Altunhisar is located 260 km southeast of Ankara and 200 km east of the Konya Volcanic Belt. Ongoing exploration has defined seven areas of alteration linked to epithermal mineralization within Miocene andesitic volcanics, ranging from 7.5 km2 to 16 km2. These are Kitreli, Karanlikdere, Balci, Çömlekci, Basobaşi, Tepeköy, and Murtaza. Steeply dipping quartz-alunite ledges (Fig. 1) and quartz-kaolinite silica ledges (mostly trending NW), locally massive and chalcedonic silica ledges (also trending NW), and zones of supergene kaolinitised andesitic lavas have all been observed within these altered zones.
Best sampling results to date have come from the Karanlikdere and Balci prospects. At Karanlikdere, maximum gold values in soil were 57, 73, and 92 ppb Au and highest rock value was 73 ppb Au. Furthermore, the recognition of porphyry-style veins at surface is believed to be a significant indicator of the potential of finding porphyry-style gold mineralization at some depth within or below the lithocap. The Balci alteration zone covers an area of approximately 8 km2 that includes a number of outcropping silica, quartz-alunite and quartz-kaolinite zones 100-200 m in length. Outcrop sampling has yielded a number of gold values in the range 10-229 ppb Au and elevated molybdenum values with a maximum of 476 ppm Mo.
Stratex is encouraged by the early work and further mapping and sampling is planned. The focus will be on advancing a number of these targets to definition drilling, as well as determining the potential for discovering porphyry gold systems.
