Prospero Silver Acquires "El Petate" Project, Hidalgo State, Mexico
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/18/12 -- Prospero Silver Corp. (TSX VENTURE: PSL) ("Prospero" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has acquired by staking the 6,000 hectare El Petate project located 30km northwest of the historic Pachuca-Real del Monte mining district. This new project acquisition is part of a systematic exploration program in the Mexican Altiplano and reflects Prospero's strategy of creating value as a Mexico-focused project generator. El Petate will be added to the Company's portfolio of 100% owned projects available for joint venture.
El Petate is located on the part of Mexico's Sierra Madre Oriental fold belt that hosts the Pachuca and Zimapan mining districts. The property exhibits an outcropping set of northwest to east-west trending silica reefs called the Escoba, Apartadero and El Petate trends, all of which lie within an area of 4km x 4.5km and are fully within the claim boundaries.
Prospero completed three rounds of preliminary surface sampling comprising 75 channel and grab samples including grab samples of 105 g/t Ag (#52368) and 140 g/t Ag (#52370) from outcrops of gossan and skeletal quartz. Of special interest is El Petate's #3 target (Figure 1), which includes several outcrops exposed along a creek for a distance of 50m. Thirteen channel samples obtained along these outcrops returned consistent gold assay values averaging 0.166 g/t Au and 10.4 g/t Ag (Samples #52383 to #52397) A comprehensive table featuring assay results and an accompanying description for each sample is contained later in this release.
To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/psl1018i.pdf.
Another feature of note is the existence of two historic mines within the claim boundaries. The El Aguila mine was developed for high grade manganese ore and consists of a zone 5m wide with heavy manganese oxides and calcite in the footwall of a syenite dike. Two grab samples from the El Aguila dump assayed at 345 g/t Ag and 595 g/t Ag with significant base metal readings. The Plomosa mine has a mine dump approximately 2,000 tons in size. Two channel samples from the mine workings indicate the presence of elevated base metals (6.86% Pb, and 0.87% Pb).
"We were pleased to be able to identify and stake this project but are surprised that the ground was open given the large size and strong geochemical responses from what is clearly a high level system," said Tawn Albinson, Prospero's President and CEO. "It is unusual in Mexico to encounter gossan outcrops at surface with readings exceeding 100 ppm Ag that lack past prospecting. In addition there is a canyon to the east of the Petate East Zone which drops 700m in elevation and this could be a benefit for any future development of the system," he added.
The Escoba, Apartadero, and El Petate silica reefs feature dominant fine crystalline quartz as stockwork and breccias as well as silicification of the massive limestones of the Doctor Formation. The moderate to strong presence of iron and manganese oxides is associated with the silica invasion creating red iron oxide-stained soils that make the reefs easily visible on Google Earth and in ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) images. The surface expression of the silicification is usually characterized by abundant float and sub-outcrops, which are associated with some cultivated parcels of land due to the pronounced presence of nutrients in the soils.
Structural controls of the reefs have been identified at some locations in outcrop and exhibit a set of predominately northwest oriented faults dipping west which are parallel to the fold axis of the limestones.
Results from the preliminary surface sampling are shown in the following table:
SAMPLE Type Width Au Ag Mm Pb Sb Zn
Number (i) (mts) ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm Location Description
52334 C 1.20 0.122 5.5 493 68600 292 561 Plomosa Limestone
Mine with oxides
52335 C 1.00 0.065 3.1 860 8700 972 521 Plomosa Weathered red
Mine suboutcrop
52339 G 0.018 345.0 greater 1445 984 1340 El Dump, calcite
than Aguila with oxides
50000 Mine
52367 G 0.047 595.0 greater 2660 413 1390 El Dump, calcite
than Aguila with oxides
50000 Mine
52340 G 3.00 0.004 30.0 24000 8 13 158 Petate # Limestone bx
1 with oxides
52341 G 0.002 9.4 9720 19 10 21 Petate # Skeletal
1 calcite-
quartz
52407 G 0.001 7.6 12600 9 4 10 Petate # Silica float
1 with Mn
oxides
52408 G 0.002 3.6 1295 4 2 6 Petate # Amorphous
1 silica-Mnox
52409 G less 10.5 35100 17 4 27 Petate # Silica float
than 1 with Mnox
0.001
52411 G 0.05 0.001 61.1 greater 37 190 1090 Petate # Silica-
than 1 massive Mnox
50000
52412 G 0.003 3.6 3850 6 2 9 Petate # Jasper float
1
52413 C 1.00 0.022 6.8 8150 10 less 18 Petate # Red soil in
than 1 situ(?)
