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Bayfield Gets Set to Drill at the Edge of #17 in the Rainy River Gold Belt
By Christina de Wit
All dreams, rumors, and other Fleetwood Mac references aside, Bayfield Ventures (TSX.V:BYV) really is at the “Edge of 17” as it gets set to drill its newly acquired parcel of land adjacent to Rainy River Resources’ (TSX.V:RR) #17 gold zone. Management has successfully negotiated a deal to tie up certain patent mineral rights totaling 80 acres (known as Parcel #15961) in the Richardson Township. As per its October 11th press release, the company issued 70,000 shares to Kenneth, Brian, Stephen and Robert Burns (each as to a 25% interest). The company has an option to earn 100% interest in connection with its option agreement dated September 26 on the claims, subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty.
Bayfield has a sizeable land position totaling 1125 hectares in the red-hot Rainy River gold belt. Rainy River is located 80 km south of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. Amenable weather conditions and excellent infrastructure support year-round exploration and drilling.
Rainy River is described as a greenstone belt with both Archean-aged volcanic and sedimentary horizons. To date, the rock types encountered are principally mafic, including pillowed lavas. Veining and sulfidation* has been encountered in all holes. The main exploration focus so far has been on the northwest trending, cross-cutting faults and a number of late diabase dikes**.
This past month has been a busy one – the company has also recently completed the first round of drilling on claim block ‘A’ of its holdings. Bayfield owns three strategically located properties (known as the A, B and C blocks) within the belt. This summer’s work program focused on drilling five drill holes within the ‘A’ block totaling approximately 1,000 metres (about 200 metres per hole), which have now been completed and are in for assay. These targets were identified as a result of a previous work program of geophysical surveying and coincident gold grain sampling.
Investors can look forward to more news from Bayfield over the next few months, as the company plans to continue drilling into the winter months. Intended drill targets will actually be more accessible after freeze-up, as much of the company’s holdings are overlain by typical northern Ontario swamp.
Rainy River Resources is currently drilling immediately west of Parcel #15961. Previous drill intercepts (historic, non-43-101 compliant) in the #17 Gold Zone include 5.1 grams gold over 62.57 metres (0.18 opt gold over 205 feet) drilled by Nuinsco, who owned the property from 1993 to 2005. Rainy River Resources latest results, as per its November 5th press release show a 4 meter-wide semi-massive sulphide horizon grading 25.67 g/t Au and 184.14 g/t Ag in a step out hole south of the ODM Zone, which is just west of zone #17. Rainy River Resources website describes its own findings in the area as the “delineation of the largest and most intense gold-anomalous till layer ever encountered in Canada, much larger, in fact, than the anomaly that led to the discovery of the Casa Berardi gold deposits in the Abitibi greenstone belt in northwestern Quebec.” Bayfield‘s immediate plans for Parcel #15961 include establishing a grid and conducting both a mag and an EM survey as it gears up for an immediate drill program.
In terms of being seriously undervalued, Bayfield stands above the crowd for several reasons: Due to its tight share structure; its strategic large landholdings next to major players in extensively mineralized regions; close relationships with some of the biggest mining companies in the world; and its seasoned management, whose expertise is specific to gold exploration in northwestern Ontario’s gold belts.
Bayfield offers its investors something that is rarely seen these days – a tight share structure. The company has only 19 million shares outstanding (21.5 million fully diluted) in a market full of bloated issuers with floats of 60, 100, even 180 million shares outstanding. A lean issue is evidence of management’s priorities (and track record) regarding sound financial management. More importantly, management actually has a personal incentive to find a mine, which means that with some positive drill results, Bayfield could take off like a shot.
This latest acquisition underscores the company’s philosophy of acquiring prime ground adjacent to major players and negotiating advantageous partnerships with them, enabling it to minimize risk to its investors while maximizing the potential for a big win.
Management has the business in its blood. President Don Huston grew up in Red Lake, Ontario and has over 25 years’ experience in both the technical and financial spheres of the mining industry. The work program at Rainy River is led by Bayfield’s exploration manager and Qualified Person, David Busch, P.Geo., who is considered one of Canada’s foremost experts on Archean lode gold deposits. Mr. Busch has over 30 years’ experience working in Northwest Ontario’s greenstone belts. He is also managing Bayfield’s Red Lake camp.
The addition of Parcel #15961 complements what is a well-diversified portfolio, which includes a 24.5% interest in six claim units (known as the Baird property) in the Red Lake gold camp of northwestern Ontario, which is 14 km southwest of Goldcorp's operating gold mines. Goldcorp has partnered with Bayfield for a 51% stake in the Baird property. The company also owns a 100% interest in a copper-gold and coal property in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, where it has a partnership with BHP Billiton, in which BHP earns 51% while funding all exploration costs over the next two years.
Investors should stay tuned for more encouraging news in the weeks ahead – the company is expecting results from the Block ‘A’ drill program to arrive shortly. As for the outlook on BYV’s upside potential, the sky’s the limit – but it always helps to get in on the ground.
*Sulfidation: When metal is exposed to sulfur compounds, resulting in the formation of a sulfide film. The sulfides do not normally form coherent, continuous layers and do easily become detached from the metal surface.
**Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies (200 to 400 meters). Diabase refers to the type of rock (mafic, igneous, for example). Dykes are typically vertical structures; sills run horizontally. The thickness of these structures is usually much smaller than the other two dimensions they have are squeezed between. Thickness can vary from sub-centimeter scale to many meters and the lateral dimensions can extend over many kilometers.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Goldcliff sees Growing Bulk Tonnage Opportunity at Panorama Ridge
By Katherine Young
The world’s most powerful currency just received a slap in the face by the world’s top earning supermodel. Gisele Bundchen, has insisted on being paid in Euros rather than US dollars. When even supermodels are making news by protecting their wealth from the plummeting US dollar, gold becomes foremost on investors’ minds. Of course, gold is widely considered a hedge against the dollar and so far, following the decline of the greenback, the gold price has responded as expected. Gold has increased relative to not just the American dollar, but to the other major currencies across the world. And many predict an unprecedented further acceleration in the price of gold. Goldcliff Resource Corp’s President, George Sanders, points out the enormous opportunity for investors to leverage their exposure to the rising gold price by investing in a gold resource like Panorama Ridge, Goldcliff’s 100% owned flagship gold property.
Although Goldcliff has thus far focused on reporting drilling results from a few high-grade zones on the property, according to Sanders, Panorama Ridge in fact has substantial bulk tonnage, open pit potential. In addition to the high-grade gold that Goldcliff is drilling, Sanders explains that in today’s gold market the low-grade material at Panorama is becoming economic, and in turn substantially increasing the potential size of the Panorama resource.
“We’ve been focused on the material right around a gram per tonne and in excess of a gram and we’re finding lots of potential tonnage of that material, but that material occurs within an even bigger envelope of low grade material. As these gold prices move higher, that lower grade material starts to become of serious economic interest. It moves into a resource category as you’re able to lower your cut-off grades.”
Focused in British Columbia adjacent to the historic and prolific Mascot Mine, Goldcliff is in the midst of a 10,000m drill program that is slated to wrap up in the spring of 2008 with resource estimates to follow soon after. Results from the Panorama Ridge property, concentrating on the high grade York/Viking and Nordic zones, will arrive over the next weeks and months as Goldcliff’s drilling results make their way through queues at the assay labs.
Highlights published thus far have included 1.56 g/t gold over 40.84m including 3.05 g/t gold over 19.23m and 5.24 g/t gold over 8.56m and 31.2 g/t gold over 0.25m at the Nordic zones. Highlights from the York/Viking zone include 58.27m of 1.01 g/t gold, 38.01m of 1.19 g/t gold, and 27.88m of 1.05 g/t gold.
The Panorama Ridge story began one afternoon in 2000 when geologists Leonard Saleken and Grant Crooker drove up the Nickel Plate Road only four kilometers from the Nickel Plate Mascot Mine near Hedley, BC. There they discovered new logging roads that extended into terrain with favourable outcrop and similar geology to the Mascot Mine area. Saleken and Crooker knew the potential of what they had. Immediately, they checked the records for previous claims. They found none and excitedly began the process of staking ground. Today Goldcliff has over 4,000 hectares in claims at Panorama Ridge and a growing body of significant exploration results.
Geographic proximity to the Mascot Mine is one advantage that Goldcliff has exploited. However, it doesn’t end there. Three members of the Goldcliff team, Leonard Saleken, Chairman and chief geologist, Paul Saxton, director and mining engineer, and Edwin Rockel, geophysicist, worked at the Mascot open pit in the 1980s and 90s when it produced over 1.0 million ounces of gold. Sanders points out that Mascot and Panorama have the same geological setting and same style of mineralization, “so in a sense our guys have already ‘been there and done that’. The whole team has been involved in more than one successful junior where deposits have been developed into ore bodies or companies have been sold to bigger companies. So we do have a lot of experience under our belts.”
Another important strategy the Goldcliff team has executed is the acquisition of two other British Columbia properties. Sanders explains, “the additional assets we’ve acquired in the last year [the Ainsworth and Plug properties] augment the company’s portfolio. While they’re early stage assets, we’re pretty excited about those and they could be a real sleeper value to the valuation of the company.”
The carefully selected 2,735 hectare Plug Project is located at the Merrit-Logan Lake epithermal gold-silver belt, and the 56,997 hectare Ainsworth Silver Project is in the Kootenays. Although both are early stage projects, optimism for the Plug project is punctuated by two showings, the Plug showing of 4.35 g/t gold and 52.2 g/t silver over 11.98m including 20.78 g/t gold and 113.0 g/t silver; and the Meadow showing of 2.24 g/t gold and 400.6 g/t silver over 4.44m including 6.14 g/t gold and 1715.0 g/t silver.
A news release dated Feb. 15, 2007 detailed the value of the Ainsworth project: “The claim holdings contain old silver producers and a number of strongly anomalous silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc and gold values. Goldcliff’s interpretation of the region’s geological, geochemical and geophysical data established an exploration model for mega-silver-deposit discoveries in the region. The region has historical silver production of 85 million ounces silver.”
With these three properties, the experienced Goldcliff team has strategically situated the company both next to a past-producing mine, and on the crest of a possible gold tsunami.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Goldcliff sees Growing Bulk Tonnage Opportunity at Panorama Ridge
By Katherine Young
The world’s most powerful currency just received a slap in the face by the world’s top earning supermodel. Gisele Bundchen, has insisted on being paid in Euros rather than US dollars. When even supermodels are making news by protecting their wealth from the plummeting US dollar, gold becomes foremost on investors’ minds. Of course, gold is widely considered a hedge against the dollar and so far, following the decline of the greenback, the gold price has responded as expected. Gold has increased relative to not just the American dollar, but to the other major currencies across the world. And many predict an unprecedented further acceleration in the price of gold. Goldcliff Resource Corp’s President, George Sanders, points out the enormous opportunity for investors to leverage their exposure to the rising gold price by investing in a gold resource like Panorama Ridge, Goldcliff’s 100% owned flagship gold property.
Although Goldcliff has thus far focused on reporting drilling results from a few high-grade zones on the property, according to Sanders, Panorama Ridge in fact has substantial bulk tonnage, open pit potential. In addition to the high-grade gold that Goldcliff is drilling, Sanders explains that in today’s gold market the low-grade material at Panorama is becoming economic, and in turn substantially increasing the potential size of the Panorama resource.
“We’ve been focused on the material right around a gram per tonne and in excess of a gram and we’re finding lots of potential tonnage of that material, but that material occurs within an even bigger envelope of low grade material. As these gold prices move higher, that lower grade material starts to become of serious economic interest. It moves into a resource category as you’re able to lower your cut-off grades.”
Focused in British Columbia adjacent to the historic and prolific Mascot Mine, Goldcliff is in the midst of a 10,000m drill program that is slated to wrap up in the spring of 2008 with resource estimates to follow soon after. Results from the Panorama Ridge property, concentrating on the high grade York/Viking and Nordic zones, will arrive over the next weeks and months as Goldcliff’s drilling results make their way through queues at the assay labs.
Highlights published thus far have included 1.56 g/t gold over 40.84m including 3.05 g/t gold over 19.23m and 5.24 g/t gold over 8.56m and 31.2 g/t gold over 0.25m at the Nordic zones. Highlights from the York/Viking zone include 58.27m of 1.01 g/t gold, 38.01m of 1.19 g/t gold, and 27.88m of 1.05 g/t gold.
