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  • Tesoro Resources’ (TSO) shares have dipped in the red after releasing its March quarterly report
  • The company re-listed on the ASX in early-February following a $4.63 million capital raise
  • Immediately after, Tesoro delved into exploration at its El Zorro and Espina gold projects in Chile
  • Drilling, mapping and sampling programs have uncovered significant gold mineralisation at both projects and further exploration is planned
  • After re-listing, Tesoro had just over $4 million in cash and ended the quarter with $2.6 million
  • Tesoro Resources is down 9.46 per cent and shares are trading for 6.7 cents each

Tesoro Resources’ (TSO) shares have dipped into the red after releasing its March quarterly report.

Tesoro holds interests in the flagship El Zorro Gold Project and the Espina Gold Project – both of which are located within the Coastal Cordillera of Chile.

The company is focused on uncovering gold resources at El Zorro, where drilling commenced in February 2020, and further exploration work at Espina, to define targets for a maiden drill program.

In regards to COVID-19, Tesoro claims its operations have remained unaffected and is taking all the necessary precautions.

El Zorro

After re-listing on the ASX in mid-February 2020, Tesoro jumped straight into a 10 diamond hole drilling program to extend the Coquetas mineralised zone from 350 metres of strike to over 800 metres and up to 300 metres in depth.

On March 6, Tesoro announced receiving outstanding record gold results at El Zorro. Results included 23 metres at 7.20 g/t from 183.22 metres including 15 metres at 10.82 g/t from 190 metres.

Less than a week later, the miner reported on final results for the first completed drill hole. Final results from the hole more than tripled the downhole width of the previously reported drill intercept. Other results included 200 metres at 46.41g/t gold, 197 metres at 25.31g/t gold, and 190 metres at 10.82g/t gold.

By the end of the quarter, Tesoro had completed seven holes at El Zorro for 1831.65 metres. All holes encountered zones of significant gold mineralisation. The remaining three holes were drilled in April and Tesoro is drilling an 11th hole.

As announced on March 23, Tesoro successfully negotiated for its 95 per cent-owned Chilean subsidiary, Tesoro Mining Chile SpA, to increase its ownership of El Zorro from its current 51 per cent interest to 70 per cent.

Espina

Results from a detailed mapping and sampling program have outlined zones of strong gold mineralisation along the Puertelera structure as well as a large gold in soil anomaly at the northern end of the Infernillio Structure at Dona Clara.

Best results from sampling include: one metre at 10.65g/t gold, two metres at 7.31g/t gold, and 3.7 metres at 1.75g/t gold.

Geochemical anomalies also indicate the gold rich zone of the Espina epithermal system remains preserved and has not been weathered away. This further enhances the prospectiveness of the project.

Tesoro plans to continue exploration at Espina to uncover more drill targets. Next steps will include trenching across prospective mineralised zones along Puertelera and at Dona Clara to take bedrock samples and provide detailed geological information.

Corporate

Following completion of the acquisition of Tesoro Australia and a successful capital raising of $4.63 million, the company re-listed on the ASX. Following the re-listing, Tesoro had approximately $4.02 million in cash.

For the two months following re-listing (including February and March), Tesoro’s actual expenditure totalled $1.63 million. This covered project exploration and other project payments, partial repayment of Director Loan to parties associated with Geoffrey McNamara, costs of the offer, corporate overheads and administration, and working capital.

In order to preserve funds and mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19, Tesoro implemented cost saving measures. It ended the quarter with $2.6 million in cash.

Tesoro Resources is down 9.46 per cent and shares are trading for 6.7 cents each at 11:43 am AEST.

TSO by the numbers
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