2
52414 C 0.70 0.005 7.7 4390 4 4 14 Petate # White banded
1 quartz-Mnox
52415 G 0.001 16.0 40800 12 5 22 Petate # Skeletal
1 quartz-oxides
52342 G 0.001 38.2 7490 8 14 7 Petate # Skeletal
2 silica float
20% oxs
52368 G 0.016 105.0 37700 18 11 65 Petate # Gossan of
2 oxides,
suboutcrop
52369 C 0.30 0.005 26.3 5270 3 5 11 Petate # Skeletal
2 quartz vein-
oxides
52370 G 0.003 140.0 6410 6 18 7 Petate # Skeletal
2 quartz-oxides
52398 G 0.001 1.0 384 less 2 less Petate # White silica-
than than 2 oxides
2 2
52399 G less 0.9 1645 3 less 3 Petate # White silica
than than 2 float with Mn
0.001 2 ox
52400 G 0.001 3.7 3540 5 2 4 Petate # Silica float
2 with oxides
52401 G 0.001 30.0 8450 5 8 8 Petate # Skeletal
2 silica with
oxides
52402 G 0.007 3.4 8210 4 5 30 Petate # Limestone-
2 skeletal
silica-oxs
52403 C 1.20 0.016 8.5 1320 6 3 12 Petate # Red soil abt.
2 Mn oxides
52404 C 1.60 0.011 16.5 4750 8 12 15 Petate # Skeletal
2 silica with
Mnox
52405 G 0.70 0.012 4.7 637 4 4 10 Petate # Weathered
2 dike (?)
outcrop
52406 G less 0.6 1215 4 less 3 Petate # Skeletal
than than 2 silica-Mn
0.001 2 oxides
52410 G 0.60 0.005 11.9 2690 6 8 11 Petate # Silica vein
2 with Mnox
52375 C 0.50 0.019 1.6 5880 10 16 29 Petate # Gossan of Fe-
3 Mn oxides
52376 G 2.00 0.002 less 698 less 38 17 Petate # Banded
than than 3 calcite vein-
0.2 2 oxides
52381 C 0.10 0.006 10.8 15750 5 8 16 Petate # Skeletal
3 quartz with
Mn oxs
52382 G 1.10 0.167 2.8 1045 less 60 18 Petate # Marble with
than 3 calcite-
2 oxides
52383 G 0.50 0.117 89.4 7640 6 36 14 Petate # Fault zone
3 with calcite-
oxides
52384 C 0.30 0.017 1.1 292 2 5 less Petate # Fault with
than 3 silica-oxides
2
52385 C 1.00 0.152 5.2 4490 6 13 16 Petate # Sacharoidal
3 silica-oxides
52386 G 2.00 0.062 2.9 1665 2 10 5 Petate # Limestone
3 with calcite-
oxs
52387 C 1.00 0.092 7.8 2250 3 23 10 Petate # Gray silica
3 with abundant
oxs
52388 C 0.70 0.204 6.9 2770 9 28 28 Petate # Skeletal
3 silica with
abt. oxs
52389 C 0.60 0.49 8.9 7810 10 16 28 Petate # Gossan with
3 heavy Mn-Fe
oxs
52390 C 1.40 0.366 17.1 3570 6 36 27 Petate # Skeletal
3 silica with
25% oxs
52393 C 2.10 0.148 18.7 5760 9 33 15 Petate # Fault with
3 skeletal
silica-oxs
52394 C 1.60 0.087 9.3 4400 7 32 18 Petate # Gossan with
3 silica-30%
oxides
52395 C 0.35 0.288 5.3 5030 9 22 16 Petate # Gossan,
3 massive Fe-Mn
oxs
52396 C 1.30 0.057 2.9 3490 5 7 8 Petate # Limestone,
3 porous, 15%
oxs
52397 C 1.20 0.164 6.6 3830 6 37 18 Petate # Limestone,
3 silicified,
20% oxs
52377 G 0.60 0.008 less 363 5 3 4 Petate # Skeletal
than 4 quartz-oxides
0.2
52378 G 0.001 2.4 464 5 8 2 Petate # Skeletal
4 quartz-oxides
52379 G less 0.7 158 2 less less Petate # Skeletal
than than than 4 quartz bx
0.001 2 2 float
52380 G 0.01 3.6 241 less 5 less Petate # Jasper with
than than 4 oxides
2 2
52416 G 1.50 0.001 1.3 1880 16 2 19 Petate Silicified
West limestone
52417 G 0.60 0.002 0.4 203 2 2 21 Petate Silicified
West limestone
52418 G 0.022 2.2 260 11 53 81 Petate Jasper float
West with pyrite-
oxs
52419 G 0.038 1.0 23 22 95 8 Petate Silicified
West limestone
float
52337 G 3.00 0.024 0.3 286 116 52 51 Petate Limestone
West with oxides
52338 G 0.009 0.2 61 26 55 11 Petate Jasper Float
West
52343 G 0.041 1.3 626 7 16 11 Petate Skeletal
West silica with
oxides
52344 G 1.50 0.001 1.0 212 3 18 3 Petate Skeletal
West silica reef
52345 G 0.006 0.2 67 3 8 3 Petate Silicified
West boulder with
oxs
52346 G 1.00 0.013 0.5 30 14 36 7 Petate Silicified bx
West reef with oxs
52347 G 1.00 0.001 0.4 32 235 5 5 Petate Float of
West banded silica
