Vancouver, BC – March 4, 2016 – Sonoro Metals Corp. (“Sonoro”) (TSXV: SMO), announces that results from a soil sampling program carried out over the past 6 months at Sonoro’s wholly-owned San Marcial gold/silver property have confirmed and expanded upon the presence of several anomalous zones within the 1,000-hectare concession. San Marcial is located 20 km east of Timmins Gold’s San Francisco Mine in the prolific Sonora-Mojave Megashear geologic structure of Sonora State, Mexico. The San Marcial property includes the original mine workings of the San Marcial and Soledad mines that were active during the early 1900s.
A total of 643 soil samples were collected from which 37 element analyses were obtained. Two main anomalous areas are revealed in a general north-south positioning that defines the northern San Marcial mine zone and the southern Soledad mine zone. Within the northern San Marcial anomalous area are three separate structural trends and in the southern Soledad mine area are four individual structural trends. These structural trends in the soils are oriented about northwest 70 degrees, which is generally parallel to the Jurassic sedimentary rock bedding trends.
Values obtained from the sampling range up to 4,360 ppb Au with 19 samples having greater than 200 ppb Au; 33 samples of 80 to 200 ppb Au; and 108 samples of 30 to 80 ppb Au. Silver values to a maximum of 69.5 ppm and lead values of up to 6,965 ppm were obtained, along with anomalous values of zinc, antimony, bismuth, tungsten, mercury and molybdenum. These elements are typical of a variant of intrusive related and hosted (IRG) gold-silver deposits. Follow up mapping confirms this relationship. Additional plots of the other anomalous elements are being completed and will be added to the Sonoro website.
Sample lines were oriented north-south with samples collected every 50 meters along the soil line, on lines set 200 meters apart. One line was added near the western concession boundary with 100 meters separation.
Additional anomalous zones with gold and silver mineralization occur outside the main anomalies described but are only partly sampled and are located in areas of prior exploration circa 1995. An additional 3-sample anomalous zone located to the northeast of the other anomalies is not close to prior areas of exploration and needs to have follow-up visits with additional sampling to determine the extent and quality of the anomaly.
Samples were collected by a three-person team where one person determined sample position by handheld GPS, the second person field coarse-screened (3/8 inch) the soil material from a shovel-dug hole 15 cm deep and the third person managed the collection of about 500 grams of material bagging in a marked bag with a description of the material, all conducted at the site.
Samples were kept secure by the team members and delivered to Inspectorate-Acme sample preparation facilities in Hermosillo, Sonora State, Mexico. The preparation lab of Inspectorate dried, weighed and screen-passed 80 mesh. Analyses was by ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry) after aqua regia digestion. The fine resulting pulp samples were sent to Vancouver, Canada for laboratory analysis reporting 37 elements, including gold. No blanks or standards were inserted into these early-stage exploration samples.
Kenneth MacLeod, President & CEO of Sonoro, stated, “The exploration program has significantly added to the value of the San Marcial project with the successful corroboration of historic results from the vicinity of the San Marcial and Soledad mines and the identification of anomalous zones between and beyond the locations of the two old mines. We are eager to continue the exploration program to define potentially large-scale drill targets.”
The local terrain at San Marcial is composed of low hills with outcropping rhyolitic meta-volcanic rock, sedimentary units of meta-calcareous shale, arkosic quartzite and porphyritic intrusive rocks which extend into low, nearly flat pediment covered areas. All rock types show strong alteration mainly of silicification with sericite and clay.
The Sonora-Mojave Megashear is a regional scale structural system measuring approximately 50 km in width and 500 km in length, extending into the San Marcial region. Gold mines in the Megashear have produced over 10 million ounces with about 25 million ounces remaining in resources and reserves. Mines in this trend include New Gold’s Mesquite Mine near Yuma, Arizona, and several mines located in the northwest corner of Sonora State, including La Herradura (Fresnillo/Newmont); El Chanate (Au Rico Gold); and San Francisco (Timmins Gold).
About Sonoro Metals Corp.
Sonoro Metals Corp. is a mineral exploration company with a portfolio of properties in Sonora State, Mexico and Alaska, USA. Sonoro has a skilled exploration team in Mexico, headed by Hermosillo-based Chief Geologist Melvin Herdrick, with over 35 years of experience, including 9 years as Chief Geologist for Phelps Dodge in Mexico and 5 years as VP of Exploration for Pediment Gold Corp. until its takeover by Argonaut Gold in 2011. Exploration on the Hilltop Gold Project in Alaska is being managed by Sonoro’s project partner, Northern Empire Resources Corp. under the direction of its Chairman, John Robins, P.Geo. Sonoro’s Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Kenwood, P.Geo., has over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and development.
Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo. is a director of the Company and a qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 and has read and takes responsibility for this news release.
On behalf of the Board of SONORO METALS CORP.
Per: “Kenneth MacLeod”
KENNETH MACLEOD President & CEO
For further information, please contact:
Sonoro Metals Corp. – Tel: (604) 632-1764
Email: info@sonorogold.com
Forward-Looking Statement Cautions:
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the completion of a proposed Offering and the use of the Offering proceeds to further explore the Company’s Cerro Caliche project. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “projects,” “aims,” “potential,” “goal,” “objective,” “prospective,” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will,” “would,” “may,” “can,” “could” or “should” occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the inability of the Company to secure sufficient subscriptions to complete the Offering, the risk of accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, or the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances, necessary to carry out the Company’s exploration plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on its business that might interfere with the Company’s business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company’s reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators’ System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects
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