The Panorama Ridge story began one afternoon in 2000 when geologists Leonard Saleken and Grant Crooker drove up the Nickel Plate Road only four kilometers from the Nickel Plate Mascot Mine near Hedley, BC. There they discovered new logging roads that extended into terrain with favourable outcrop and similar geology to the Mascot Mine area. Saleken and Crooker knew the potential of what they had. Immediately, they checked the records for previous claims. They found none and excitedly began the process of staking ground. Today Goldcliff has over 4,000 hectares in claims at Panorama Ridge and a growing body of significant exploration results.
Geographic proximity to the Mascot Mine is one advantage that Goldcliff has exploited. However, it doesn’t end there. Three members of the Goldcliff team, Leonard Saleken, Chairman and chief geologist, Paul Saxton, director and mining engineer, and Edwin Rockel, geophysicist, worked at the Mascot open pit in the 1980s and 90s when it produced over 1.0 million ounces of gold. Sanders points out that Mascot and Panorama have the same geological setting and same style of mineralization, “so in a sense our guys have already ‘been there and done that’. The whole team has been involved in more than one successful junior where deposits have been developed into ore bodies or companies have been sold to bigger companies. So we do have a lot of experience under our belts.”
Another important strategy the Goldcliff team has executed is the acquisition of two other British Columbia properties. Sanders explains, “the additional assets we’ve acquired in the last year [the Ainsworth and Plug properties] augment the company’s portfolio. While they’re early stage assets, we’re pretty excited about those and they could be a real sleeper value to the valuation of the company.”
The carefully selected 2,735 hectare Plug Project is located at the Merrit-Logan Lake epithermal gold-silver belt, and the 56,997 hectare Ainsworth Silver Project is in the Kootenays. Although both are early stage projects, optimism for the Plug project is punctuated by two showings, the Plug showing of 4.35 g/t gold and 52.2 g/t silver over 11.98m including 20.78 g/t gold and 113.0 g/t silver; and the Meadow showing of 2.24 g/t gold and 400.6 g/t silver over 4.44m including 6.14 g/t gold and 1715.0 g/t silver.
A news release dated Feb. 15, 2007 detailed the value of the Ainsworth project: “The claim holdings contain old silver producers and a number of strongly anomalous silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc and gold values. Goldcliff’s interpretation of the region’s geological, geochemical and geophysical data established an exploration model for mega-silver-deposit discoveries in the region. The region has historical silver production of 85 million ounces silver.”
With these three properties, the experienced Goldcliff team has strategically situated the company both next to a past-producing mine, and on the crest of a possible gold tsunami.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Further high grades follow up Yale Resources’ investment dealer tour at La Verde project
By Brian O’Hara, Resourcex Investor
November 15, 2007
Yale Resources (TSX.V: YLL) has received further indication from its past producing La Verde Grade mine that a high-grade, potentially multi-million tonne resource may remain in and around the historic workings on the company’s 100% owned property. Samples taken as vertical chip channel samples at intervals along the walls in the historic workings returned high-grade assays with a weighted average of 2.57 per cent copper (Cu), 86.8 grams per tonne silver (Ag), 0.97 per cent zinc (Zn) and 0.19 g/t gold (Au) over an average vertical height of 1.89 m.
Full Article: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3312
Further high grades follow up Yale Resources’ investment dealer tour at La Verde project
By Brian O’Hara, Resourcex Investor
November 15, 2007
Yale Resources (TSX.V: YLL) has received further indication from its past producing La Verde Grade mine that a high-grade, potentially multi-million tonne resource may remain in and around the historic workings on the company’s 100% owned property. Samples taken as vertical chip channel samples at intervals along the walls in the historic workings returned high-grade assays with a weighted average of 2.57 per cent copper (Cu), 86.8 grams per tonne silver (Ag), 0.97 per cent zinc (Zn) and 0.19 g/t gold (Au) over an average vertical height of 1.89 m.
Full Article: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3312
Further high grades follow up Yale Resources’ investment dealer tour at La Verde project
By Brian O’Hara, Resourcex Investor
November 15, 2007
Yale Resources (TSX.V: YLL) has received further indication from its past producing La Verde Grade mine that a high-grade, potentially multi-million tonne resource may remain in and around the historic workings on the company’s 100% owned property. Samples taken as vertical chip channel samples at intervals along the walls in the historic workings returned high-grade assays with a weighted average of 2.57 per cent copper (Cu), 86.8 grams per tonne silver (Ag), 0.97 per cent zinc (Zn) and 0.19 g/t gold (Au) over an average vertical height of 1.89 m.
Full Article: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3312
ValGold (TSX.V: VAL)
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3228
VALGOLD NETS A RICH NEW PROSPECT AT FISH CREEK IN THE GUIANA SHIELD
By Christina de Wit
November 12, 2007
The phrase “money talks,” has been around for ages, but the ancients had a more artful way of saying it – aureo hamo piscariis – which translates from the Latin as “To fish with a golden hook.” ValGold Resources’ (TSX.V:VAL) shareholders will probably appreciate the classical interpretation; the company’s latest news suggests that management has hooked a big one with its newest acquisition in Guyana. As per VAL’s November 7th press release, the company has expanded its holdings in the Guiana Shield through an agreement with a private Guyanese company. ValGold stands to earn a 100% interest in the Fish Creek Prospecting Licence, comprising approximately 5,180 hectares (12,800 acres) in Mining District #5 in northwest Guyana. This brings the company’s total holdings in the Guiana shield to 5,484 km2, with 4,592 km2 of ground in Guyana, and 892 km2 in Venezuela’s Bolivar State. This makes the company one of the larger single landholders in the Guiana Shield.
The Guiana Shield is South America’s counterpart to the volcanic-sedimentary Birimian Supergroup in West Africa, which hosts several large gold deposits, the most famous of which is AngloGold Ashanti's Obuasi Mine in Ghana. Obuasi produces approximately 400,000 ounces of gold annually. What is perhaps most striking about the Guiana Shield is that it’s one of the last seriously underexplored major geological systems left in the world.
Major gold deposits within the Guiana Shield include the Rosebel mine in Suriname, the Omai mine in Guyana and the Las Cristinas and Brisas deposits in Venezuela. Before closing in 2005, Omai (owned by Cambior, which was bought out by Iamgold) was the largest open-pit gold mine in South America, and produced more than 3.7 million troy ounces (115,081 kg) of gold during its lifetime.
Besides being known as one of the world’s largest exporters of bauxite, Guyana is also known for its gold, diamond and uranium potential. Free market-oriented political reforms in the 1990s and the current breakout gold market have done much to highlight Guyana’s appeal to mining investors.
Although this acquisition stands on the merits of its exploration potential alone, ValGold’s corporate culture is to seek opportunities to “join with good men”. A key component of this deal is leveraging the expertise of Hilbert N. Shields, ValGold’s Guyana country manager, and past vice-president and general manager of Golden Star Resources. He was responsible for that company’s project generation, acquisition, and exploration to feasibility study for gold and diamonds in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, and the Ivory Coast. He was responsible for a US $100 million budget over 13 years with the company and had a technical staff of 45 geo-scientists and 350 local employees. Mr. Shields supervised the exploration of the Omai gold deposit to completion, which currently produces 300,000 of gold annually.
Perhaps more importantly, Hilbert’s team initiated the original exploration by Golden Star on Fish Creek in the 1990s. Now he is eager to return to the Fish Creek site to follow up on the mineralized anomalies he began to work on prior to the downturn of gold prices.
The Fish Creek licence is at the northeast boundary of and adjacent to the company’s Five Star property. This area has a history of artisanal gold mining and is dotted with workings. It is also thought to be potentially rich in diamonds, uranium and copper-nickel and/or platinum group metals (PGM).
The company’s website describes the Five Star properties as being “highly prospective for gold and, potentially, diamonds, uranium and copper-nickel and/or platinum group metals (PGM). Several gold occurrences have already been discovered on the properties including the Makapa occurrence where rock samples have returned gold values as high as 136.0 g/t. Limited drilling at the same occurrence has intersected up to 18.3 g/t gold over 2.0 meters in silicified volcaniclastic conglomerate. Large areas have also seen no work or have good gold stream silt anomalies that have not been investigated. Alluvial diamonds have been found at a number of locations yet very little exploration has been conducted for this commodity. Radiometric surveys have identified several uranium anomalies and layered, intrusive, mafic to ultramafic rocks could potentially host copper-nickel and/or PGM mineralization.”
Golden Star Resources, who worked on Fish Creek from 1994 to 1997, conducted stream sediment and regional soil geochemical surveys, airborne and ground geophysical surveys, detailed soil, rock and trench sampling, as well as 2,780 m of diamond drilling over 20 holes. This preliminary work allowed Golden Star to delineate several anomalous areas of gold enrichment. These appear to be associated with a major regional east-west fault, whose structure crosses the central part of the licence and extends about 40 km west.
Trench sampling is reported as having returned (historic, non-43-101-compliant) values of up to 3.6 g/t gold over 7m and 9.7 g/t gold over 3m. The best drill intersection was reported as 10.34 g/t over a core interval of 7m.
Despite some impressive results, low metals prices in the 1990s undoubtedly influenced Golden Star’s decision to halt its work program and to allow the licence to lapse. The license was not picked up until April 2007 by the current optionor. Prior to acquiring the licence, ValGold reviewed Golden Star’s collected data and visited the site to collect samples from past and current alluvial and saprolite artisanal workings. Grab and chip samples from rock exposures returned high-grade gold values of up to 34.0 g/t in quartz vein material.
As it prepares for an immediate drill program that will test several of the anomalous targets outlined by Golden Star, ValGold has been infilling the historical soil sampling grids and sampling many of the accessible artisanal mine workings. Preliminary exploration has identified several additional, excellent gold occurrences that merit further trenching and subsequent drill testing. Investors can look forward to the soon-to-be-released NI 43-101-compliant report on Fish Creek.
This newest acquisition enhances a property portfolio that is already well-diversified within the Americas. In addition to its Mochila property in Venezuela, where it is actively drilling, ValGold also has a 100%-interest in two properties in the gold belts of northwestern Ontario.
Several factors suggest that VAL could soon see a significant appreciation in value: it has large holdings in an underexplored region known to contain hugely valuable mineral wealth, it has projects at drilling stage, and its timing is supported by record-high commodities prices. Perhaps most importantly, the company is led by seasoned management with a brilliant track record of exploration and relationship-building in the Americas. Valgold’s president and CEO, Stephen J. Wilkinson, is building on his success with Northern Orion (Argentina). Andrew F.B. Milligan, the company’s chairman, is a former president of Glamis Gold. Tom Pollock, ValGold’s vice-president of exploration, has 25 years’ international exploration and management experience– 20 of it with BHP.
Mr. Wilkinson, in his recent interview for Smartstox Online’s TV Talk Show – click here (http://www.smartstox.com/interview/val/) to watch – discusses the company’s plans for success as it goes ahead with its ambitious drilling programs in the Guiana Shield.
These are certainly exciting times for ValGold, and investors would do well to ensure that this opportunity doesn’t end up being “the one that got away”.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
VALGOLD NETS A RICH NEW PROSPECT AT FISH CREEK IN THE GUIANA SHIELD
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3228
By Christina de Wit
November 12, 2007
The phrase “money talks,” has been around for ages, but the ancients had a more artful way of saying it – aureo hamo piscariis – which translates from the Latin as “To fish with a golden hook.” ValGold Resources’ (TSX.V:VAL) shareholders will probably appreciate the classical interpretation; the company’s latest news suggests that management has hooked a big one with its newest acquisition in Guyana. As per VAL’s November 7th press release, the company has expanded its holdings in the Guiana Shield through an agreement with a private Guyanese company. ValGold stands to earn a 100% interest in the Fish Creek Prospecting Licence, comprising approximately 5,180 hectares (12,800 acres) in Mining District #5 in northwest Guyana. This brings the company’s total holdings in the Guiana shield to 5,484 km2, with 4,592 km2 of ground in Guyana, and 892 km2 in Venezuela’s Bolivar State. This makes the company one of the larger single landholders in the Guiana Shield.
The Guiana Shield is South America’s counterpart to the volcanic-sedimentary Birimian Supergroup in West Africa, which hosts several large gold deposits, the most famous of which is AngloGold Ashanti's Obuasi Mine in Ghana. Obuasi produces approximately 400,000 ounces of gold annually. What is perhaps most striking about the Guiana Shield is that it’s one of the last seriously underexplored major geological systems left in the world.
