Geology and Metallurgy

The Corani region is a high desert mountainous environment dominated by volcanic rock and overlying glacial gravel. Aside from vegetation associated with wetlands (aka “bofedal”), alpine tussock grassland (aka ”puna”) occupies most of the valleys and moderate slopes, while on steeper slopes, erosion and climatic conditions largely prevent the development of soils or vegetation.

The Corani project area is underlain by Tertiary age volcanic rocks of the Quenamari Formation, a thick series of crystal-lithic tuffs and andesite. The primary host of mineralization is the youngest member of the Quenamari Formation, the Chacaconiza Member, comprised of a sequence of crystal-lithic and crystal-vitric-lithic tuffs. The Chacaconiza tuffs are widely hydrothermally altered and pervasively argillized to low-temperature clays, and are variably faulted, fractured, and brecciated.

The Corani deposit is best described as a low- to intermediate-sulfidation epithermal deposit with silver, lead, and zinc mineralization hosted in stock works, veins, and breccias. Mineralization at Corani occurs in three deposits: Corani Main, Corani Minas, and Corani Este, each with slightly different alteration and mineral assemblages. In outcrop, mineralization is associated with iron and manganese oxides, barite, and silica, while in drill core, the mineralization occurs in typical low to intermediate sulfidation silver-lead-zinc (Ag-Pb-Zn) mineral assemblages. The most abundant silver-bearing mineral is fine-grained argentian tetrahedrite or freibergite.