La Manchuria is located in the Deseado Massif – one of the most prolific epithermal gold-silver regions in the world
La Manchuria is located in the Deseado Massif LSE district, in the mining-friendly province of Santa Cruz, Argentina. The region is home to a variety of Argentina’s iconic mines like Cerro Vanguardia and Cerro Negro. The project is located within 50 km of four mines: Cap Oeste and COSE, located to the northwest on the same regional lineament, and Martha and Manantial Espejo, located in a parallel belt to the southeast. The region is Argentina’s biggest gold and silver producer, with production of approximately 1M gold-equivalent ounces (2022) per year.
The La Manchuria claims cover approximately 56 square kilometers. Known mineralization is centralized within this large, contiguous claim block, leaving multiple kilometers for expansion in all directions. It has road access, low altitude, and minimal sensitivities.
Historical drilling produced spectacular gold and silver grades, but focused on delineating a near-surface oxide resource for open pit heap leach mining. This approach diluted the vein grades and never addressed the project’s true potential as a classic high-grade parallel vein system. Drilling was limited to 160m depth, leaving several high-grade drill intercepts open in all directions. Astra is looking to extend these high-grade feeder zones of the shallow disseminated deposit.
Astra has an exclusive option to earn up to 90% interest (see July 9, 2024 news release) in the project.
