Torq Commences Drilling at Santa Cecilia
InvestorSarfari Comments: Drilling has commenced on Santa C……..
January 18, 2024
Vancouver, Canada – January 18, 2024 – Torq Resources Inc. (TSX-V: TORQ, OTCQX: TRBMF) (“Torq” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide a summary of key activities and achievements over the past calendar year and look ahead at what’s to come in 2024. Torq kicked off this year with the completion of a financing of $5.3M on January 4th, which will allow the Company to initiate its second drill program at its flagship gold-copper project in Chile, Santa Cecilia, where it completed a successful inaugural drill program last year. The second half of 2024 will focus on advancing the Margarita iron-oxide-copper-gold project by expanding upon the multiple discoveries made in 2022 – 2023 through a phase IV drill program.
A Message from Shawn Wallace, CEO:
“We’re starting off 2024 with a cashed-up treasury, discoveries on deck and the resolve to obtain additional high-quality exploration results that can move the needle. Over the last year we’ve made multiple discoveries, improved on the grade from a historical discovery and identified numerous highly prospective targets –continually minimizing the speculative risk through exceptional results. We are working to keep this trend of success going into 2024, as we believe the increasing potential our projects demonstrate for significant new deposits in Chile is unmatched.”
2023 Highlights:
Improved Grade at Santa Cecilia: In Torq’s inaugural drill program, the first comprehensive drilling on the project in over 30 years, it intercepted 557 metres (m) of 0.38 g/t gold, 0.23% copper and 56 ppm molybdenum in wall rock at a depth of 442 m – 999 m. This intercept bottomed in grade and represented an 81% increase in the gold grade from historical drilling, indicating that Torq may be vectoring toward the higher-grade causative intrusion.
Multiple New Discoveries at Margarita: Further to the initial Falla 13 discovery made in 2022, Torq drilled two new discoveries in 2023, which included 42 m of 1.1 g/t gold and 0.48% copper in sulphide mineralization on a structure parallel to Falla 13, and 132 m of 0.48% copper in oxide mineralization on the southern portion of the project at the Cototuda target.
Numerous Highly Prospective Targets Identified: Torq has created a pipeline of high potential targets for drilling in 2024 at both its Santa Cecilia and Margarita projects. At Santa Cecilia, this includes undrilled porphyry targets with copper mineralization on surface within 1km – 2km of the Norte Abierto project, owned jointly by Newmont and Barrick. At Margarita this includes a newly identified mineralized structure as well as burgeoning copper oxide structures that require further drilling.
Financial Strength: The Company started off 2023 by putting a base shelf prospectus in place to allow for ease in raising capital and a few months later, in March, raised $6.26M.
Strategic Support: Torq capped off the year by initiating an additional financing, which included participation from strategic investor, Gold Fields. The international mining company bolstered their initial investment($15M in 2022) with an additional $1.3M in this latest financing, bringing their ownership position to 15.48%.
Industry Recognition: Analyst coverage was officially initiated on Torq in August by Red Cloud Securities and continues from Beacon Securities.
2024 Exploration Plans:
Torq will be announcing the drill plan for Santa Cecilia in the coming weeks, followed by the commencement of drilling at the project, which is expected in February. In addition, the Company has been preparing a plan for the next phase of drilling at Margarita, which is expected to take place in the summer, following the Santa Cecilia drill program.
For more details on the outlook for 2024, you can listen to the recent interview on the Korelin Economics Report with CEO, Shawn Wallace, and Chief Geological Officer, Michael Henrichsen.
Torq’s exploration team at Santa Cecilia in 2023
February 13, 2024
Vancouver, Canada – February 13, 2024 – Torq Resources Inc. (TSX-V: TORQ, OTCQX: TRBMF) (“Torq” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the commencement of drilling at its Santa Cecilia gold – copper project located in the world-class Maricunga belt in northern Chile, approximately 100 kilometres (km) east of the city of Copiapo. The Santa Cecilia project is immediately adjacent to the Norte Abierto project, held by Newmont and Barrick, which is comprised of the Caspiche and Cerro Casale gold – copper porphyry deposits (Figure 1).
