SEG 45 Final_qx4 - Society of Economic Geologists

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EXPLORATION REVIEWS 36 SEG NEWSLETTER No 63 • OCTOBER 2005 ... from 35 Exploration Reviews (Continued) Kylylahti Co-Cu-Au deposit, located in eastern Finland, to 7.4 Mt @ 0.2 % Co, 1.0 % Cu, 0.4 % Zn, 0.2 % Ni, and 0.6 g Au. Vulcan announced new high-grade sections from its komatiitic Ni prospect Hietaharju, eastern Finland, including 17.8 m @ 1.33 % Ni, 0.6 % Cu, 1.9 g Pt + Pd, and 7 m @ 0.7 % Ni, 0.2 % Cu, and 1.3 g Pt + Pd. After two dormant decades, uranium exploration restarted in Finland. French company AREVA acquired ground in eastern and southern Finland and UKregistered Agricola Resources plc in eastern and northeastern Finland. Nearly all of the uranium leases are around previously known occurrences including the Paukkajanvaara deposit, mined in 1960–1961. Finnish diamond news surrounds the Kuusamo region in eastern Finland, where a kimberlite cluster found by Tertiary Minerals plc in mid-2004 contains both Group 1 and Group 2 kimberlites. In May 2005, Tertiary’s new company, Sunrise Diamonds plc, continued exploration activities of its parent and in August 2005 announced the discovery two new, possibly Group 1type, kimberlites in the Kuusamo region. European Diamonds plc announced in June the discovery of a new kimberlite body in central Finland. SWEDEN Test mining at Lappland Goldminers’ Fabodliden deposit yielded 3.3 g Au across 50-m width compared to premining calculation of 1.5 g. Measured resources down to 200 m depth (open pit) previously were 21.4 t Au. MinMet signed the Heads of Agreement to sell its 100% owned Bjorkdalsgruvan AB (Au) to Gold-Ore PAID ADVERTISEMENT Resource Geosciences de Mexico S.A. de C.V Exploration Services Throughout the Americas Dr. Matthew D. Gray, C.P.G. #10688 – President Resources Limited including an operating gold mine, plant, reserves/resources and exploration properties. MinMet has taken 100% control over Svenska Skifferolje AB holdings on alumn shales in southern Sweden, which contain U, Mo, V, Ni, oil and carbon. ScanMining’s concentration plant at Barsele will be in construction before the end of this year. Dragon Mining’s Svartliden Au mine is forecast to produce 68,000 oz during the first year and 50,000 oz/y after that. Current reserves are 287,000 oz (5,54T) and resources 420,000 oz. Mining costs are forecast at US$190/oz the first year and thereafter US$240/oz. Nordic Diamonds acquired Nyborg VMS in northern Sweden near Boliden’s Kristineberg mine (so far the largest producer in the Skellefte district); at Nyborg, 56 previous core holes by the Geological Survey of Sweden defined a 600-m zone containing ~0.621 Mt of 0.47% Cu, 2.8% Zn, and 28 g Ag. Drill intercepts from this prospect assayed up to 6.1% Zn, 0.4% Cu, and 50 g Ag over 8.3 m. North American Gold Inc. (NAG) has started drilling on the 1.3-km-long massive magnetite deposit, Stora Sahavaara, on its Pajala project, which contains some gold and sulfides, including chalcopyrite. Farther north along strike on the Finnish side of the border, a similar magnetite deposit has been mined on not just iron but also gold. Historic ore reserve calculations show 100 Mt of magnetite ore with 43.7% Fe. In the Skirasen- Barsele Norra area an updated calculation shows 639,000 oz Au in indicated and inferred categories at 1.7g. Further core and AC drilling are ongoing. Beowulf initiated an agreement with Gold Fields Exploration B.V. to evaluate Beowulf’s Ballek licences, covering a 10-km-long zone, Cu-Au shows located north of Arjeplog in northern Sweden. The best known among them is Lulepotten, where historic SGU work in the 1960s and 1970s defined 5.1 Mt ore at 0.73% Cu and 0.25 g Au. International Gold Exploration’s summer drilling at Olserum showed continuation of the Heavy REO deposit down to at least 200 m depth and considerable thickening of