Some chance. Not something I've ever looked at, this Pd - Au association in epithermals; but just looking quickly now at the literature:
"Common to all Au–Pd mineralization worldwide is their formation in the epithermal (<300°C) range; deposition mainly in brittle structures; sulfide-poor mineral assemblages with hematite; sulfate minerals, and selenides; and metal transport by and deposition from oxidized, chloride-rich fluids. Au–Pd mineralization is further characterized by noble metal abundances in the order Au>Pd>Pt and the chemical signature Au– Pd–Se–Te (±As, ±Sb, ±Bi). As such, the Au–Pd association represents a discrete style of gold mineralization distinct from other epigenetic gold ores."
http://www.researchgate.net/profile...as_Morocco/links/00b7d51e3adae0147e000000.pdf
So in that blurb you've got temperature-pressure characteristics in common with hole 1, with evidence in the drill log that the gold precipitated elevated in the volcano within brittle structures. But perhaps not the ideally defined oxidation state (i.e. magnetite and arsenopyrite over hematite and sulphates). If you Google
Tapajós Palladium, you don't get much come back, but then the source of much of the gold won by the garimpeiros in the district could have completely different paragenesis, outside any possible Pd-Au epithermal mineralisation.
In hole 2 the same type of silicification is encountered with greater abundance of sulphides. Looks like there that they drilled straight down into a silica cap that acted as the lid on the pressure cooker (0-42m of massive milky quartz), and subsequently became the erosion resistant topographical surface. Below this is a breccia zone leading to argillic alteration and then the siliceous sulphide bearing (and hopefully gold bearing) rock at depth. All straight out of the textbooks.
I wouldn't like to guess whether hole 1 has more gold in it than hole 2, or vice versa. So I'll throw that into the mix as another cause of the delay.
So taking contributions from all, and running with some chat-room speculation just for fun - but with no odds and no specific order;
Reasons For The Delay:
1. Gold in hole 1 is only coarse and they are taking time reconciling low tenor of the assays with the visual observations.
2. There is an interesting gold palladium alloy in hole 1 and assaying is more complex.
3. The initial assay results from hole 2 are good and worth waiting for completion.
4. There is visible gold in hole 3 and it is worth waiting for a complete log and interp.
5. On Friday night, while out celebrating, a tranny spiked some coke into the pina coladas at Copacabana (a wild-card just to make it a little more interesting).