Major gold deposits within the Guiana Shield include the Rosebel mine in Suriname, the Omai mine in Guyana and the Las Cristinas and Brisas deposits in Venezuela. Before closing in 2005, Omai (owned by Cambior, which was bought out by Iamgold) was the largest open-pit gold mine in South America, and produced more than 3.7 million troy ounces (115,081 kg) of gold during its lifetime.
Besides being known as one of the world’s largest exporters of bauxite, Guyana is also known for its gold, diamond and uranium potential. Free market-oriented political reforms in the 1990s and the current breakout gold market have done much to highlight Guyana’s appeal to mining investors.
Although this acquisition stands on the merits of its exploration potential alone, ValGold’s corporate culture is to seek opportunities to “join with good men”. A key component of this deal is leveraging the expertise of Hilbert N. Shields, ValGold’s Guyana country manager, and past vice-president and general manager of Golden Star Resources. He was responsible for that company’s project generation, acquisition, and exploration to feasibility study for gold and diamonds in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, and the Ivory Coast. He was responsible for a US $100 million budget over 13 years with the company and had a technical staff of 45 geo-scientists and 350 local employees. Mr. Shields supervised the exploration of the Omai gold deposit to completion, which currently produces 300,000 of gold annually.
Perhaps more importantly, Hilbert’s team initiated the original exploration by Golden Star on Fish Creek in the 1990s. Now he is eager to return to the Fish Creek site to follow up on the mineralized anomalies he began to work on prior to the downturn of gold prices.
The Fish Creek licence is at the northeast boundary of and adjacent to the company’s Five Star property. This area has a history of artisanal gold mining and is dotted with workings. It is also thought to be potentially rich in diamonds, uranium and copper-nickel and/or platinum group metals (PGM).
The company’s website describes the Five Star properties as being “highly prospective for gold and, potentially, diamonds, uranium and copper-nickel and/or platinum group metals (PGM). Several gold occurrences have already been discovered on the properties including the Makapa occurrence where rock samples have returned gold values as high as 136.0 g/t. Limited drilling at the same occurrence has intersected up to 18.3 g/t gold over 2.0 meters in silicified volcaniclastic conglomerate. Large areas have also seen no work or have good gold stream silt anomalies that have not been investigated. Alluvial diamonds have been found at a number of locations yet very little exploration has been conducted for this commodity. Radiometric surveys have identified several uranium anomalies and layered, intrusive, mafic to ultramafic rocks could potentially host copper-nickel and/or PGM mineralization.”
Golden Star Resources, who worked on Fish Creek from 1994 to 1997, conducted stream sediment and regional soil geochemical surveys, airborne and ground geophysical surveys, detailed soil, rock and trench sampling, as well as 2,780 m of diamond drilling over 20 holes. This preliminary work allowed Golden Star to delineate several anomalous areas of gold enrichment. These appear to be associated with a major regional east-west fault, whose structure crosses the central part of the licence and extends about 40 km west.
Trench sampling is reported as having returned (historic, non-43-101-compliant) values of up to 3.6 g/t gold over 7m and 9.7 g/t gold over 3m. The best drill intersection was reported as 10.34 g/t over a core interval of 7m.
Despite some impressive results, low metals prices in the 1990s undoubtedly influenced Golden Star’s decision to halt its work program and to allow the licence to lapse. The license was not picked up until April 2007 by the current optionor. Prior to acquiring the licence, ValGold reviewed Golden Star’s collected data and visited the site to collect samples from past and current alluvial and saprolite artisanal workings. Grab and chip samples from rock exposures returned high-grade gold values of up to 34.0 g/t in quartz vein material.
As it prepares for an immediate drill program that will test several of the anomalous targets outlined by Golden Star, ValGold has been infilling the historical soil sampling grids and sampling many of the accessible artisanal mine workings. Preliminary exploration has identified several additional, excellent gold occurrences that merit further trenching and subsequent drill testing. Investors can look forward to the soon-to-be-released NI 43-101-compliant report on Fish Creek.
This newest acquisition enhances a property portfolio that is already well-diversified within the Americas. In addition to its Mochila property in Venezuela, where it is actively drilling, ValGold also has a 100%-interest in two properties in the gold belts of northwestern Ontario.
Several factors suggest that VAL could soon see a significant appreciation in value: it has large holdings in an underexplored region known to contain hugely valuable mineral wealth, it has projects at drilling stage, and its timing is supported by record-high commodities prices. Perhaps most importantly, the company is led by seasoned management with a brilliant track record of exploration and relationship-building in the Americas. Valgold’s president and CEO, Stephen J. Wilkinson, is building on his success with Northern Orion (Argentina). Andrew F.B. Milligan, the company’s chairman, is a former president of Glamis Gold. Tom Pollock, ValGold’s vice-president of exploration, has 25 years’ international exploration and management experience– 20 of it with BHP.
Mr. Wilkinson, in his recent interview for Smartstox Online’s TV Talk Show – click here (http://www.smartstox.com/interview/val/) to watch – discusses the company’s plans for success as it goes ahead with its ambitious drilling programs in the Guiana Shield.
These are certainly exciting times for ValGold, and investors would do well to ensure that this opportunity doesn’t end up being “the one that got away”.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Bayfield Gets Set to Drill at the Edge of #17 in the Rainy River Gold Belt
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3145
By Christina de Wit
November 6, 2007
All dreams, rumors, and other Fleetwood Mac references aside, Bayfield Ventures (TSX.V:BYV) really is at the “Edge of 17” as it gets set to drill its newly acquired parcel of land adjacent to Rainy River Resources’ (TSX.V:RR) #17 gold zone. Management has successfully negotiated a deal to tie up certain patent mineral rights totaling 80 acres (known as Parcel #15961) in the Richardson Township. As per its October 11th press release, the company issued 70,000 shares to Kenneth, Brian, Stephen and Robert Burns (each as to a 25% interest). The company has an option to earn 100% interest in connection with its option agreement dated September 26 on the claims, subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty.
Bayfield has a sizeable land position totaling 1125 hectares in the red-hot Rainy River gold belt. Rainy River is located 80 km south of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. Amenable weather conditions and excellent infrastructure support year-round exploration and drilling.
Rainy River is described as a greenstone belt with both Archean-aged volcanic and sedimentary horizons. To date, the rock types encountered are principally mafic, including pillowed lavas. Veining and sulfidation* has been encountered in all holes. The main exploration focus so far has been on the northwest trending, cross-cutting faults and a number of late diabase dikes**.
This past month has been a busy one – the company has also recently completed the first round of drilling on claim block ‘A’ of its holdings. Bayfield owns three strategically located properties (known as the A, B and C blocks) within the belt. This summer’s work program focused on drilling five drill holes within the ‘A’ block totaling approximately 1,000 metres (about 200 metres per hole), which have now been completed and are in for assay. These targets were identified as a result of a previous work program of geophysical surveying and coincident gold grain sampling.
Investors can look forward to more news from Bayfield over the next few months, as the company plans to continue drilling into the winter months. Intended drill targets will actually be more accessible after freeze-up, as much of the company’s holdings are overlain by typical northern Ontario swamp.
Rainy River Resources is currently drilling immediately west of Parcel #15961. Previous drill intercepts (historic, non-43-101 compliant) in the #17 Gold Zone include 5.1 grams gold over 62.57 metres (0.18 opt gold over 205 feet) drilled by Nuinsco, who owned the property from 1993 to 2005. Rainy River Resources latest results, as per its November 5th press release show a 4 meter-wide semi-massive sulphide horizon grading 25.67 g/t Au and 184.14 g/t Ag in a step out hole south of the ODM Zone, which is just west of zone #17. Rainy River Resources website describes its own findings in the area as the “delineation of the largest and most intense gold-anomalous till layer ever encountered in Canada, much larger, in fact, than the anomaly that led to the discovery of the Casa Berardi gold deposits in the Abitibi greenstone belt in northwestern Quebec.” Bayfield‘s immediate plans for Parcel #15961 include establishing a grid and conducting both a mag and an EM survey as it gears up for an immediate drill program.
In terms of being seriously undervalued, Bayfield stands above the crowd for several reasons: Due to its tight share structure; its strategic large landholdings next to major players in extensively mineralized regions; close relationships with some of the biggest mining companies in the world; and its seasoned management, whose expertise is specific to gold exploration in northwestern Ontario’s gold belts.
Bayfield offers its investors something that is rarely seen these days – a tight share structure. The company has only 19 million shares outstanding (21.5 million fully diluted) in a market full of bloated issuers with floats of 60, 100, even 180 million shares outstanding. A lean issue is evidence of management’s priorities (and track record) regarding sound financial management. More importantly, management actually has a personal incentive to find a mine, which means that with some positive drill results, Bayfield could take off like a shot.
This latest acquisition underscores the company’s philosophy of acquiring prime ground adjacent to major players and negotiating advantageous partnerships with them, enabling it to minimize risk to its investors while maximizing the potential for a big win.
Management has the business in its blood. President Don Huston grew up in Red Lake, Ontario and has over 25 years’ experience in both the technical and financial spheres of the mining industry. The work program at Rainy River is led by Bayfield’s exploration manager and Qualified Person, David Busch, P.Geo., who is considered one of Canada’s foremost experts on Archean lode gold deposits. Mr. Busch has over 30 years’ experience working in Northwest Ontario’s greenstone belts. He is also managing Bayfield’s Red Lake camp.
The addition of Parcel #15961 complements what is a well-diversified portfolio, which includes a 24.5% interest in six claim units (known as the Baird property) in the Red Lake gold camp of northwestern Ontario, which is 14 km southwest of Goldcorp's operating gold mines. Goldcorp has partnered with Bayfield for a 51% stake in the Baird property. The company also owns a 100% interest in a copper-gold and coal property in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, where it has a partnership with BHP Billiton, in which BHP earns 51% while funding all exploration costs over the next two years.
Investors should stay tuned for more encouraging news in the weeks ahead – the company is expecting results from the Block ‘A’ drill program to arrive shortly. As for the outlook on BYV’s upside potential, the sky’s the limit – but it always helps to get in on the ground.
*Sulfidation: When metal is exposed to sulfur compounds, resulting in the formation of a sulfide film. The sulfides do not normally form coherent, continuous layers and do easily become detached from the metal surface.
**Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies (200 to 400 meters). Diabase refers to the type of rock (mafic, igneous, for example). Dykes are typically vertical structures; sills run horizontally. The thickness of these structures is usually much smaller than the other two dimensions they have are squeezed between. Thickness can vary from sub-centimeter scale to many meters and the lateral dimensions can extend over many kilometers.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Universal Power Sparks Investor Interest with its Newest Uranium Acquisition in Tanzania
By Hsiao Lin
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2935
Universal Power Corp. (TSX.V: UNX, FSE:3U2A) is beginning to catch fire in the minds of investors as it picks up speed with its latest acquisition in Tanzania’s Karoo super group – and prepares to release its 43-101 and the outline for the property’s drill program.
The company’s website describes its recent acquisition of a 90% interest in two key acquisitions with uranium potential in Tanzania. The Madaba and Mkuju prospects cover over 1000 km2 along the extension of the Malawi Kayelekera Uranium zone that Paladin Resources (ASX, TSX.V:PDN) has been developing over the last few years.
Located on map section QDS (Quarter Degree Sheets) 253, the Madaba area is part of Luwegu River Basin of the East African Karoo super group. The Karoo is the African equivalent of the Canadian Shield – a very large, very old geological formation that has been the scene of numerous, rich mineral discoveries.
The Mkuju occurrence is situated in QDS 278/3, 289/1 & 2 and 290/1. The geology consists of mainly sandstone. The richest uranium deposits are typically found in sandstone formations, and are known as roll-front deposits – so named for the crescent shape the uranium (in solution) makes at the interface between oxidizing and reduction conditions within the permeable sandstone or conglomerate host rock. Famous examples of roll front deposits include the Mi Vida mine near Moab, Utah, and the deposits found on the Colorado Plateau. The Karoo super group is known to host major uranium deposits (of both the roll-front and unconformity variety), yet much of it remains underexplored.
The Karoo system in southern Tanzania continues into Malawi and is separated by Lake Nyasa, with the Karoo on the other side of the lake having similar geology. This has been confirmed with Paladin’s discovery of the Kayelekera Deposit (a roll-front deposit), which has a 43-101 compliant current resource of over 25,000,000 pounds of U3O8 . Paladin has recently had its bankable feasibility study approved, and is due to go into production in late 2008.
