Highlights
- Morros Blancos is a large property (9,000 hectares) hosting several maar-diatreme complexes prospective for HS epithermal Au-Ag, and the undrilled, sub-cropping, Morro Colorado porphyry Cu-Au-Mo target
- Located along the Paleocene Porphyry Copper and Precious Metals Belt of northern Chile and southern Peru
- Morro Colorado target comprises sub- cropping quartz-veinlet stockworks hosted in andesitic-dacitic volcanic sequences adjacent to rhyo-dacite domes and maar-diatremes
- Rosario del Alto comprises at least 4 maar- diatreme complexes, with preservation of steam-heated zone within advanced argillic alteration assemblages
Regional Geology
- The Paleocene-Eocene mineral belt extends over more than 1,500 km from southern Peru to central northern Chile, and parallels the Domeyko and Coastal mineral belts to the E and W respectively
- The mineral belt is characterized by widespread Paleocene volcanic sequences and ub-volcanic porphyry intrusions and rhyo-dacite dome complexes, with large areas obscured by post-mineral Miocene gravel and volcanic cover
- The belt is host to major porphyry copper deposits such as Quellaveco (Peru) and Spence (Chile), as well as major LS epithermal (e.g. El Peñon) and HS epithermal (e.g. Guanaco) Au-Ag deposits
- Local geology dominated by Paleocene volcanic rocks with maar-diatremes and rhyo-dacite domes
Access
Location
Morros Blanco is located approximately 75 km east-southeast of the coastal town of Taltal and 225 km southeast of the port of Antofagasta, and is directly adjacent and to the east of the Amancaya Au-Ag mine in northern Chile
Access
Access to the property is easy, from Antofagasta or Taltal, from the Pan-American Highway (PAH), via a turn-off located at Agua Verde on the PAH, and then a short distance along a well- maintained dirt road that leads to the Amancaya mine operated by Austral Gold
Other Details
- Morros Blancos was subject to limited historic exploration with minor soil sampling, geophysics (magnetics), trenching, and minor, peripheral drilling, the results of which are available
- Widespread advanced argillic alteration in 3 main target areas within a 15 km NE-SW corridor
- > Multiple phreatomagmatic brecciation events, including maar diatremes
- Both Morro Colorado (Cu-Au-Mo) and Rosario del Alto (Au-Ag) present drill-ready targets
- The southern alteration zone at Morro Blanco has not been mapped or sampled to date
- Most of the property is obscured by shallow talus and colluvial deposits
Work Completed
- Detailed geological mapping, surface soil geochemical sampling, geophysics (magnetics, CSAMT), and limited shallow drilling at Rosario del Alto have been completed in 2021 and 2022
- Results indicate potential for fertile HS epithermal Au-Ag systems associated with maar-diatreme complexes
Targets
Morro Colorado porphyry Cu-Au-Mo drill target – sub-cropping
Rosario del Alto maar-diatreme and HS epithermal Au-Ag targets – sub-cropping
Plans
Possible property-wide IP geophysics
Updating of geologic models supported by further surface mapping and sampling
Follow-up drill testing at Rosario del Alto and maiden drill test at Morro Colorado
Morros Blancos
Fact Sheet
August 2023