A Message from Shawn Wallace, CEO:
“We are very pleased to be back drilling at our flagship project, where we have an incredibly rare opportunity to be the first exploration company to comprehensively drill test a property that demonstrates copper and gold mineralization both on surface and at depth and is surrounded by some of the world’s largest gold-copper porphyry deposits. The first target we are drilling, Pircas Norte, has outcropping copper porphyry mineralization on surface, a defined geophysical anomaly below surface, is within 1.5 km of the world-class Caspiche deposit, and has never been drill tested. This drill program will continue to evolve based on what we’re seeing in preliminary results, and we look forward to providing updates as we progress.”
The drill program at Santa Cecilia is expected to consist of approximately 1,500 metres (m) over the next 2 months. The initial focus of the drill program will be to test the Pircas Norte target on the eastern region of the project, situated approximately 1.5 km to the west of Norte Abierto’s Caspiche deposit. The Pircas Norte target is characterized by outcropping copper porphyry mineralization and an overlapping gold, copper and molybdenum soil anomaly on surface that is approximately 600 m by 600 m with selective rock samples within a dioritic porphyry ranging between 0.3 – 0.83 g/t gold (Figure 2). Subsurface, the Pircas Norte target is associated with a strong magnetic response, low conductivity values, and moderate chargeability values. The magnetic anomaly and low conductivity values are interpreted to be associated with the diorite porphyry body and associated potassic alteration that is viewed on surface (Figures 3 - 4). Finally, the moderate chargeability values at Pircas Norte are interpreted to be the centre of a gold – copper mineralized system that is flanked by high chargeability areas which may represent a pyrite halo to the main porphyry body (Figure 5). The remaining drill holes of the program will be determined based on geological results of the first drill hole.
Figure 1: Illustrates the location of the Santa Cecilia project in the Maricunga belt and in relation to the Norte Abierto joint venture, held by Newmont and Barrick, which consists of the Caspiche and Cerro Casale deposits.
Figure 2: Illustrates the seven porphyry targets identified at Santa Cecilia and rock results from outcropping porphyry mineralization at the Pircas Norte target, which is within 1.5 km of the Caspiche deposit. Pircas Norte is being prioritized in the current drill program.
Figure 3: Illustrates the Pircas Norte target and the first drill hole in the current program. This target is associated with a strong magnetic anomaly that is interpreted to be the continuation of the mineralized dioritic bodies on surface.
Figure 4: Illustrates the Pircas Norte target and the first drill hole in the current program. This target is associated with low conductivity values that are interpreted to be associated with the host dioritic intrusion and potential potassic and silica alteration associated with porphyry mineralization.
Figure 5: Illustrates the Pircas Norte target and the first drill hole in the current program. The Pircas Norte target is associated with moderate chargeability values that are interpreted to represent the centre gold-copper porphyry mineralization that is flanked by high chargeabiity areas that may represent lateral pyrite haloes to the main porphyry body.
Michael Henrichsen (Chief Geological Officer), P.Geo is the QP who assumes responsibility for the technical contents of this release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,
Shawn Wallace
CEO
For further information on Torq Resources, please visit www.torqresources.com or contact Natasha Frakes, VP, Communications, at (778) 729-0500 or info@torqresources.com.
About Torq Resources
Torq is a Vancouver-based copper and gold exploration company with premium mineral projects in Chile. The Company is establishing itself as a leader of new exploration in prominent mining belts, guided by responsible, respectful and sustainable practices. The Company was built by a management team with prior success in monetizing exploration assets and its specialized technical team is recognized for their extensive experience working with major mining companies, supported by robust safety standards and technical proficiency. The technical team includes Chile-based geologists with invaluable local expertise and a noteworthy track record for major discovery in the country. Torq is committed to operating at the highest standards of applicable environmental, social and governance practices in the pursuit of a landmark discovery. For more information, visit .
Forward Looking Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information in particular relating to or associated with the financing of exploration work on its mineral properties. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including risks relating to securing investor interest and participation in the target financing goal, and general market and economic conditions. For a discussion of risk factors which could adversely affect the forward looking statements, see the Company’s public record filings at www.sedarplus.ca.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.