Historic airborne and ground radiometric surveys carried out over Universal Power’s entire property have revealed over 10 Uranium and Thorium anomalies at Mkuiu. Drilling done by Geosurvey International (GmbH) has returned intersections grading 0.04% Uranium oxide over 11.7m – the richest of which contained 0.122% Uranium oxide over 1.6m from a depth 79.5 to 81.1m.
The company is in the process of completing its 43-101 report on the prospects and expects to have it in hand by the end of the month. A drill program based on the report’s recommendations will be implemented in November.
Tanzania has attracted a great deal of attention recently due to a combination of factors that create a favourable investment climate: inherent mineral wealth, political reforms geared toward the free-market, low labor costs, and, of course, high metals prices. According to the Tanzanian Geological Survey’s website, “much of the present exploration activity in Tanzania is concentrated in gold, base metals, platinum group metals (PGM), uranium, gemstones, diamonds and industrial minerals. Tanzania has excellent geological databases, good infrastructure, attractive mineral policy and readily available exploration services. These factors make investing in Tanzania attractive and cost effective”.
The meteoric rise in uranium prices from $7.00/lb U3O8 in December 2000 to US$138.00/lb U3O8 in June 2007 has turned investors’ attention to new exploration venues, making Tanzania especially interesting as of late. Paladin’s website states that “despite the significant rise in reported uranium prices, world primary uranium production only increased by 2,540 metric tons U3O8 (5%) in calendar year 2005. In fact, in the first six months of 2006, uranium production in the two dominant production centers, Canada and Australia, actually declined by 2,610 metric tons U3O8 (19.5%), demonstrating the fragility of the existing supply chain.”
The Tanzanian acquisitions represent a pivotal point in Universal Power’s development, as it rounds out the company’s portfolio of properties, enabling the company to conduct a year-round drilling program.
For several reasons, this is a particularly auspicious time for investors, who can expect a great deal of news in the coming months. This most recent acquisition, as well as the impending 43-101 and drill program, create a solid platform for the next stage of the company’s growth and diversification. Investors can also look forward to another acquisition – a polymetallic prospect – in the next month or so. The market is reflecting this anticipation, as UNX is trading around its 52-week high, in the $0.70 range.
“We think we have a well-diversified portfolio chasing gold, uranium, and base metals,” said Barry Swanson, the company’s president and CEO. Given that the uranium market outlook is predicted to remain strong during the mid to long term, management plans on continuing its momentum forward. “From a shareholder’s point of view, we’re well positioned in area plays. We have a strong management team....the timing’s right, we’re diversified enough.” said Mr. Swanson.
The company is also exploring for uranium and IOCG (iron ore, copper, and gold) in the Great Bear Lake area of the Northwest Territories, as well as for uranium in the Sibley Basin in northwestern Ontario.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Universal Power Sparks Investor Interest with its Newest Uranium Acquisition in Tanzania
By Hsiao Lin
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2935
Universal Power Corp. (TSX.V: UNX, FSE:3U2A) is beginning to catch fire in the minds of investors as it picks up speed with its latest acquisition in Tanzania’s Karoo super group – and prepares to release its 43-101 and the outline for the property’s drill program.
The company’s website describes its recent acquisition of a 90% interest in two key acquisitions with uranium potential in Tanzania. The Madaba and Mkuju prospects cover over 1000 km2 along the extension of the Malawi Kayelekera Uranium zone that Paladin Resources (ASX, TSX.V:PDN) has been developing over the last few years.
Located on map section QDS (Quarter Degree Sheets) 253, the Madaba area is part of Luwegu River Basin of the East African Karoo super group. The Karoo is the African equivalent of the Canadian Shield – a very large, very old geological formation that has been the scene of numerous, rich mineral discoveries.
The Mkuju occurrence is situated in QDS 278/3, 289/1 & 2 and 290/1. The geology consists of mainly sandstone. The richest uranium deposits are typically found in sandstone formations, and are known as roll-front deposits – so named for the crescent shape the uranium (in solution) makes at the interface between oxidizing and reduction conditions within the permeable sandstone or conglomerate host rock. Famous examples of roll front deposits include the Mi Vida mine near Moab, Utah, and the deposits found on the Colorado Plateau. The Karoo super group is known to host major uranium deposits (of both the roll-front and unconformity variety), yet much of it remains underexplored.
The Karoo system in southern Tanzania continues into Malawi and is separated by Lake Nyasa, with the Karoo on the other side of the lake having similar geology. This has been confirmed with Paladin’s discovery of the Kayelekera Deposit (a roll-front deposit), which has a 43-101 compliant current resource of over 25,000,000 pounds of U3O8 . Paladin has recently had its bankable feasibility study approved, and is due to go into production in late 2008.
Historic airborne and ground radiometric surveys carried out over Universal Power’s entire property have revealed over 10 Uranium and Thorium anomalies at Mkuiu. Drilling done by Geosurvey International (GmbH) has returned intersections grading 0.04% Uranium oxide over 11.7m – the richest of which contained 0.122% Uranium oxide over 1.6m from a depth 79.5 to 81.1m.
The company is in the process of completing its 43-101 report on the prospects and expects to have it in hand by the end of the month. A drill program based on the report’s recommendations will be implemented in November.
Tanzania has attracted a great deal of attention recently due to a combination of factors that create a favourable investment climate: inherent mineral wealth, political reforms geared toward the free-market, low labor costs, and, of course, high metals prices. According to the Tanzanian Geological Survey’s website, “much of the present exploration activity in Tanzania is concentrated in gold, base metals, platinum group metals (PGM), uranium, gemstones, diamonds and industrial minerals. Tanzania has excellent geological databases, good infrastructure, attractive mineral policy and readily available exploration services. These factors make investing in Tanzania attractive and cost effective”.
The meteoric rise in uranium prices from $7.00/lb U3O8 in December 2000 to US$138.00/lb U3O8 in June 2007 has turned investors’ attention to new exploration venues, making Tanzania especially interesting as of late. Paladin’s website states that “despite the significant rise in reported uranium prices, world primary uranium production only increased by 2,540 metric tons U3O8 (5%) in calendar year 2005. In fact, in the first six months of 2006, uranium production in the two dominant production centers, Canada and Australia, actually declined by 2,610 metric tons U3O8 (19.5%), demonstrating the fragility of the existing supply chain.”
The Tanzanian acquisitions represent a pivotal point in Universal Power’s development, as it rounds out the company’s portfolio of properties, enabling the company to conduct a year-round drilling program.
For several reasons, this is a particularly auspicious time for investors, who can expect a great deal of news in the coming months. This most recent acquisition, as well as the impending 43-101 and drill program, create a solid platform for the next stage of the company’s growth and diversification. Investors can also look forward to another acquisition – a polymetallic prospect – in the next month or so. The market is reflecting this anticipation, as UNX is trading around its 52-week high, in the $0.70 range.
“We think we have a well-diversified portfolio chasing gold, uranium, and base metals,” said Barry Swanson, the company’s president and CEO. Given that the uranium market outlook is predicted to remain strong during the mid to long term, management plans on continuing its momentum forward. “From a shareholder’s point of view, we’re well positioned in area plays. We have a strong management team....the timing’s right, we’re diversified enough.” said Mr. Swanson.
The company is also exploring for uranium and IOCG (iron ore, copper, and gold) in the Great Bear Lake area of the Northwest Territories, as well as for uranium in the Sibley Basin in northwestern Ontario.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Universal Power Sparks Investor Interest with its Newest Uranium Acquisition in Tanzania
By Hsiao Lin
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2935
Universal Power Corp. (TSX.V: UNX, FSE:3U2A) is beginning to catch fire in the minds of investors as it picks up speed with its latest acquisition in Tanzania’s Karoo super group – and prepares to release its 43-101 and the outline for the property’s drill program.
The company’s website describes its recent acquisition of a 90% interest in two key acquisitions with uranium potential in Tanzania. The Madaba and Mkuju prospects cover over 1000 km2 along the extension of the Malawi Kayelekera Uranium zone that Paladin Resources (ASX, TSX.V:PDN) has been developing over the last few years.
Located on map section QDS (Quarter Degree Sheets) 253, the Madaba area is part of Luwegu River Basin of the East African Karoo super group. The Karoo is the African equivalent of the Canadian Shield – a very large, very old geological formation that has been the scene of numerous, rich mineral discoveries.
The Mkuju occurrence is situated in QDS 278/3, 289/1 & 2 and 290/1. The geology consists of mainly sandstone. The richest uranium deposits are typically found in sandstone formations, and are known as roll-front deposits – so named for the crescent shape the uranium (in solution) makes at the interface between oxidizing and reduction conditions within the permeable sandstone or conglomerate host rock. Famous examples of roll front deposits include the Mi Vida mine near Moab, Utah, and the deposits found on the Colorado Plateau. The Karoo super group is known to host major uranium deposits (of both the roll-front and unconformity variety), yet much of it remains underexplored.
The Karoo system in southern Tanzania continues into Malawi and is separated by Lake Nyasa, with the Karoo on the other side of the lake having similar geology. This has been confirmed with Paladin’s discovery of the Kayelekera Deposit (a roll-front deposit), which has a 43-101 compliant current resource of over 25,000,000 pounds of U3O8 . Paladin has recently had its bankable feasibility study approved, and is due to go into production in late 2008.
Historic airborne and ground radiometric surveys carried out over Universal Power’s entire property have revealed over 10 Uranium and Thorium anomalies at Mkuiu. Drilling done by Geosurvey International (GmbH) has returned intersections grading 0.04% Uranium oxide over 11.7m – the richest of which contained 0.122% Uranium oxide over 1.6m from a depth 79.5 to 81.1m.
The company is in the process of completing its 43-101 report on the prospects and expects to have it in hand by the end of the month. A drill program based on the report’s recommendations will be implemented in November.
Tanzania has attracted a great deal of attention recently due to a combination of factors that create a favourable investment climate: inherent mineral wealth, political reforms geared toward the free-market, low labor costs, and, of course, high metals prices. According to the Tanzanian Geological Survey’s website, “much of the present exploration activity in Tanzania is concentrated in gold, base metals, platinum group metals (PGM), uranium, gemstones, diamonds and industrial minerals. Tanzania has excellent geological databases, good infrastructure, attractive mineral policy and readily available exploration services. These factors make investing in Tanzania attractive and cost effective”.
The meteoric rise in uranium prices from $7.00/lb U3O8 in December 2000 to US$138.00/lb U3O8 in June 2007 has turned investors’ attention to new exploration venues, making Tanzania especially interesting as of late. Paladin’s website states that “despite the significant rise in reported uranium prices, world primary uranium production only increased by 2,540 metric tons U3O8 (5%) in calendar year 2005. In fact, in the first six months of 2006, uranium production in the two dominant production centers, Canada and Australia, actually declined by 2,610 metric tons U3O8 (19.5%), demonstrating the fragility of the existing supply chain.”
The Tanzanian acquisitions represent a pivotal point in Universal Power’s development, as it rounds out the company’s portfolio of properties, enabling the company to conduct a year-round drilling program.
For several reasons, this is a particularly auspicious time for investors, who can expect a great deal of news in the coming months. This most recent acquisition, as well as the impending 43-101 and drill program, create a solid platform for the next stage of the company’s growth and diversification. Investors can also look forward to another acquisition – a polymetallic prospect – in the next month or so. The market is reflecting this anticipation, as UNX is trading around its 52-week high, in the $0.70 range.
“We think we have a well-diversified portfolio chasing gold, uranium, and base metals,” said Barry Swanson, the company’s president and CEO. Given that the uranium market outlook is predicted to remain strong during the mid to long term, management plans on continuing its momentum forward. “From a shareholder’s point of view, we’re well positioned in area plays. We have a strong management team....the timing’s right, we’re diversified enough.” said Mr. Swanson.
The company is also exploring for uranium and IOCG (iron ore, copper, and gold) in the Great Bear Lake area of the Northwest Territories, as well as for uranium in the Sibley Basin in northwestern Ontario.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Universal Power Sparks Investor Interest with its Newest Uranium Acquisition in Tanzania
By Hsiao Lin
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2935
Universal Power Corp. (TSX.V: UNX, FSE:3U2A) is beginning to catch fire in the minds of investors as it picks up speed with its latest acquisition in Tanzania’s Karoo super group – and prepares to release its 43-101 and the outline for the property’s drill program.