the mineralization. The REO is associated with apatite and REM in an iron skarn layer. With a new method developed at Bergskolan, Filipstad, the company is able to filter the waste water from the former Cu-Co Gladhammar mine, which also contains some parts with high gold grades. This will meet the environment requirements that so far have stopped further development at this site. Lundin Mining is planning to buy another zinc mine in Europe to double its zinc production to 340 000–350 000 tpy, making them the seventh biggest zinc producer in the world. New Boliden has a production of 375,000 tpa. The company has also discovered a new prosperous deposit of classic VMS-type on its Copperstone project 26 km northeast of its Storliden mine. Mawson Resorces extended RC drilling and soil geochemistry along a 13-km gold trend from Vargbacken prospect to Middagsberget. At Middagsberget, RC drilling has indicated a mineralized area of 100 × 100 m down to 80 m depth. The mineralization is however open in all directions. Several encouraging results are reported, including 1 m with 20.3 g Au within a 4 m of 5.79 g Au. Gold is associated with quartz veins in silica-chlorite-albite-carbonate–altered diorites. A large area along the “Gold Line” PAID ADVERTISEMENT
OCTOBER 2005 • No 63 SEG NEWSLETTER 37 immediately south of the traditional Skellefte district has been staked by Mawson, including the Duobblon uranium deposit hosted in an ignimbrite flow. Many former “sleeping” uranium prospects in Sweden are now re-staked, mainly by Geoforum Scandinavia and also Mawson Resources and Svenska Skifferoljebolaget. SOUTH AMERICA Regional Correspondent: José A. Perelló (SEG 1989 F) Regional Vice President South America Antofagasta Minerals Ahumada 11, Piso 12, Santiago, Chile E-mail: jperello@aminerals.cl Contributions from Craig A. Feebrey (SEG 1996 F) – Chile Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) Darryl D. Lindsay (SEG 2001) – Ecuador EcuaCorriente S.A. Steve Jensen (SEG 1999) – Peru Teck Cominco Peru S.A. CHILE On the back of a controversial Specific Mining Tax, finally signed in June of this year, and a great deal of negative publicity regarding Barrick Gold’s development of Pascua-Lama, with commodity prices the way they are, it is of no surprise to see the mining industry in Chile booming. One only has to take a look at developments in place or attempt to claim ground in any one of the prospective mineral belts in Chile to realize the importance of Chile in many companies’ investment strategy. The Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco) estimated that gold and copper mining investment in Chile could total US$15.22 billion between 2004 and 2008! Among these investments, a major US$637M expansion of Los Pelambres (Antofagasta plc-Japanese consortium) was approved in 2005, while major upand-coming projects in 2006 include production from BHP Billiton’s US$990M Spence and US$870M Escondida (bacterial leach) projects, and the US$1.4 billion development of Barrick’s 17-Moz Pascua-Lama gold project. Andina Minerals Corp. has reported results from drilling the Dorado East zone on its Volcan project (Andina Minerals Corp., 100% option) located in the Maricunga belt. Hole DVA-001 returned 146 m @ 1.27 g/t Au from surface, with a second intersection occurring from 262 m returning 24 m @ 0.67 g/t Au. The true thickness of the 146-m mineralized interval is estimated to be approximately 60 m. The company is planning further drilling during the 2005–2006 season in order to expand the size of the Dorado East and Central mineralized zones. Antafogasta Minerals is on track to complete a US$15.3M prefeasibility study on its Esperanza deposit by October 2006. Approximately 40,000 m of drilling should be completed by early fall. A 2.2 km decline is currently under construction. Esperanza has an inferred in-pit sulfide resource of 367 Mt @ 0.64% Cu and 0.29 