QUALITY ASSURANCE & CONTROL

Drilling, sampling and assaying on the San Anton Property and the Cerro del Gallo deposit is carried out in a manner consistent with good industry standards and methodology.  Sample collection and assaying is systematic and precise in accordance with strict procedural controls.  Readers are invited to review the relevant chapters of the NI 43-101 “Technical Report on the Cerro del Gallo deposit”, which comprehensively details the relevant protocols and procedures.

Drilling at Cerro del Gallo consists of either Reverse Circulation (RC) drill holes (diameter 4 ¾”-5 ½”), which produce ground rock chip samples of fine to medium granularity, or Diamond Drill Hole (DDH) of HQ size, which produce cylindrical rock cores with a diameter of 63.5mm.  The optimum drill direction (azimuth) of 030°/210° TN  and declination of -60° was determined prior to commencement of drilling from a dedicated program of quartz-sulphide vein measurements (strike and dip) on and around Cerro del Gallo, which demonstrated the dominant vein direction to be almost east-west.

Drill collar positions are established by a geologist, using a GPS unit, and azimuth and declination of the drill is checked on setup and again after the casing is established. As drilling proceeds, down-hole surveys of azimuth, inclination, magnetic field strength and temperature are completed on all DDH and RC holes.  Upon completion of each hole, drill hole collars are marked with a square concrete cap inscribed with the drill hole number, and subsequently surveyed by independent contract surveyors.

Diamond Drlll Hole (DDH) core is sampled at 1m intervals. Most of the diamond core recovered is HQ (63.5 mm) size and on rare occasions when a size reduction is required due to fractured ground conditions NQ (47.6 mm) is recovered.

The core is re-configured to its original in situ state, in core trays, to form a continuous cylinder. The core is first washed by a field technician and left to dry in preparation for mark-up and logging. The core is firstly marked longitudinally with a felt tipped pen and then marked at 1.0 m intervals for sampling for assay. The 1.0 m sample intervals are sawn transversely using a Target core saw with a 10” diameter diamond studded saw blade. The core is then sawn longitudinally in half. Only the “south side” of the core is sampled for assay, preserving a continuous longitudinal section of core for further investigation (the “north side”). The half sawn “south side” core is then progressively bagged for assay in 1.0 m intervals. Each 1 m sample interval is marked on the inside of the core tray.

The core is logged geologically using the same coding as that used in the RC logging, with geological information recorded using a 0 (not visible) – 3 (strong) code and grouped into alteration, mineralization, and structure.

All RC and DDH samples collected are immediately bagged, tied and placed collectively in larger polyweave bags and sealed.  Samples collected at the RC drill rig are under constant surveillance around the clock until collected by assay laboratory staff.  Samples collected from DDH core are stored at the secure core yard facility under constant surveillance until collected by assay laboratory staff.