 The Vila de Rei project is an early stage gold exploration project in central Portugal northeast of Lisbon, with potential to host mesothermal/epithermal vein style deposits and intrusion-associated deposits.
The Property
The contract for the Vila de Rei Concession was signed by Redcorp Empreendimentos Mineiros Unipessoal Lda. (“REM”) on May 12, 2006. REM is a wholly owned Portuguese subsidiary company of Redcorp Ventures Ltd. (“Redcorp”). The exploration concession granted REM a two year exclusive period to explore for gold and silver over the area. After the initial two year period, the concession could be converted to an exploitation concession, or REM could elect to extend the concession by one year, three times, with a 50% reduction in area each time. REM has completed all requirements for the initial two-year period and has applied for and been granted its first extension. The current concession covers approximately 363 square kilometers, reduced from the initial concession area of 727 square kilometers granted in 2006. Redcorp maintains the concession through its work programs and by making cash payments.
Exploration History
The Vila de Rei area is notable for past placer gold production dating from Roman times and several Roman-aged placer workings are still preserved. However, although quartz veins in outcrop have been noted in government geological surveys, the area had seen almost no modern exploration for bedrock mineralization prior to REM’s involvement.
Geological Setting
The property is part of the Iberian Massif and covered by the Cenozoic-Mesozoic Orla Ocidental Zone in the west and south, Paleozoic Central Iberian Zone in the northwest and Proterozoic Ossa Morena Zone in the southwest. The Ossa Morena Zone consists of green schist facies meta-sediments and felsic volcanics.
The Central Iberian Zone consists of a 2000m thick Cambrian interbedded greywacke and shale sequence unconformably overlain by 600m thick Ordovician quartzites, sandstones, siltstones and shales. The Ossa Morena and Central Iberian Zones meet at the southwest of the property, separated by the Porto-Tomar-Cordoba shear zone (Blastomylonitic belt) which was active throughout the Hercynian. The Hercynian Orogeny caused widespread deformation and faulting throughout the property with contemporaneous granite intrusions. These granites are believed to have potential to host sheeted-vein gold mineralization analogous to the Fort Knox deposit in Alaska and similar deposits in the Yukon. Rio Narcea’s Salave deposit in Spain is a nearby example. Quartz/Gold vein occurrences have been identified within the property, thought to be related to stages of the Hercynian Orogeny with metamorphic fluids focused along local structures. Younger Miocene conglomerates contain paleo-placer gold in the centre-south of the property.
REM Exploration Programs
To date, the REM exploration programs have included geological mapping, stream sediment sampling, prospecting, and rock sampling, including channel samples.
The stream sediments were generally collected at Vila de Rei (South) and Figueiros dos Vinhos (North). In the south 66 stream sediment pan concentrate and silt samples covering 88km2 were collected. 27 of the pan concentrates were anomalous in Au (up to 99,700 ppb) and 8 silt samples (up to 139 ppb Au). In the north 26 stream sediment samples covering 45km2 were collected, with 2 pan concentrate (up to 64 ppb) and 2 silt samples (up to 86 ppb) anomalous in Au(>50ppb Au and >20ppb Au thresholds, respectively).
Rock samples were collected mainly from iron-sulfide mineralized and/or vuggy quartz veins and returned numerous significant gold anomalies: 118 of the 623 rock samples collected from 2005 to 2008 contained greater than 1.0 gpt Au, and 16 of those samples have exceeded 6 gpt Au. The highest grade sample thus far, taken in the Rei area in 2008, returned a value of 24.72 gpt Au.
So far, the best results have been obtained from quartz veins hosted within the relatively brittle quartzite. These moderately to steeply dipping veins can attain a substantial size, up to several meters in width and in some cases have been traced for several hundred meters along strike. Of particular interest are veins in the Coriscos/Mindeiros area, where three large parallel veins traceable for a strike length of 300 to 1800m are situated about 400m apart; veins in the Sr. Jesus area, which can be traced for at least 400m; and veins in the Estevais area, which, although more poorly exposed, have returned the highest gold values obtained to date from grab samples.
During June, 2008, a total of 43 channel samples were collected across 12 sites on 4 outcropping quartz veins. One vein in the Estevais area and three veins in the Coriscos (Mindeiros) area were selected for channel sampling. The highest gold value obtained from this sampling was 3.1 g/t Au/0.82m true width from Coriscos vein B. The composite gold results over the full width of the exposed veins are presented below:
2008 VDR Channel Sample Results – Composited Quartz Vein and Breccia Material
|
Channel
|
Interval m
|
True Width m
|
Au g/t
|
Results > 1 g/t Au (true width in m)
|
|
Estevais Vein
|
|
|
|
|
Esv08_C01
|
1.78
|
1.46
|
0.84
|
includes 1.46 g/tAu/0.68m
|
|
Esv08_C02
|
2.55
|
2.31
|
0.60
|
includes 1.25g/t Au/0.62m
|
|
Esv08_C03
|
2.50
|
2.16
|
0.40
|
includes 1.44 g/t Au/0.4m
|
|
Esv08_C04
|
0.60
|
0.51
|
2.06
|
2.06 g/tAu/0.51m
|
|
Esv08_C05
|
2.78
|
2.51
|
0.87
|
includes 1.2 g/t Au/0.74m and 1.17 g/t Au/0.91m
|
|
Coriscos Vein A
|
|
|
|
|
Cor08_C09
|
3.34
|
2.10
|
0.94
|
includes 1.64 g/t Au/1.12m
|
|
Cor08_C10
|
1.51
|
1.34
|
0.71
|
includes 1.22 g/t Au/0.7m
|
|
Coriscos Vein B
|
|
|
|
|
Cor08_C06
|
3.82
|
3.24
|
0.28
|
|
|
Cor08_C07
|
3.92
|
3.40
|
0.83
|
includes 3.1 g/t Au/0.82m
|
|
Cor08_C08
|
2.70
|
2.65
|
0.29
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coriscos Vein C
|
|
|
|
|
Cor08_C11
|
1.82
|
1.52
|
0.68
|
includes 1.26 g/t Au/0.7m
|
|
Cor08_C12
|
2.37
|
1.81
|
1.35
|
Includes 1.74 g/t Au/1.05m
|
|
