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St Elias Mines indentifies new parallel ‘North Corridor’ zone at Tesoro gold project

St Elias Mines (TSX-V:SLI, FSE:EKL) has identified a new structural zone parallel, and similar, to the main Tesoro structural corridor at the Tesoro gold project in south-western Peru. This ‘North Corridor’ was identified through the recent interpretation of a geophysical survey and recently acquired 2010 remote sensing data.

The main Tesoro structural corridor (approximately 400m x 7km) hosts the four significant identified mineralized zones - Zona Canchete (C-1and C-2 Veins); Zona Central (A-4 vein); Zona Incognito (I-3 Vein); and Zona Sur.  To date, all the development and the bulk of exploration on the Tesoro gold property has been focused within this corridor, and only limited surficial sampling has been conducted outside this zone.

According to St. Elias, the North Corridor (also approximately 7km long) is defined by a series of coincident geophysical/remote sensing lineaments, by numerous pits excavated in the past by artisinal miners and by two previously identified mineralized zones (Zona Este and the I-3 Vein at Zona Incognito).

The company said it will immediately initiate a surface exploration program, consisting of detailed mapping and surface sampling, to define the mineral potential of the North Corridor ahead of a systematic trenching program.

"This is an extremely exciting development.  Every new advancement in technology has aided in new discoveries. The wealth of information St. Elias has derived from the Stage 1 Titan 24 geophysical survey, and now the aatellite imagery, has significantly enhanced (and added) to the Tesoro Project”, St. Elias president and chief executive Lori McClenahan commented.

“We are currently awaiting results from the Stage 2 Titan 24 Survey which will provide even more information."
 
Earlier this month, St Elias completed the Stage 2 Titan 24 Survey that was designed to follow up the results of the previous, Stage 1, survey completed in fall 2009, and to extend the geophysical survey to cover the entire Tesoro property.

According to St Elias, the results of the geophysical surveys will be used to assist the company as it identifies potential for economic mineralized targets at depth. The company plans to test targets, identified from both Stage 1 and Stage 2, with drilling.

The Tesoro project, which is 100% owned by St. Elias and has no underlying royalties, covers 5,000 acres and is located in the Acari district within the prolific Nazca Ocoña gold belt in South West Peru. The company highlighted that the Tesoro property has not been evaluated to depth or to its full strike potential, which St Elias believes “leaves a large potential for the discovery of additional mineralization”.

The phase 1 exploration program, which consisted of control grid emplacement, reconnaissance geological mapping and prospecting over the entire property, identified five highly prospective clusters of veins, or ‘zones’, expected to total around 50 veins in all, with 9km aggregate length.  The study also returned assay from 143 rock samples, ranging from 0.01 to 3.12 ounces per ton (oz/t), with an average grade of 0.41oz/t.

St Elias describes the project’s geology with gold “associated with disseminated to semi-massive sulphides in quartz veins cutting a diorite intrusion”.  The company noted that “the continuity of the quartz veins and fractures is very impressive in the Nazca-Ocoña belt.  While the veins tend to be narrow, the grade is significant and the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for kilometers and to depths of up to 1,000 meters”.

The company announced two separate private placings, to raise over C$10m, earlier this year. The funds were earmarked to advance the exploration of Tesoro.