The company’s website describes its recent acquisition of a 90% interest in two key acquisitions with uranium potential in Tanzania. The Madaba and Mkuju prospects cover over 1000 km2 along the extension of the Malawi Kayelekera Uranium zone that Paladin Resources (ASX, TSX.V:PDN) has been developing over the last few years.
Located on map section QDS (Quarter Degree Sheets) 253, the Madaba area is part of Luwegu River Basin of the East African Karoo super group. The Karoo is the African equivalent of the Canadian Shield – a very large, very old geological formation that has been the scene of numerous, rich mineral discoveries.
The Mkuju occurrence is situated in QDS 278/3, 289/1 & 2 and 290/1. The geology consists of mainly sandstone. The richest uranium deposits are typically found in sandstone formations, and are known as roll-front deposits – so named for the crescent shape the uranium (in solution) makes at the interface between oxidizing and reduction conditions within the permeable sandstone or conglomerate host rock. Famous examples of roll front deposits include the Mi Vida mine near Moab, Utah, and the deposits found on the Colorado Plateau. The Karoo super group is known to host major uranium deposits (of both the roll-front and unconformity variety), yet much of it remains underexplored.
The Karoo system in southern Tanzania continues into Malawi and is separated by Lake Nyasa, with the Karoo on the other side of the lake having similar geology. This has been confirmed with Paladin’s discovery of the Kayelekera Deposit (a roll-front deposit), which has a 43-101 compliant current resource of over 25,000,000 pounds of U3O8 . Paladin has recently had its bankable feasibility study approved, and is due to go into production in late 2008.
Historic airborne and ground radiometric surveys carried out over Universal Power’s entire property have revealed over 10 Uranium and Thorium anomalies at Mkuiu. Drilling done by Geosurvey International (GmbH) has returned intersections grading 0.04% Uranium oxide over 11.7m – the richest of which contained 0.122% Uranium oxide over 1.6m from a depth 79.5 to 81.1m.
The company is in the process of completing its 43-101 report on the prospects and expects to have it in hand by the end of the month. A drill program based on the report’s recommendations will be implemented in November.
Tanzania has attracted a great deal of attention recently due to a combination of factors that create a favourable investment climate: inherent mineral wealth, political reforms geared toward the free-market, low labor costs, and, of course, high metals prices. According to the Tanzanian Geological Survey’s website, “much of the present exploration activity in Tanzania is concentrated in gold, base metals, platinum group metals (PGM), uranium, gemstones, diamonds and industrial minerals. Tanzania has excellent geological databases, good infrastructure, attractive mineral policy and readily available exploration services. These factors make investing in Tanzania attractive and cost effective”.
The meteoric rise in uranium prices from $7.00/lb U3O8 in December 2000 to US$138.00/lb U3O8 in June 2007 has turned investors’ attention to new exploration venues, making Tanzania especially interesting as of late. Paladin’s website states that “despite the significant rise in reported uranium prices, world primary uranium production only increased by 2,540 metric tons U3O8 (5%) in calendar year 2005. In fact, in the first six months of 2006, uranium production in the two dominant production centers, Canada and Australia, actually declined by 2,610 metric tons U3O8 (19.5%), demonstrating the fragility of the existing supply chain.”
The Tanzanian acquisitions represent a pivotal point in Universal Power’s development, as it rounds out the company’s portfolio of properties, enabling the company to conduct a year-round drilling program.
For several reasons, this is a particularly auspicious time for investors, who can expect a great deal of news in the coming months. This most recent acquisition, as well as the impending 43-101 and drill program, create a solid platform for the next stage of the company’s growth and diversification. Investors can also look forward to another acquisition – a polymetallic prospect – in the next month or so. The market is reflecting this anticipation, as UNX is trading around its 52-week high, in the $0.70 range.
“We think we have a well-diversified portfolio chasing gold, uranium, and base metals,” said Barry Swanson, the company’s president and CEO. Given that the uranium market outlook is predicted to remain strong during the mid to long term, management plans on continuing its momentum forward. “From a shareholder’s point of view, we’re well positioned in area plays. We have a strong management team....the timing’s right, we’re diversified enough.” said Mr. Swanson.
The company is also exploring for uranium and IOCG (iron ore, copper, and gold) in the Great Bear Lake area of the Northwest Territories, as well as for uranium in the Sibley Basin in northwestern Ontario.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
La Verde Grande grows Grander for Yale Resources
By Anne Fletcher
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3079
November 2, 2007
An old shaft recently re-discovered is casting a whole new light over a long-abandoned Mexican mine-site.
Yale Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: YLL), in an on-going sampling program at the La Verde Grande copper mine in north-western Mexico, has turned up skarn mineralization in an adit about 80 metres south of the main mine entrance.
That adit, running east-west, was thought to be nothing more than an access, says company president Ian Foreman. With the mine workings trending north-east, the discovery of mineralization widens the potential deposit in three directions.
More intriguing, though, is a shaft about 50 metres in. Yale crews measured down 80 metres without touching bottom.
In an interview, Foreman suggested the shaft may be the one described in a report from December, 1919, with a depth of 370 feet (112 metres), passing through a 50-foot body of ore, with evidence of mineral showing in the last 125 feet and, most significantly, with evidence of sulphides.
“We haven’t seen a single grain of sulphides in all the workings and all the samples we’ve taken,” Foreman said, and that suggests the historical shaft may have opened onto an untouched ore body.
The depth alone wouldn’t have been a hindrance to mining. “There are many instances where the Spanish went down to the water table,” he said. But when they hit sulphides, “they didn’t have the technology to get the gold and silver out of the rocks.”
Even a couple of centuries later, the Hermosillo Copper Company, which worked the mine in the early 1900s, would have been stymied.
With no trace of sulphides to date, “we know then there’s a really good chance they didn’t continue mining,” Foreman said. “The ore would have been too difficult to extract.”
Shallower shafts on the site have been explored by someone dangling on the end of a rope, but Foreman balks at the thought of sending anyone down 80 metres or more.
“We’re really wrestling with ‘how do we find out what’s there?’,” he said.
“Are there other workings or are there other levels?”
However, invaluable information could come from one deep drill hole down the side of the shaft. That may well happen sometime next year, he said.
“We now have a much greater level of confidence that we’re going to be able to increase the size of the deposit and we can do that with drilling a single hole,” Foreman said.
La Verde Grande is the largest of six historical mine sites within Yale’s La Verde Project, 45 kilometres northwest of Hermosillo, Sonoro, Mexico. Sampling work has now moved from La Verde Grande to those other sites.
The project covers 2,640 hectares, and, in the continuing search to delineate an ore body for a multi-million tonne open-pit mine, Yale recently staked another 440 hectares on the northeast corner. The new property contains a large porphyry target - La Sierrita Porphyry - with anomalous copper, zinc, and molybdenum values, drilled in 2000 by Freeport McMoran.
“We’re now a long way along the road” to outlining an open-pit site, Foreman said. “We’ve duplicated old assay results. We can see mineralization in the walls (of La Verde Grande). There’s potential beyond the workings for areas we can’t see, for good mineralization.”
The assay results for more than 370 samples taken so far will start dribbling in over the next couple of months, he said. Until then, the best numbers in hand are pre-NI 43-101 figures indicating an historic resource of just under half a million tonnes, grading 2.29% copper, 98.54 g/t silver and 0.38 g/t gold. That rock, before costs, has a value of $228.04/tonne, worth roughly $100 million in-situ.
“We’re now confident we can multiply that several times,” Foreman said.
Work is also ticking along on Yale’s three other Mexican projects. On the Urique Project in the Chihuahua-Sonora gold belt at the northern end of the Sierra Madre, Yale has committed to the second year of its option with EXMIN Resources Inc. (TSX.V: EXM). “We want to be drilling early in the new year” in the north, Foreman said, while exploration in the south will start before Christmas.
On its wholly owned Carol property in southern Sonora State, complete assay results from a wide-spaced sampling finished in July need to come in before Yale can narrow its exploration area.
The company has sampled a large skarn body measuring 1,100 metres by 400 metres in the southern part of the property. The Carol property is about 6 km north of Frontera Copper Corp.’s Piedras Verdes mine, with proven and probable reserves of 191 million tonnes grading 0.36% copper.
And Yale has earned its 65% interest in the Zacatecas venture in the Zacatecas Silver District in central Mexico. The finalization of the joint venture agreement with IMPACT Silver Corp. (TSX.V: IPT) is now in the hands of lawyers, Foreman said. If the paperwork is finished by December, Yale will be back working on the properties in the new year.
With a $1.25 million financing completed at the end of August, Yale has enough money for now to keep all that work going. “We’re fine until the spring,” Foreman said.
Commerce Resources Doubles its Pleasure as it Doubles the Size of its Blue River Project
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3146
By Christina de Wit
October 30, 2007
Commerce Resources Corp. (TSX.V: CCE, FSE: D7H) has investors seeing double – in a good way. The company has just doubled the size of its Blue River property, located approximately 200km northeast of Kamloops, B.C., by staking an additional 95 claims for a total area of 104,700 acres to the south of the Bone Creek watershed. The total size of the property now exceeds 1,000 km2. This action was prompted by the discovery of a large ultramafic area of interest measuring about 6km long and 400m wide, approximately 12 km southeast of the Upper Fir Deposit. Samples taken from this ultramafic zone are being assayed, with a focus on nickel, PGEs (platinum group elements), and possible rare earth elements (REEs).
The company has also made major additions to its database for the Howard Creek Carbonatite within the northeast part of the property. According to the company’s website, “this deposit has now been mapped and sampled (with a total of 43 surface rock samples) with assays ranging from background concentrations up to 7.00 % titanium (Ti02), 8.61 % P205, 4843 g/t V205, and 3055 g/t Zircon (Zr02).” Sections of this extensive carbonatite complex contain significant titanium bearing minerals (ilmenite, magnetite, and titantite) and zircon. More work on the property is planned for the summer of 2008.
The Blue River Project is noted for its unusual carbonatite structure. Carbonatites are extremely rare, high carbonate, low silica igneous rocks. Carbonatite-associated deposits generally occur as intrusive bodies and are mined for a number of different minerals, including tantalum, niobium, rare earth elements, iron, copper, phosphate, nickel, uranium, gold, silver, platinum group elements (PGEs), zircon, vermiculite, and fluorite. So far, the project has proven significant grades for tantalum and niobium. The most recent (43-101-compliant) figures on the Upper Fir Deposit have outlined an indicated resource of 8.6Mt with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,372.6 g/t Nb2O5, and an inferred resource of 5.5Mt with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,349.9 g/t Nb2O5 (Gorham, 2007). The Fir Deposit has an indicated resource of 5.65Mt with 203.1g/t Ta2O5 and 1,047g/t Nb2O5 (Verzosa, 2003), and is also host to an inferred resource of 6.7Mt with 203.1 g/t Ta2O5, and 1,047 g/t Nb2O5 (Verzosa,2003). The Verity Deposit, 10 km north of the Fir deposit, is estimated to host an inferred resource of 3.06Mt with 196g/t Ta2O5, 646g/t Nb2O5 and 3.20% P2O5 (McCrea, 2001). Tantalum oxide is used in the manufacture of electronic devices called capacitors, due to its having the highest capacitance of any known metal. Niobium oxide has steel strengthening capabilities.
Specialty metals such as Ta and Nb are often found with REEs. The term “rare earths” (also referred to as the Lanthanide Series) is used to describe a group of 15 elements, plus the element yttrium. REEs have similar properties and tend to occur together in nature. The most common REEs (known as the ‘light’ REEs) are lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and yttrium. Previous results at Blue River have returned high values of 1905 ppm La and 2666 ppm Ce.
Cerium is used as a catalyst to produce pollution control devices for vehicles. It’s also a highly effective polishing agent for glass. Lanthanum gives glass a high refractive index, as well as a high degree of transparency and light transmission. Rechargeable La-Ni-H batteries are gradually phasing out Ni-Cd batteries as the non-toxic lanthanum replaces the toxic cadmium – reducing environmental problems in terms of disposal or recycling. Environmental considerations are leading to the increasing substitution of REEs in applications presently using elements such as cadmium and lead. REEs are preferred because of their relatively low toxicity.
Demand for rare earth elements has exploded in recent years – the estimated value of refined rare earths consumed in 2005 in the United States was more than $1 billion. Rare earth oxides, which are processed into powdered form, may range in price from US$3.00 per kg, for cerium oxide to US$15,000 per kg for scandium oxide. Cerium oxide and Lanthanum oxide are currently trading around $3.85/kg and $4.40/kg, respectively.
