASTER alteration anomaly which suggests that the mineralized system may be much larger, extending beneath surrounding covered areas. The outcropping copper mineralization occurs within phyllic, or sericitic facies alteration assemblages which suggests that higher grade, and/or larger areas of copper mineralization may be present at depth. The property contains four historical drill holes located outside the main zones of mineralization however analytical results are not available.
Mr Mark Brown president and CEO of Estrella said that "Yanac is an exciting new porphyry copper discovery that provides Estrella with the upside of a major deposit, if exploration is successful. The identification and selection of Yanac demonstrates the benefits of our prospect generator model."