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Latin American Minerals Inc.'s Chiriguelo Project is a large carbonatite intrusive similar to the major Niobium deposits of Brazil: Araxá (CBMM) and Catalão (Anglo American). Historic work on the prospect has proven pyrochlore mineralization (Niobium) and a suite of rare earth elements (REEs).
The Chiriguelo Project is located 500 km northeast of Asunción, Paraguay, near the Brazilian border. The site is readily accessible by a paved road passing through the southern edge of the project.
In 2011, LAT acquired the exploration concession covering a total of 25,500 hectares. The Chiriguelo REE & Nb project is 100% owned by LAT and has valid environmental permitting until 2013.
GEOLOGIC SETTING
Chiriguelo is an alkaline-carbonatite complex with a well-developed circular structure approximately 7 km in diameter. This early Cretaceous alkalic-carbonatite intrusive complex (126 - 119 million years old, per Eby and Mariano, 1992), intruded through and domed the, Pre-Cambrian metamorphic rocks, Silurian metaquartzites, Carboniferous siltstones/sandstones and Mesozoic aeolian sandstones. The eastern part of the complex is covered by late tholeiitic basalts of the Parana Basin basalt flow. Regionally the project lies on the Western edge of the Parana Basin within an NW-SE trend of alkaline intrusives known as the Northeast Alkaline region in Paraguay. The intrusives and regional structure are associated with the rift tectonics of the Parana Basin and are structurally, temporally and spatially similar to the Brazilian mineralized Carbonatites on the eastern edge of the Parana Basin.
MINERALIZATION
Metasomatism (fenitization) produced a massive fenite hood zone of apparently great thickness. Continued buildup of residual solutions from the differentiating magma generated pulses of rheomorphic (remobilized) fenite intruding the massive sanidine-aegirine-melanite hood. This ultimately portioned ultra-alkalic solutions that gave rise to siliceous hematite (rodbergite) veins cutting the fenite and marginal zones of the fenitized metamorphics along NE-SW and radial fractures. Primary Rare Earth Oxide (REO) mineralization appears to be associated with major and radial fracture systems crossing the fenite rim. Ferrosilicate veins in the fenites contain rare earths, phosphate and thorium. Exploration in the early 1980`s reported the occurrence of pyrochlore mineralization in the central carbonatite area of the complex. Intense fenitization and brecciation are widespread in the central part of the ring structure.
RESULTS
In Q4 2009 LAT completed a reconnaissance rock and soil sample survey in the central ring structure of Chiriguelo to follow up anomalous Niobium, REE and radiometric anomalies encountered by the Anschutz Corporation in the early 1980`s. 31 rock samples and 15 soil samples were collected and assays returned avg. Total REO's of 1.38% with a high of 7.59%; avg Nb2O5 of 0.075% with a high of 0.23%. Radiometric readings encountered values of up to 15,000cps (Total Count).
EXPLORATION PROGRAM
LAT has started a detailed exploration program in the ring structure of Chiriguelo. Work will include; magnetometry, scintillometry, rock/soil sampling, and geologic mapping over an 8 km x 6 km survey grid with 200m lines separation is planned.
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