The U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet titled Rare Earth Elements—Critical Resources for High Technology, outlines many uses for REEs. “The diverse nuclear, metallurgical, chemical, catalytic, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of the REE have led to an ever increasing variety of applications... [ranging] from mundane (lighter flints, glass polishing) to high-tech (phosphors, lasers, magnets, batteries, magnetic refrigeration) to futuristic (high-temperature superconductivity, safe storage and transport of hydrogen for a post-hydrocarbon economy).”
REEs aren’t typically found in economic concentrations – in fact, most of the world’s REEs come from only a few sources. The U.S. once was largely self-sufficient in REEs, but in the past decade has become dependent upon imports from China. Today, China produces approximately 97% of the world's supply, with most light REEs coming from just one mine.
To compound a tight situation, China recently announced new export restrictions on REEs from its mining operations. This policy will result in a dramatic decrease in the REE supply. If Blue River continues to return good results, Commerce could potentially step into the vacuum as a major supplier of specialty metals and REEs for the North American and European markets. The cutting edge of technological research and development can only stay sharp if these markets take steps to secure an adequate, stable supply of REEs.
What makes Commerce a great long-term buy-and-hold is that it’s essentially immune to the volatility experienced within gold and base metals markets. The market for REEs is quite illiquid and the combination of future REE demand, along with the dearth of economically viable REE deposits in the Western world puts Commerce in a position of fantastic leverage in terms of its growth potential. Results so far indicate some bright possibilities. “This is the first time in those soil samples that we’ve seen potentially economic rare earth [levels],” said Chris Grove, the company’s head of Investor Relations.
Investors can anticipate more encouraging news from this rare bird in the next few weeks as the company awaits assay results from the ultramafic zone.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Commerce Resources Doubles its Pleasure as it Doubles the Size of its Blue River Project
(Just another article, on the same news, pretty much)
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=3146
By Christina de Wit
October 30, 2007
Commerce Resources Corp. (TSX.V: CCE, FSE: D7H) has investors seeing double – in a good way. The company has just doubled the size of its Blue River property, located approximately 200km northeast of Kamloops, B.C., by staking an additional 95 claims for a total area of 104,700 acres to the south of the Bone Creek watershed. The total size of the property now exceeds 1,000 km2. This action was prompted by the discovery of a large ultramafic area of interest measuring about 6km long and 400m wide, approximately 12 km southeast of the Upper Fir Deposit. Samples taken from this ultramafic zone are being assayed, with a focus on nickel, PGEs (platinum group elements), and possible rare earth elements (REEs).
The company has also made major additions to its database for the Howard Creek Carbonatite within the northeast part of the property. According to the company’s website, “this deposit has now been mapped and sampled (with a total of 43 surface rock samples) with assays ranging from background concentrations up to 7.00 % titanium (Ti02), 8.61 % P205, 4843 g/t V205, and 3055 g/t Zircon (Zr02).” Sections of this extensive carbonatite complex contain significant titanium bearing minerals (ilmenite, magnetite, and titantite) and zircon. More work on the property is planned for the summer of 2008.
The Blue River Project is noted for its unusual carbonatite structure. Carbonatites are extremely rare, high carbonate, low silica igneous rocks. Carbonatite-associated deposits generally occur as intrusive bodies and are mined for a number of different minerals, including tantalum, niobium, rare earth elements, iron, copper, phosphate, nickel, uranium, gold, silver, platinum group elements (PGEs), zircon, vermiculite, and fluorite. So far, the project has proven significant grades for tantalum and niobium. The most recent (43-101-compliant) figures on the Upper Fir Deposit have outlined an indicated resource of 8.6Mt with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,372.6 g/t Nb2O5, and an inferred resource of 5.5Mt with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,349.9 g/t Nb2O5 (Gorham, 2007). The Fir Deposit has an indicated resource of 5.65Mt with 203.1g/t Ta2O5 and 1,047g/t Nb2O5 (Verzosa, 2003), and is also host to an inferred resource of 6.7Mt with 203.1 g/t Ta2O5, and 1,047 g/t Nb2O5 (Verzosa,2003). The Verity Deposit, 10 km north of the Fir deposit, is estimated to host an inferred resource of 3.06Mt with 196g/t Ta2O5, 646g/t Nb2O5 and 3.20% P2O5 (McCrea, 2001). Tantalum oxide is used in the manufacture of electronic devices called capacitors, due to its having the highest capacitance of any known metal. Niobium oxide has steel strengthening capabilities.
Specialty metals such as Ta and Nb are often found with REEs. The term “rare earths” (also referred to as the Lanthanide Series) is used to describe a group of 15 elements, plus the element yttrium. REEs have similar properties and tend to occur together in nature. The most common REEs (known as the ‘light’ REEs) are lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and yttrium. Previous results at Blue River have returned high values of 1905 ppm La and 2666 ppm Ce.
Cerium is used as a catalyst to produce pollution control devices for vehicles. It’s also a highly effective polishing agent for glass. Lanthanum gives glass a high refractive index, as well as a high degree of transparency and light transmission. Rechargeable La-Ni-H batteries are gradually phasing out Ni-Cd batteries as the non-toxic lanthanum replaces the toxic cadmium – reducing environmental problems in terms of disposal or recycling. Environmental considerations are leading to the increasing substitution of REEs in applications presently using elements such as cadmium and lead. REEs are preferred because of their relatively low toxicity.
Demand for rare earth elements has exploded in recent years – the estimated value of refined rare earths consumed in 2005 in the United States was more than $1 billion. Rare earth oxides, which are processed into powdered form, may range in price from US$3.00 per kg, for cerium oxide to US$15,000 per kg for scandium oxide. Cerium oxide and Lanthanum oxide are currently trading around $3.85/kg and $4.40/kg, respectively.
The U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet titled Rare Earth Elements—Critical Resources for High Technology, outlines many uses for REEs. “The diverse nuclear, metallurgical, chemical, catalytic, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of the REE have led to an ever increasing variety of applications... [ranging] from mundane (lighter flints, glass polishing) to high-tech (phosphors, lasers, magnets, batteries, magnetic refrigeration) to futuristic (high-temperature superconductivity, safe storage and transport of hydrogen for a post-hydrocarbon economy).”
REEs aren’t typically found in economic concentrations – in fact, most of the world’s REEs come from only a few sources. The U.S. once was largely self-sufficient in REEs, but in the past decade has become dependent upon imports from China. Today, China produces approximately 97% of the world's supply, with most light REEs coming from just one mine.
To compound a tight situation, China recently announced new export restrictions on REEs from its mining operations. This policy will result in a dramatic decrease in the REE supply. If Blue River continues to return good results, Commerce could potentially step into the vacuum as a major supplier of specialty metals and REEs for the North American and European markets. The cutting edge of technological research and development can only stay sharp if these markets take steps to secure an adequate, stable supply of REEs.
What makes Commerce a great long-term buy-and-hold is that it’s essentially immune to the volatility experienced within gold and base metals markets. The market for REEs is quite illiquid and the combination of future REE demand, along with the dearth of economically viable REE deposits in the Western world puts Commerce in a position of fantastic leverage in terms of its growth potential. Results so far indicate some bright possibilities. “This is the first time in those soil samples that we’ve seen potentially economic rare earth [levels],” said Chris Grove, the company’s head of Investor Relations.
Investors can anticipate more encouraging news from this rare bird in the next few weeks as the company awaits assay results from the ultramafic zone.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Linux Gold Corp (Otcbb: LNXGF) – New Ester Lode Project
By Eric Pratt
www.ResourcexGold.com
October 24, 2007
When I spoke to John Robertson, president of Linux Gold Corp. about the new property announced on October 18th near Fairbanks, Alaska, he looked like a very happy person indeed.
“I can’t say much about it. The owners have extremely high expectations and the preliminary geology looks very interesting, but there’s no (N.I.) 43-101 compliant data available just yet. Our consulting geologist (and Qualified Person under NI 43-101*) took multiple samples from existing channels, and those assays will be out in a couple of weeks. That will be the first information we have that is 43-101 compliant.”
So why Alaska and why now?
For starters, Alaska’s gold resources in all categories (measured, indicated and inferred) have increased from a little more than 1 million ounces in 1985 to over 108 million ounces at the end of 2004. Of this total, over 60 million ounces have been put on the books since the price of gold was under serious pressure back in 1997. Over the last ten years, Alaska has added gold to its “ounce bank” at an average rate of 8.6 million ounces per year at a discovery cost of $3.36 per ounce.
The Pogo gold mine is currently in production, while an additional four gold projects, Donlin Creek, Rock Creek, Gil and Nixon Fork, are in permitting or advanced development stages. They will be adding value to Alaska’s mineral production over the next 5 years.
The reason for the excitement at Linux Gold is apparent. Ester Lode is in the middle of the Fairbanks Gold District, one of the more prolific gold areas in North America. Over 10 million ounces of gold have been recovered from placer mining alone since 1902.
All one needs to do is examine the impressive progress of Freegold Ventures Ltd.’s - Golden Summit property to get a sense of the incredible potential. Golden Summit is within the heart of the district, with over 6.75 million of the placer-mined ounces directly attributable to the streams that drain the Golden Summit project area. Golden Summit contains over 80 known gold occurrences, and is host to the largest and highest-grade historic lode gold producers in the district, with over 500,000 ounces of gold having been produced from underground mines from 1902 to 1942 at average grades in excess of 1 oz/ton.
Historic average grades of the two largest underground mines on Golden Summit were 1.3 oz/ton at the Cleary Hill Mine (281,000 oz total production) and 1.6 oz/ton at the Hi Yu Mine (110,000 oz of total production). Many mines were forced to shut down at the beginning of WW2 and never reopened, while others that attempted to reopen after the war simply could not handle mining once the water table was hit, or once bad ground was encountered (neither of which is a serious impediment to today's modern mining methods).
Immediately following receipt of the assay results from the sampling program taken mid October, Linux will waste little time in drilling select targets to determine the nature and grade of the Ester Creek deposit. Wise investors will look carefully at this stock, prior to drilling. A high-grade intersection of 1 ounce per ton should garner serious attention from investors and fund managers.
For decades prospectors have been looking for the source of the gold that has been feeding nearby creeks and river systems where placer miners have recovered 10M ounces to date. The owner of the property believes the Ester property is connected to that source.
A significant advantage of the Ester situation (compared to the Kinross Fort Knox mine a few miles away, for example) is the low cost required to build a mill to economically crush high-grade underground ore – $20 million approximately. The Kinross low grade/bulk tonnage open pit cost roughly $750 million – approximately 350 ounces of production per day or $175,000 at today’s gold price. With Linux Gold Corp. (LNXGF) trading under $1.00, there is quite an opportunity.
* National Instrument 43-101 governs a company's public disclosure of scientific and technical information about its mineral projects
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Atomic Acquires Uranium Potential on Shores of Lake Nyasa, Tanzania
By Sylvia Young
Atomic Minerals (TSX.V ATL) is applying some old real estate wisdom to its newest uranium acquisition in Tanzania: location, location, location – as well as a room with a view. This thinking nets the company over one million acres of prime ground in an area known for hosting sizeable uranium deposits.
As per its October 3rd press release, Atomic has signed an amended letter of intent (LOI) with Geo Can Resources Company Ltd. to acquire up to 90% interest in over 1,300,000 acres of uranium property in southwest Tanzania divided into 10 separate licenses. As a result of this amendment, Atomic stands to double the size of its holdings in Tanzania.
In addition to the non-refundable deposit of US$65,000 which the Company already paid Geo Can on July 25th, Atomic paid Geo Can US$300,000 on execution of the amended LOI as well as reimbursing Geo Can for land registration fees of US$42,000.
The agreement is subject to the results of Atomic’s due diligence on the Property (including the preparation of a title opinion and a Technical Report pursuant to National Instrument 43-101) and TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”) approval. The property will also be subject to a 2% NSR royalty, which Atomic may buy out at any time for US$5 million.
The property is located on the on the shores of Lake Nyasa (which, in neighboring Malawi, is known as Lake Malawi) and extends into the Ruhuhu Basin in southern Africa’s vast Karoo Basin system – an area known to contain significant sandstone-hosted roll front deposits. Roll fronts are found around the world and are the type of uranium deposit mined by the in-situ leaching method. Famous examples of roll fronts are the Colorado Plateau and the world-class Mi Vida, near Moab, Utah. The southwestern part of Tanzania offers investors several possibilities for uranium discovery due to the fact that the Karoo Basin and the Usagaran-Ubendian belt host a number of different types of uranium deposits, the most economical of which are roll front and unconformity “vein” type.
