Sunstone Metals (ASX: STM) has continued to highlight the substantial potential of its Limon epithermal discovery in southern Ecuador with the receipt of further high-grade gold-silver assays.
The new results have helped push the known epithermal mineralisation strike length out to more than approximately 800m in a northwest-southeast orientation.
Notably the discovery is open in all directions.
The significant upside at Limon is expected to be highlighted when Sunstone unveils an exploration target later this quarter.
The company is particularly enthused on the potential for a substantial near-surface mineral resource.
Notably, Limon was not included in a December 2022, 2.7million ounces of gold equivalent mineral resource estimate or the exploration target at the Bramaderos project.
Substantial discovery confirmed
Managing director Malcolm Norris said Limon is developing into a substantial discovery with huge growth potential.
He said the latest results continue to show the presence of structurally controlled, high-grade gold-silver mineralisation extending from surface to greater than 300m deep.
“Limon is a significant discovery and it continues to grow with every round of drilling and assays. There is now abundant evidence to demonstrate that the orebody has every potential to support a starter pit opportunity for the large-tonnage Bramaderos porphyry development.”
“We intend to release an exploration target on the Limon epithermal system in this quarter and demonstrate potential for Bramaderos to deliver a global Tier 2 gold-copper-silver opportunity.”
Multiple mineralised structures
New highlight hole LMDD039 has defined multiple mineralised structures well to the south-east of the main drilling area and opens this area up for further drilling and discovery of extensions.
In mid-September Sunstone also reported significant high-grade results from Limon including 18.5m at 1.17 grams per tonne gold equivalent and 209m at 0.58 grams per tonne of gold equivalent.
The highlight hole in that set of results, LMDD033, was drilled on a separate target, located 200m west of the main high-grade zone. It intersected high-grade gold at 2.0m at 9.35 grams per tonne.
Wrapping up operations
Sunstone is currently wrapping up its drill program with the rigs now on stand-by while all results are compiled and interpreted.
The company is waiting on additional assays which are expected to be received during November.
The Limon target area is located 2.7km north-east of the Brama-Alba-Melonal gold-copper deposits.
The Bramaderos project straddles the Pan American highway and is close to available hydroelectric power, supporting the economics of potential development opportunities.
The project is also supported by nearby commercial airports and significant cities (Loja, population 200,000) and has strong community support.
The project area is covered by 3 valid concessions and exploration plans are in place to continue to explore multiple gold-silver epithermal and gold-copper-silver porphyry opportunities.