52348 G 1.00 0.117 0.4 34 14 38 10 Petate Skeletal
West silica
stockwork
52349 G 1.00 0.005 0.2 52 33 25 6 Petate Silicified bx
West with oxides
52350 G 2.00 0.002 0.3 22 15 10 6 Petate Silicified bx
West reef
52361 G 0.04 0.095 1.4 28 8 80 5 Petate Silicified
West fault zone
52362 G 0.70 0.170 1.6 26 9 52 6 Petate Silicified
West fault breccia
52363 G 0.251 1.6 45 12 49 6 Petate Non-
West silicified
host of 52362
52364 G 0.009 less 21 3 27 5 Petate Silicified bx
than West with oxides
0.2
52365 G 0.002 less 47 4 7 4 Petate Float of
than West silica-oxides
0.2
52366 G 0.721 1.2 55 4 178 8 Petate Breccia with
West calcite-
oxides
52371 G 0.10 0.010 0.8 122 7 26 47 Petate Fault with
West silicified
breccia
52371A C 0.50 0.004 6.5 379 2 14 3 Petate White banded
West quartz vein
(i) C = Channel Chip Sample G = Grab Chip Sample
Prospero will carry out detailed mapping and sampling surveys in selected areas and complete ASTER image interpretation before defining targets. The extensive presence of petrographically low temperature (less than 200 degrees C) silicification associated with the geochemically anomalous areas represents high level alteration typical of the upper portions of high temperature carbonate replacement type deposits. Significantly, the elevated readings of Mn, Sb, As, Ba, and Hg, and in particular of manganese oxide occurrences, have long been considered typical of the higher and peripheral portions of carbonate replacement deposits in the Mexican Altiplano, with the historic Santa Eulalia and Mapimi mining districts representing good examples. The elevated precious metal and base metal values at El Petate suggest proximity to the possible top of a higher grade mineralized system. Elevated Ag assays, commonly associated with gossan and skeletal quartz outcrops, and locations that exhibit consistent fractions of ppm Au over widths collectively exceeding tens of meters (e.g. Petate #3 jasperoid) are more than merely anomalous.
Tawn Albinson, M.Sc., President of the Company, is a Qualified Person, as defined in NI 43-101, and is responsible for the technical content of this press release. The samples were analyzed by ALS Chemex, by the following methods, gold by Au-ICP21 with a lower limit of detection of 0.001 ppm; silver (with a lower limit of detection of 0.2 ppm) by multielemental ME-ICP41, and mercury by Hg-CV41.
About Prospero Silver Corp.:
Prospero is a Canadian resource company with the majority of its staff based in Mexico and who work for its wholly owned subsidiary Minera Fumarola, SA de CV (Fumarola). Following a project generator model to de-risk exploration and minimize dilution, the Company has a growing portfolio of high-quality projects and has been successful in finding strong partners.
Forward-Looking Statement Cautions:
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to the closing of a non-brokered Private Placement. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its planned activities, and the Company's inability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies. The reader is referred to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com, including the risk factors discussed in Prospero's November 27, 2009 prospectus. Except as required by securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, Prospero disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Neither the 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.
Contacts:
Prospero Silver Corp.
William Murray
Chairman
(604) 248-0797
Prospero Silver Corp.
Peter Murray
Contact Financial
(604) 689-7422