Radiometric surveys carried out by Geo Can on the property indicate the potential for uranium. Several anomalous hits of over 3100 cps (cycles per second), including one of over 5000 cps have been recorded.
Other mining companies exploring in the area include Paladin Resources (Malawi), Universal Exploration and Western Metals (both in Tanzania). Located across Lake Nyasa, just 60 km from Atomic’s property PL4514 is Paladin’s Kayelekera Project (a roll front deposit), which has a current resource of over 25,000,000 pounds of U3O8 and is due to go into production in late 2008.
Western Metals, an Australian explorer whose Mtonya property is located in a neighbouring Karoo sequence east of Atomic’s Ruhuhu ground, has recently returned drilling results showing multiple thick subsurface uranium mineralized zones with initial assay results showing high-grade peak intersections of 7 metres at 1,233 ppm U3O8 (including 3 metres at 2,607 ppm U3O8).
High uranium prices have encouraged investors to broaden their horizons and to recognize opportunities farther afield. According to Western Metals, Tanzania represents a worthwhile investment. “Tanzania has an annual growth rate of 5.8% since 2006. The Mining Act of 1998 legislated a clear exploration and mining regime that guarantees against nationalization and expropriation with a fair, predictable tax regime. A Chubb Group World Risk Survey in 2006 had Tanzania in the 10 lowest investment risk countries.”
The Tanzanian government’s Department of Mines section of the national website showcases the government’s efforts to create an investment-friendly climate. It “mark[s] a clear shift in favour of private sector development and market-oriented economic management. With this effect the government has commenced on setting up constructive partnerships to promote private sector enthusiasm and accelerate economic growth. With these changes therefore, the roles [sic] of the government has been redefined from that of owning and operating the mines to that of providing a clear policy guidelines, stimulating private investment and providing support for investors.”
The company plans to complete a 43-101 report on all ten Tanzanian properties by November 1st, with the subsequent initial exploration program to be based on the report’s recommendations. A drill program will follow as soon as possible (prior to year end). Atomic’s near and mid-term goal is to continue to acquire additional land in the Ruhuhu Basin area and along the shore of Lake Nyasa, directly across the lake from Paladin’s Kayelekera Project Deposit. The company also seeks to build alliances and partnerships with key players in the area.
This pick has several advantages: Atomic’s property shows strong uranium anomalies in an area known to host big uranium deposits; it’s within close proximity to a proven reserve that is slated to go into production next year; and it’s in a country with a mining-friendly political climate. The icing on the [yellow]cake consists of high uranium prices projected over the long term, balanced with low labour costs and a reasonable taxation regime – all highlighting a profitable production scenario.
Uranium’s jump from US$7.00/lb U3O8 in December 2000 to US$138.00/lb U3O8 in
June 2007 served as a wake up call to investors. Decades of underinvestment, a lack of exploration, and strict regulations have led to a crippling worldwide supply shortage. The recent slump to US$78/lb is seen as a short term phenomenon, as there is a significant shortage of uranium mines in the pipeline for the near future. As the tide of public opinion continues to shift toward a more positive view of nuclear energy – due to its ability to produce large amounts of stable electricity output with minimal environmental costs – the need to delineate rich uranium reserves in politically stable environments grows more apparent.
In keeping with its focus on discovery and development in areas known for uranium mineralization, Atomic also has projects with work in progress in Delores, Grand, and San Miguel Counties, Colorado.
See the more documentation on Atomic Minerals and the company’s projects at www.atomicminerals.com.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Atomic Acquires Uranium Potential on Shores of Lake Nyasa, Tanzania
By Sylvia Young
Atomic Minerals (TSX.V ATL) is applying some old real estate wisdom to its newest uranium acquisition in Tanzania: location, location, location – as well as a room with a view. This thinking nets the company over one million acres of prime ground in an area known for hosting sizeable uranium deposits.
As per its October 3rd press release, Atomic has signed an amended letter of intent (LOI) with Geo Can Resources Company Ltd. to acquire up to 90% interest in over 1,300,000 acres of uranium property in southwest Tanzania divided into 10 separate licenses. As a result of this amendment, Atomic stands to double the size of its holdings in Tanzania.
In addition to the non-refundable deposit of US$65,000 which the Company already paid Geo Can on July 25th, Atomic paid Geo Can US$300,000 on execution of the amended LOI as well as reimbursing Geo Can for land registration fees of US$42,000.
The agreement is subject to the results of Atomic’s due diligence on the Property (including the preparation of a title opinion and a Technical Report pursuant to National Instrument 43-101) and TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”) approval. The property will also be subject to a 2% NSR royalty, which Atomic may buy out at any time for US$5 million.
The property is located on the on the shores of Lake Nyasa (which, in neighboring Malawi, is known as Lake Malawi) and extends into the Ruhuhu Basin in southern Africa’s vast Karoo Basin system – an area known to contain significant sandstone-hosted roll front deposits. Roll fronts are found around the world and are the type of uranium deposit mined by the in-situ leaching method. Famous examples of roll fronts are the Colorado Plateau and the world-class Mi Vida, near Moab, Utah. The southwestern part of Tanzania offers investors several possibilities for uranium discovery due to the fact that the Karoo Basin and the Usagaran-Ubendian belt host a number of different types of uranium deposits, the most economical of which are roll front and unconformity “vein” type.
Radiometric surveys carried out by Geo Can on the property indicate the potential for uranium. Several anomalous hits of over 3100 cps (cycles per second), including one of over 5000 cps have been recorded.
Other mining companies exploring in the area include Paladin Resources (Malawi), Universal Exploration and Western Metals (both in Tanzania). Located across Lake Nyasa, just 60 km from Atomic’s property PL4514 is Paladin’s Kayelekera Project (a roll front deposit), which has a current resource of over 25,000,000 pounds of U3O8 and is due to go into production in late 2008.
Western Metals, an Australian explorer whose Mtonya property is located in a neighbouring Karoo sequence east of Atomic’s Ruhuhu ground, has recently returned drilling results showing multiple thick subsurface uranium mineralized zones with initial assay results showing high-grade peak intersections of 7 metres at 1,233 ppm U3O8 (including 3 metres at 2,607 ppm U3O8).
High uranium prices have encouraged investors to broaden their horizons and to recognize opportunities farther afield. According to Western Metals, Tanzania represents a worthwhile investment. “Tanzania has an annual growth rate of 5.8% since 2006. The Mining Act of 1998 legislated a clear exploration and mining regime that guarantees against nationalization and expropriation with a fair, predictable tax regime. A Chubb Group World Risk Survey in 2006 had Tanzania in the 10 lowest investment risk countries.”
The Tanzanian government’s Department of Mines section of the national website showcases the government’s efforts to create an investment-friendly climate. It “mark[s] a clear shift in favour of private sector development and market-oriented economic management. With this effect the government has commenced on setting up constructive partnerships to promote private sector enthusiasm and accelerate economic growth. With these changes therefore, the roles [sic] of the government has been redefined from that of owning and operating the mines to that of providing a clear policy guidelines, stimulating private investment and providing support for investors.”
The company plans to complete a 43-101 report on all ten Tanzanian properties by November 1st, with the subsequent initial exploration program to be based on the report’s recommendations. A drill program will follow as soon as possible (prior to year end). Atomic’s near and mid-term goal is to continue to acquire additional land in the Ruhuhu Basin area and along the shore of Lake Nyasa, directly across the lake from Paladin’s Kayelekera Project Deposit. The company also seeks to build alliances and partnerships with key players in the area.
This pick has several advantages: Atomic’s property shows strong uranium anomalies in an area known to host big uranium deposits; it’s within close proximity to a proven reserve that is slated to go into production next year; and it’s in a country with a mining-friendly political climate. The icing on the [yellow]cake consists of high uranium prices projected over the long term, balanced with low labour costs and a reasonable taxation regime – all highlighting a profitable production scenario.
Uranium’s jump from US$7.00/lb U3O8 in December 2000 to US$138.00/lb U3O8 in
June 2007 served as a wake up call to investors. Decades of underinvestment, a lack of exploration, and strict regulations have led to a crippling worldwide supply shortage. The recent slump to US$78/lb is seen as a short term phenomenon, as there is a significant shortage of uranium mines in the pipeline for the near future. As the tide of public opinion continues to shift toward a more positive view of nuclear energy – due to its ability to produce large amounts of stable electricity output with minimal environmental costs – the need to delineate rich uranium reserves in politically stable environments grows more apparent.
In keeping with its focus on discovery and development in areas known for uranium mineralization, Atomic also has projects with work in progress in Delores, Grand, and San Miguel Counties, Colorado.
See the more documentation on Atomic Minerals and the company’s projects at www.atomicminerals.com.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Atomic Acquires Uranium Potential on Shores of Lake Nyasa, Tanzania
By Sylvia Young
Atomic Minerals (TSX.V ATL) is applying some old real estate wisdom to its newest uranium acquisition in Tanzania: location, location, location – as well as a room with a view. This thinking nets the company over one million acres of prime ground in an area known for hosting sizeable uranium deposits.
As per its October 3rd press release, Atomic has signed an amended letter of intent (LOI) with Geo Can Resources Company Ltd. to acquire up to 90% interest in over 1,300,000 acres of uranium property in southwest Tanzania divided into 10 separate licenses. As a result of this amendment, Atomic stands to double the size of its holdings in Tanzania.
In addition to the non-refundable deposit of US$65,000 which the Company already paid Geo Can on July 25th, Atomic paid Geo Can US$300,000 on execution of the amended LOI as well as reimbursing Geo Can for land registration fees of US$42,000.
The agreement is subject to the results of Atomic’s due diligence on the Property (including the preparation of a title opinion and a Technical Report pursuant to National Instrument 43-101) and TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”) approval. The property will also be subject to a 2% NSR royalty, which Atomic may buy out at any time for US$5 million.
The property is located on the on the shores of Lake Nyasa (which, in neighboring Malawi, is known as Lake Malawi) and extends into the Ruhuhu Basin in southern Africa’s vast Karoo Basin system – an area known to contain significant sandstone-hosted roll front deposits. Roll fronts are found around the world and are the type of uranium deposit mined by the in-situ leaching method. Famous examples of roll fronts are the Colorado Plateau and the world-class Mi Vida, near Moab, Utah. The southwestern part of Tanzania offers investors several possibilities for uranium discovery due to the fact that the Karoo Basin and the Usagaran-Ubendian belt host a number of different types of uranium deposits, the most economical of which are roll front and unconformity “vein” type.
Radiometric surveys carried out by Geo Can on the property indicate the potential for uranium. Several anomalous hits of over 3100 cps (cycles per second), including one of over 5000 cps have been recorded.
Other mining companies exploring in the area include Paladin Resources (Malawi), Universal Exploration and Western Metals (both in Tanzania). Located across Lake Nyasa, just 60 km from Atomic’s property PL4514 is Paladin’s Kayelekera Project (a roll front deposit), which has a current resource of over 25,000,000 pounds of U3O8 and is due to go into production in late 2008.
Western Metals, an Australian explorer whose Mtonya property is located in a neighbouring Karoo sequence east of Atomic’s Ruhuhu ground, has recently returned drilling results showing multiple thick subsurface uranium mineralized zones with initial assay results showing high-grade peak intersections of 7 metres at 1,233 ppm U3O8 (including 3 metres at 2,607 ppm U3O8).
High uranium prices have encouraged investors to broaden their horizons and to recognize opportunities farther afield. According to Western Metals, Tanzania represents a worthwhile investment. “Tanzania has an annual growth rate of 5.8% since 2006. The Mining Act of 1998 legislated a clear exploration and mining regime that guarantees against nationalization and expropriation with a fair, predictable tax regime. A Chubb Group World Risk Survey in 2006 had Tanzania in the 10 lowest investment risk countries.”
The Tanzanian government’s Department of Mines section of the national website showcases the government’s efforts to create an investment-friendly climate. It “mark[s] a clear shift in favour of private sector development and market-oriented economic management. With this effect the government has commenced on setting up constructive partnerships to promote private sector enthusiasm and accelerate economic growth. With these changes therefore, the roles [sic] of the government has been redefined from that of owning and operating the mines to that of providing a clear policy guidelines, stimulating private investment and providing support for investors.”
