The Santa Daniela concessions are located within the heart of the Sierra Madre Occidental goldbelt in eastern Sonora, Mexico. Nearby operating gold mines include Mulatos, La India and Pinos Altos. There is excellent access to the property from the nearby supply towns of Yécora and Sahuaripa. In addition, an extensive road network is available in the region due to multiple large scale mining operations currently in production in the immediate area.
Ranchero Gold acquired the concessions in May of 2020 from a private group based in México. The 22,267 hectare Santa Daniela concessions are 100% owned by the Company.
Under previous ownership the property had been evaluated and initial drilling conducted at Maíz Azul, El Rincon and Mesas Coloradas. Maíz Azul drilling resulted in the first gold discovery at Santa Daniela. Since taking over the project in early 2020, Ranchero has conducted extensive exploration at both Maíz Azul and the full concession block. This has led to Ranchero’s first drill program at Maíz Azul and the identification of new prospects within the project area.
The Maíz Azul area is found at the northern end of the Santa Daniela concession block within 3.5 kilometers of Alamos Gold’s Mulatos Mine. It is the most advanced prospect within the concession area. Recent drilling completed by Ranchero encountered gold in all 16 drill holes including intercepts of 4.0 g/t gold over 31.5 meters (MA 22-10); 2) 1.2 g/t gold over 21.2 meters (MA 21-14); 3) 1.2 g/t gold over 15.6 meters (MA 22-25); and 4) 1.1 g/t gold over 21.0 meters (MA 21-11).
Mineralization at Maíz Azul is found in erosional windows that expose “Lower Series” volcanic rocks known to host many of the regional gold deposits. Rock units consist of dacitic flow domes, andesite flows and agglomerates, pyroclastic deposits, dikes or sills and other volcanic units. The exposure of these rocks likely results from regional tectonic forces creating a series of faulted blocks (horsts and grabens). Upthrown blocks (horsts) would be more susceptible to erosion and more likely to expose “Lower Series”.
Recent mapping has identified three principal drill targets. They are characterized by numerous gold bearing rock samples, extensive hydrothermal alteration and widespread, WNW trending sulphide/silica veins and veinlets.
La Colmena, the most northern target measures approximately 350 x 75 meters and is the location of historic drilling. The central La Cascada target is the largest in size measuring over 650 meters in length by 100 meters wide. The X-structure lies furthest south is over 350 meters in length and projects an addition 200+ meters.
Ranchero began the initial phase of its drill campaign in October, 2021. Phase 1 consisted of a 3,112 meter of diamond-core drilling designed to confirm and expand known gold mineralization in the La Colmena target as well as initial testing of the La Cascada target.
An up-coming drill campaign will focus on 1) expansion the La Colmena and La Cascada zones eastward; 2) initial drill testing of the X-Structure target; 3) testing new target areas; and 4) commencement of resource definition drilling.
The Phase I drill program was designed to test two principal targets at Maíz Azul: La Colmena and La Cascada. Drilling has confirmed widespread gold mineralization at both targets and also provided confirmation that high grade mineralization exists within a lower grade halo.
Highlights:
- Ranchero completed 3,112 meters of diamond core drilling.
- All 16 completed drill holes intersected gold mineralization confirming widespread mineralization at Maíz Azul.
- Near surface drill results included: 1) 4.0 g/t gold over 31.5 meters (MA 22-10); 2) 1.2 g/t gold over 21.2 meters (MA 21-14); 3) 1.2 g/t gold over 15.6 meters (MA 22-25); and 4) 1.1 g/t gold over 21.0 meters (MA 21-11).
- Expansion of the combined mineralized footprint at La Colmena and La Cascada to 500 meters by 550 meters where mineralization remains open in all directions.
- The Company’s initial focus has been on the shallow, near surface mineralization where the majority of drilling has been limited to 100 to 150 meters from surface and mineralization remains completely open at depth.
The Maíz Azul area has been fully permitted for up to 208 drill pads. Access agreements have been reached with the Mulatos Ejido and other property owners for use of the surface through both exploration and eventual mining. The Company has an on-going engagement program with the Ejido and other local communities/residents. It enjoys excellent relations locally.
Ranchero also holds water rights for up to two million cubic meters annually, sufficient for industrial operations.
Ranchero is also advancing its regional prospect generation program on the entire Santa Daniela concession block. Santa Daniela is one of the largest unexplored areas in the Sierra Madre Occidental gold belt and its potential for new discovery is excellent.
Initial targets were identified by an Aster/Landsat satellite-based study conducted by Perry Remote Sensing LLC in 2020. This study highlighted the presence of hydrothermal alteration minerals (related to possible gold deposition) and structural trends that led to the identification of 47 separate targets for field investigation. In 2022 Ranchero contracted GoldSpot Discoveries to apply its machine-learning (ML) technology to further refine reconnaissance targets and identify additional areas for follow-up visits.
As a result, new targets have been identified and previously known targets have been refined.
Ranchero made field visits to a number of these areas and has currently identified nine high-priority targets that warrant continued field studies including geophysics, alteration studies, detailed mapping, and systematic sampling. It anticipates that additional areas will be added to the priority list based on the work with GoldSpot and will also be reviewed in the field. The priority areas are based on the presence of favorable lithology, hydrothermal alteration, geochemical anomalies and proximity to other known third-party prospects. Ranchero will continue its field investigations in parallel with the work conducted at Maíz Azul with the objective of identifying new drill targets.
CSA NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Santa Daniela Gold Project, Municipios of Sahuaripa and Yecora, Sonora, México.
Prepared for Ranchero Gold by William Pincus C.P.G. 10762
Date: May 6, 2022
Effective date: April 25, 2022
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- Mineralized volcanic rock units in Arroyo Maíz Azul
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- Hydrothermal clay (smectite) alteration of volcanic units
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- Rock chip sampling at Maíz Azul
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- Exploration camp at Maíz Azul
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- Bedded tuff units of the “Upper Volcanic Series” ignimbrites. These units cover underlying “Lower Series” volcanic rocks that host most major deposits in the area. Maíz Azul is considered a window of eroded upper series rocks that expose the mineralized “Lower Series” units
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- Drill core from Maíz Azul
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- Close up of mineralized drill core
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- Typical iron-staining (hematitic) and silica alteration directly related to mineralization
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- La Cascada Vein showing pyrite/sulfide mineralization (now oxidized) with silica
