Cordoba Minerals Outlines Exploration Plans for Cordoba Property in Colombia
VANCOUVER, May 8, 2012 /CNW/ - Cordoba Minerals Corp. ("Cordoba" or the "Company" - formerly Wesgold Minerals Inc.) (TSX-V:CDB) and Minatura International LLC ("Minatura") are pleased to provide an update on the 25,790 hectare Cordoba copper-gold project, located roughly 200km north of Medellin, Colombia. Cordoba has an option to acquire a 51% interest in the property from Minatura, by spending $15 million on exploration and making certain cash payments, over a 30 month period (please refer to the Company's SEDAR filings for full details). Initial work on the property has confirmed the presence of a highly prospective copper/gold porphyry system exposed in artisanal workings.
The project is at an early stage, however the discovery of a robust quartz/magnetite stockwork system hosted by porphyry intrusive and volcanic rocks, returning significant copper-gold grades and situated along an inferred extension of the Middle Cauca Gold Belt of Colombia, indicates this large property has excellent potential. This belt is known to be highly prospective for copper-gold mineralization, with over 50 million ounces of gold being discovered in just the last five years. The Cordoba property has never been drilled tested or seen any methodical exploration until now.
Work completed to date includes a 1310 line kilometre regional airborne Magnetometer and Radiometric survey covering 216 square kilometres of the northern half of the property, and preliminary hand trenching and rock sampling in the central target area, in and around an artisanal open pit mine. Initial trench results in this area returned significant values such as: 18 metres of 1.35 g/t gold with 0.54% copper; 21 metres of 1.76 g/t gold with 0.32% copper; and 17 metres of 0.94 g/t gold with 0.69% copper (see news release of March 1st, 2012). Soil sampling over a larger area surrounding the pit has returned encouraging copper-gold anomalies over a 500 x 700 meter area, which remains open to the south, northwest and east.
Outcrop exposure over this large property is limited, so soil sampling and geophysical surveying will be key to further discoveries in the district, as will mapping and interpretation of other artisanal workings within the land position. The airborne geophysical survey outlined several magnetic and radiometric features coincident with existing geochemical anomalies, plus several distinct linear features which may represent regional structural controls on mineralization. All of these target areas will be followed up in due course.
The Company's new President, Peter Thiersch, stated: "Having just returned from my first visit to the property, I am highly encouraged by the tenor and scale of mineralization already identified on the property, and we are still at a very early stage of exploration. The number of alluvial operations in the area suggests significant potential for the district and I believe we may be situated along a previously unrecognized extension to the highly endowed Mid Cauca Gold Belt."
The Cordoba property consists of three granted mining concessions, five pending concession agreements, and five concession applications for a total of 25,790 hectares. Exploration work is currently proceeding on a restricted basis, consisting of low impact prospecting, soil and rock sampling and hand trenching, until such time as concessions applications are formally approved. The Company is not aware of any issues which would prevent final government approval of the concessions and shortly expects such approval. Once formal approval is received, exploration work will ramp up to include machine trenching, additional geophysical surveying and drilling. Environmental and water permits for drilling are being prepared for submission now, for a phase one program of 5,000 metres of drilling in an artisanal mining area.
Qualified Person
Cordoba's President, Peter Thiersch, M.Sc. P.Geo. (APEGBC), is the Company's Qualified Person in accordance with NI 43-101, and is responsible for the Company's work programs and the accuracy of this news release.
About Cordoba Minerals
Cordoba Minerals Corp. is a Vancouver-based mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of copper and gold projects in Colombia. The Company currently owns 11% of the 25,790 hectare Cordoba project, and has an option to earn 51% from Minatura. Please visit our website www.cordobamineralscorp.com for additional project information.
About Minatura
Minatura International is a privately held company engaged in the exploration, development and extraction of precious and base metals in Colombia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Senegal, and holds over 450,000 hectares of various hard rock and alluvial mining titles and claims in these countries. Please visit www.minatura.com for additional information about Minatura.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,
"Peter Thiersch"
Peter Thiersch, President
Symbol: TSX-V:CDB
Shares Issued: 17.7-million
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Investor Relations: Jaclyn Ruptash, tel: 604-801-5432
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