g/t Au. Barrick Gold has received significant negative publicity since announcing its plans to develop the Pascua-Lama gold deposit. Opposition has focused on Barrick’s plan to relocate part of a glacier in order to access the ore, arguing that this could have an impact on water supply to local farmers and harm the environment. Construction is due to commence in 2006, with the start production in 2009, with an output of 750,000–775,000 oz/yr of gold and 32–34 Moz/yr of silver a year for the first 10 years of operation. In order to secure a stable, long-term copper supply to China, China’s Minmetals and Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) formalized a maximum US$2 billion joint venture, with US$550M going toward Codelco’s Gaby project, which is in the pipeline to be developed around 2010. Geocom Resources Inc. announced the results from 512 m of drilling on their Escorpion project located in the Coquimbo district, of Region IV. Better intersections include hole ES-01, 7.8 m @ 0.94 g/t Au; hole ES-02, 10.8 m @ 2.03 g/t Au. International PBX Ventures announced the results from an additional 1,350 m, five-hole, DD program on its Copaquire Cu-Mo porphyry project located 15 km west of the Collahuasi mine. Significant intercepts include Cerro Moly zone-hole CQ09, 176.8 m @ 0.056% Mo from 28.6 m, including 30 m @ 0.122% Mo from 43.6 m, and Sulfato zone - hole CQ05, 108 m @ 0.41% Cu from 224.8 m, and CQ10, 93 m @ 0.48% Cu from 89.8 m. A more extensive and systematic 25,000-m drill program is planned on the Copaquire target during 2005. Mena Resources completed a 22-hole RC drill program on its Vaquillas- Cenizas gold-silver project. Ten holes were drilled in the Vaquillas area. Better intersections include hole VQ003, 54 m @ 0.69 g/t Au, and 24.4 g/t Ag from 106 m; and hole VQ009, 68 m @ 0.67 g/t Au, and 23.1 g/t Ag, from 108 m. Of the six holes drilled in the Cenizas area, only hole CZ005 intercepted significant mineralization, returning 198 m @ 0.45 g/t Au. Drilling on the Rio Figueroa project (Metallica Resources Inc., 100% option), located approximately 85 km southeast of Copiapó, intercepted 348 m @ 0.30% Cu and 0.30 g/t Au, which included 70 m @ 0.59% Cu and 0.31 g/t in the Cerro Matta area. Nine holes totaling 2,884 m were drilled, with five of these holes intercepting anomalous Cu- Au mineralization with Cu > 0.10% and Au > 0.10 g/t over intervals in excess of 100 m. Further drilling is planned. The Rio Figueroa project includes a cluster of 6 porphyry Cu-Au occurrences, in addition to an epithermal Au occurrence known as Quebradas. The best hole drilled at Quebradas, QG-02, returned 17 m @ 1.98 g/t Au that included 8 m @ 3.70 g/t Au. Quadra Mining has announced an independent resource estimate on its Sierra Gorda Cu-Mo project. Sierra Gorda is estimated to contain indicated and inferred sulfide resources of 397.3 Mt @ 0.38% Cu and 0.05% Mo (COG = 0.34% Cu equiv), in addition to an indicated and inferred oxide and supergene resources of 217.24 Mt @ 0.36% Cu (COG = 0.2% Cu). A 15,000-m RC drill program will try and expand oxide resource and carry out further exploration in the area. Regalito Copper Corp. (previously Lumina Copper) is raising finance to purchase by water and surface rights and provide general working capital in connection with the development of its Regalito copper project. An updated resource estimate for the Cinabrio deposit of 6.51 Mt @ 1.49% Cu, 0.03 g/t Au and14.3 g/t Ag has been reported by SMC Gold Ltd. SMC Gold plans to develop Cinabrio as part of their Punitaqui operation already in production. South American Gold and Copper and Rio Tinto signed a letter of understanding earlier in the year to explore the Pimenton Cu-Au porphyry. Rio Tinto has agreed to drill four DD holes within the first year, to page after which they have 38 ... EXPLORATION REVIEWS
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