Stewart R. Wallace — 1919–2009 - Society of Economic Geologists

EXPLORATION REVIEWS
50 SEG NEWSLETTER No 78 JULY 2009
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Exploration Reviews (Continued)
contribution into the Social and
Economic Development Fund for the
Issyk-Kul Oblast, where Kumtor is situated.
Kyrgyzstan’s share will increase by
18,232,615 shares, transferred by
Centerra and Cameco.
Kyrgyz government has warned foreign
investors in Jerooy and Taldy-
Bulak Levoberezhny gold deposits that
the failure to commence commercial
development stipulated by license
agreements will lead to revocation of
these licenses.
TAJIKISTAN
The Tadjikistan government has commenced
evaluation of the JV project
with Kryso Resources Plc to develop
the Pakrut gold deposit. In January
2009, Kryso declared Russian-style
resources for Pakrut to contain over 2
Moz Au, grading 2.44 g/t Au. The JV
plans to produce 100 koz Au annually,
starting in 2010.
The government has also announced
an international tender, seeking investments
into the Bolshoy Koni Mansur
silver deposit. The government has
appointed International Finance
Corporation as the leading consultant
to oversee the investor selection process.
The geologic exploration of the deposit,
carried out during Soviet times, indicated
that the deposit would require
investments of around US$2 billion. In
addition to that, the population of the
Adrasman village would have to be rehoused.
Bolshoy Koni Mansur contains
around 1,000 Mt of ore with 49 g/t Ag,
0.49% Pb and 0.38% Zn. The total estimated
resources exceed 1,600 Moz of
silver.
PROPERTY EVALUATIONS — PROJECT GENERATION
GEOCON, INC.
REGIONAL STUDIES — U.S. AND FOREIGN
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
RICHARD L. NIELSEN, CONSULTANT
Exploration and Mining Geology
13741 Braun Drive E-mail: RLNGeocon@aol.com
Golden, CO 80401 Phone/FAX (303) 279-3118
CONTIGUOUS
UNITED STATES
Regional Correspondent:
Roger C. Steininger (SEG 1978)
Consulting Geologist
3401 San Mateo Ave.
Reno, NV 89509
Tel. 775-323-7775 Fax: 775-323-1134
E-mail: audoctor@aol.com
Most of us in the exploration business
have driven around a curve at night
and encountered a deer, “prize bull,”
mustang, or armadillo in the headlights.
You know the look. That same
look was on the collective geologists’
faces this past winter, the basic “deer in
the headlights” look. Now that the
“green shoots” (as economists have
labeled the sparse signs of improvement
in the economy) are appearing, the
“look” is fading and money is starting
to flow into exploration again. The positive
side of this story is that drill rigs
are available, experienced geologists
are looking for work, and it doesn’t take
months for assay turnaround. Keep in
mind that “green shoots” can turn
brown if not watered.
We may have entered an era of the
stealth discoveries. The GMI (Geologists
in Motels Index) measures exploration
activity in the Great Basin. At 100 all of
the motel rooms in a town are filled
with geologists caused by an announcement
of a nearby gold discovery. As an
example, when Sleeper and Pipeline
were announced, the GMI for nearby
towns went to 100, and all available
land within miles was staked or
optioned. Recent discoveries, or rediscoveries,
have produced a more subdued
reaction. Announcements of the
discoveries in the Pequops, at over a
million combined ounces of gold, produced
only mild interest and the Wells,
NV, GMI went to 25. The new resource
announcement (1.8 Moz of gold) for
Spring Valley and Barrick becoming
joint venture partners caused only a
slight increase in the Lovelock GMI, to
10. Gryphon Gold announced a total
resource at Borealis of about 2.5 Moz
gold and the Hawthorne GMI dropped
to –15. There is a rumor that Barrick
has made a significant discovery at Red
Hills, near the ET Blue gold deposit
(Eureka County, NV). We are watching
the Eureka GMI to determine if the
rumor is true. General Metals
announced a gold deposit that may
contain at least one-half million ounces
of gold in the Battle Mountain mining
district causing three more motels in
Battle Mountain to close.
Other enhanced gold deposits have
been announced outside of the area
covered by the GMI. Evolving Gold is
having success at Rattlesnake Hills, WY,
and Romarco Minerals’ Haile gold
deposit is now in the 3+ Moz range, and
expanding. Atna Resources continues to
expand the resource at Briggs, which is
now in production. Rare Element
announced an interesting resource for
the Bear Lodge, WY, rare earth deposit.
In a sign of the times, Firstgold
announced the first pour of gold from
Relief Canyon, NV, and shortly thereafter
went into default on its loans. The
company is now exploring every
avenue to save the company or sell the
assets.
Duluth Metals seems to have identified
a higher grade portion of the
Nokomis deposit in Minnesota. The
grades in the northwestern part are
higher in copper, nickel, gold, silver,
and PGM than in the rest of the
deposit. 1
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