The company said highlights of recent drilling included 852m at 1.14% copper-equivalent, including 502m at 1.55% copper equivalent and 152m at 2.49% copper equivalent from one hole in the Western Limb; and 664m at 1.53% copper equivalent, including 348m at 2.25% from another in Alpala Central.
Another hole in Alpala Central had 1028m at 1.29% copper equivalent and a zone of intense porphyry mineralisation containing visible gold with 146m at 4.07% copper equivalent, or 1.96% copper and 3.36 grams per tonne gold.
Other highlights were 633m at 1.25% copper equivalent at a hole in the Northwest of the deposit, including a zone of rich mineralisation containing visible gold with 173m at 2.46% copper equivalent, or 1.36% copper and 1.73gpt gold.
In the northwest-Trivinio area of Alpala, SolGold reported intersections of 402m at 0.65% copper equivalent, including the discovery of a new zone, north of the Alpala Breccia unit, containing primary bornite mineralisation of 162m at 0.95% copper equivalent.
The company said the new zone warranted follow-up drill testing which might produce further evidence of a second system adjacent to the Alpala deposit.
SolGold sees the results as another step towards its goal of becoming a globally significant copper company, although its London-listed shares were down 1.9% yesterday to 38p. Its Toronto shares rose 3.1% to C66c.
SolGold technical services manager Benn Whistler said in the right geological setting, porphyry deposits could host zones of "extraordinarily" high grades.
"The fact that recent infill drilling at Alpala Central and Alpala Northwest has produced a number of very rich intersections of porphyry style 'B-type' quartz veining associated with visible gold, is a testament to the rare quality of the Alpala deposit," he said.
SolGold has already drilled 160,000m at Cascabel, including 153,000m at Alpala, with 20,000m still to be completed at the deposit before the end of the year.
The company said an additional 82,400m of drilling results would be included in the December mineral resource estimate.
The company is targeting 10 million tonnes of copper and 25 million ounces of gold in the updated resource - around double the current estimate.