The company plans to complete a 43-101 report on all ten Tanzanian properties by November 1st, with the subsequent initial exploration program to be based on the report’s recommendations. A drill program will follow as soon as possible (prior to year end). Atomic’s near and mid-term goal is to continue to acquire additional land in the Ruhuhu Basin area and along the shore of Lake Nyasa, directly across the lake from Paladin’s Kayelekera Project Deposit. The company also seeks to build alliances and partnerships with key players in the area.
This pick has several advantages: Atomic’s property shows strong uranium anomalies in an area known to host big uranium deposits; it’s within close proximity to a proven reserve that is slated to go into production next year; and it’s in a country with a mining-friendly political climate. The icing on the [yellow]cake consists of high uranium prices projected over the long term, balanced with low labour costs and a reasonable taxation regime – all highlighting a profitable production scenario.
Uranium’s jump from US$7.00/lb U3O8 in December 2000 to US$138.00/lb U3O8 in
June 2007 served as a wake up call to investors. Decades of underinvestment, a lack of exploration, and strict regulations have led to a crippling worldwide supply shortage. The recent slump to US$78/lb is seen as a short term phenomenon, as there is a significant shortage of uranium mines in the pipeline for the near future. As the tide of public opinion continues to shift toward a more positive view of nuclear energy – due to its ability to produce large amounts of stable electricity output with minimal environmental costs – the need to delineate rich uranium reserves in politically stable environments grows more apparent.
In keeping with its focus on discovery and development in areas known for uranium mineralization, Atomic also has projects with work in progress in Delores, Grand, and San Miguel Counties, Colorado.
See the more documentation on Atomic Minerals and the company’s projects at www.atomicminerals.com.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Atomic Acquires Uranium Potential on Shores of Lake Nyasa, Tanzania
By Sylvia Young
Atomic Minerals (TSX.V ATL) is applying some old real estate wisdom to its newest uranium acquisition in Tanzania: location, location, location – as well as a room with a view. This thinking nets the company over one million acres of prime ground in an area known for hosting sizeable uranium deposits.
As per its October 3rd press release, Atomic has signed an amended letter of intent (LOI) with Geo Can Resources Company Ltd. to acquire up to 90% interest in over 1,300,000 acres of uranium property in southwest Tanzania divided into 10 separate licenses. As a result of this amendment, Atomic stands to double the size of its holdings in Tanzania.
In addition to the non-refundable deposit of US$65,000 which the Company already paid Geo Can on July 25th, Atomic paid Geo Can US$300,000 on execution of the amended LOI as well as reimbursing Geo Can for land registration fees of US$42,000.
The agreement is subject to the results of Atomic’s due diligence on the Property (including the preparation of a title opinion and a Technical Report pursuant to National Instrument 43-101) and TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”) approval. The property will also be subject to a 2% NSR royalty, which Atomic may buy out at any time for US$5 million.
The property is located on the on the shores of Lake Nyasa (which, in neighboring Malawi, is known as Lake Malawi) and extends into the Ruhuhu Basin in southern Africa’s vast Karoo Basin system – an area known to contain significant sandstone-hosted roll front deposits. Roll fronts are found around the world and are the type of uranium deposit mined by the in-situ leaching method. Famous examples of roll fronts are the Colorado Plateau and the world-class Mi Vida, near Moab, Utah. The southwestern part of Tanzania offers investors several possibilities for uranium discovery due to the fact that the Karoo Basin and the Usagaran-Ubendian belt host a number of different types of uranium deposits, the most economical of which are roll front and unconformity “vein” type.
Radiometric surveys carried out by Geo Can on the property indicate the potential for uranium. Several anomalous hits of over 3100 cps (cycles per second), including one of over 5000 cps have been recorded.
Other mining companies exploring in the area include Paladin Resources (Malawi), Universal Exploration and Western Metals (both in Tanzania). Located across Lake Nyasa, just 60 km from Atomic’s property PL4514 is Paladin’s Kayelekera Project (a roll front deposit), which has a current resource of over 25,000,000 pounds of U3O8 and is due to go into production in late 2008.
Western Metals, an Australian explorer whose Mtonya property is located in a neighbouring Karoo sequence east of Atomic’s Ruhuhu ground, has recently returned drilling results showing multiple thick subsurface uranium mineralized zones with initial assay results showing high-grade peak intersections of 7 metres at 1,233 ppm U3O8 (including 3 metres at 2,607 ppm U3O8).
High uranium prices have encouraged investors to broaden their horizons and to recognize opportunities farther afield. According to Western Metals, Tanzania represents a worthwhile investment. “Tanzania has an annual growth rate of 5.8% since 2006. The Mining Act of 1998 legislated a clear exploration and mining regime that guarantees against nationalization and expropriation with a fair, predictable tax regime. A Chubb Group World Risk Survey in 2006 had Tanzania in the 10 lowest investment risk countries.”
The Tanzanian government’s Department of Mines section of the national website showcases the government’s efforts to create an investment-friendly climate. It “mark[s] a clear shift in favour of private sector development and market-oriented economic management. With this effect the government has commenced on setting up constructive partnerships to promote private sector enthusiasm and accelerate economic growth. With these changes therefore, the roles [sic] of the government has been redefined from that of owning and operating the mines to that of providing a clear policy guidelines, stimulating private investment and providing support for investors.”
The company plans to complete a 43-101 report on all ten Tanzanian properties by November 1st, with the subsequent initial exploration program to be based on the report’s recommendations. A drill program will follow as soon as possible (prior to year end). Atomic’s near and mid-term goal is to continue to acquire additional land in the Ruhuhu Basin area and along the shore of Lake Nyasa, directly across the lake from Paladin’s Kayelekera Project Deposit. The company also seeks to build alliances and partnerships with key players in the area.
This pick has several advantages: Atomic’s property shows strong uranium anomalies in an area known to host big uranium deposits; it’s within close proximity to a proven reserve that is slated to go into production next year; and it’s in a country with a mining-friendly political climate. The icing on the [yellow]cake consists of high uranium prices projected over the long term, balanced with low labour costs and a reasonable taxation regime – all highlighting a profitable production scenario.
Uranium’s jump from US$7.00/lb U3O8 in December 2000 to US$138.00/lb U3O8 in
June 2007 served as a wake up call to investors. Decades of underinvestment, a lack of exploration, and strict regulations have led to a crippling worldwide supply shortage. The recent slump to US$78/lb is seen as a short term phenomenon, as there is a significant shortage of uranium mines in the pipeline for the near future. As the tide of public opinion continues to shift toward a more positive view of nuclear energy – due to its ability to produce large amounts of stable electricity output with minimal environmental costs – the need to delineate rich uranium reserves in politically stable environments grows more apparent.
In keeping with its focus on discovery and development in areas known for uranium mineralization, Atomic also has projects with work in progress in Delores, Grand, and San Miguel Counties, Colorado.
See the more documentation on Atomic Minerals and the company’s projects at www.atomicminerals.com.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Goldcliff Resources (TSX.V:GCN): Exploration on 3 Fronts
By James West
Goldcliff Resources is making solid progress on exploration programs this year, and the company’s recent activity underscores that fact.
Goldcliff is spending $1,550,000 in exploration on several of its 100-per-cent-owned properties in British Columbia, Canada. The exploration is being conducted on Panorama Ridge (gold), Ainsworth (silver and molybdenum) and Big Sheep Creek (uranium). The company has also identified new properties of merit for acquisition.
The exploration at the Panorama Ridge property, located in the historical gold district of Hedley, is advancing ahead of schedule with trenching and drilling in progress. The property was a new discovery by Goldcliff who subsequently have excavated 4,276 metres of trenching in 154 trenches and drilled 77 holes totaling 7,621 metres So far this season, an additional 590 metres of trenching in 20 trenches has been excavated and the channel sampling completed. To date, the drilling program has completed over 30 core holes for a total of over 3,000 metres. Goldcliff's exploration objective for 2007 on the Panorama Ridge gold property is to advance from the gold-discovery-exploration-drill stage to the gold-resource-definition-stage.
Having identified the gold mineralized zones in the previous gold-discovery-exploration-drill stage, the gold-resource definition stage will measure the volume of gold content in these zones. The Company is confident that the gold mineralization encountered at the York-Viking and Nordic gold zones in surface trenching and in drilling represents potentially economic gold grades. The trench samples are in for assay and the core is being cut.
Since 2000, Goldcliff has acquired a total of 4,125 hectares (10,190 acres) at Panorama Ridge. The claims are free and clear of overriding production royalties, Net Profits Interests (NPI) and Net Smelter Returns (NSR). The Panorama Ridge property is 100% owned and operated by Goldcliff Resource Corporation and is located in the historic Hedley Basin.
The Hedley Basin has had a long history of gold production (1904 to 1996) from the Hedley North mining district. During this period, 2,524,313 ounces of gold were produced from auriferous skarn deposits. The Nickel Plate and Hedley-Mascot mines produced more than 97 per cent of the gold from a single gold-skarn deposit (Nickel Plate deposit). Smaller production came from the French, Good Hope and Canty gold skarns. A small amount of gold production came from the Banbury quartz-carbonate veins (Maple Leaf and Pine Knot) located in Hedley Basin South.
The Mascot and Nickel Plate mines eventually fell under the ownership of Mascot Gold Mines Ltd, which traded from a start of $0.45 to a high of $20.63 on Tuesday August 4th, 1987.
In some ways, Goldcliff’s approach to exploration at Panorama Ridge has become increasingly rare: The company started with a property that had seen no exploration work whatsoever. With the price of gold at historical highs, many juniors have fallen back on recycled properties that simply did not have economically viable grades prior to the present bull market. Since no one can say how long a bull will last, such projects have the dubious legacy of being abandoned again once prices return to historical averages. Goldcliff is seeking something akin to the Nickel Plate-Mascot mine, or what they have called a “company maker”.
Director and cofounder Ed Rockel, who was a mine geophysicist at the Nickel Plate-Mascot in the 1980s, explained how his work at Nickel Plate later mirrored results at Panorama Ridge. “The IP survey that I conducted over the old mine workings resulted in the discovery of additional gold mineralization around the old gold workings, that led to the development and production of Mascot’s Nickel Plate open pit mine in 1987. I was responsible for conducting the IP survey over the ground that is now owned by Goldcliff. The IP results are a dead-ringer to Nickel Plate. I think that I know what is going on from the geophysical standpoint on Panorama Ridge based on my experience and interpretation of Goldcliff’s geophysical data.”
On the Ainsworth properties in the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains of the Kootenay Lake region, the airborne geophysical survey program has been completed by Fugro Airborne Surveys Corporation (Toronto, Canada). The survey accumulated 1200 line kilometers of data consisting of magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric coverage. The preliminary interpretation of the geophysical data has identified several anomalies. A field crew is conducting follow-up prospecting and geochemical sampling.
On the Big Sheep Creek uranium property (a 32,388 hectare claim block underlain by an Eocene Coryell plutonic suite of syenitic to monzonitic intrusive rocks) the airborne geophysical survey program has been delayed and is scheduled for early October. Prospecting and geochemical stream sampling is planned for mid September.
The geochemical stream sampling will be a follow-up to the anomalous uranium values identified by the regional stream sediment sampling program (RGS 1976-1977) carried out by the British Columbia Geological Survey, which returned a number of anomalous uranium values, including two samples exceeding 300 parts per million or 0.03 per cent uranium.
Goldcliff has identified the streams where the RGS uranium anomalies occur. The majority of the anomalous uranium values occur along or near a major north-south geological structure and within a geophysical regional magnetic low. The regional magnetic low is within the intrusive rocks and has been interpreted to be an alteration feature that could be associated with the uranium mineralization.
Goldcliff has interpreted the Big Sheep Creek property as having a geological setting that is similar to the "granitic-intrusive-uranium model". This uranium mineralization model is a well-defined model for uranium deposition, the best known of which is the bulk tonnage Rossing deposit in Namibia, Africa, where uranium ore grades are in the 300 ppm uranium range (0.03 per cent uranium).
Goldcliff’s management team is comprised of senior and successful geoscientists. Messrs Saleken, Rockel, and Saxton were all senior members of the technical team that developed the Mascot Gold open pit at Hedley. The Company has had a busy summer and fall field season and anticipates results from the work on three projects to be received over the next couple of months.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Goldcliff Resources (TSX.V:GCN): Exploration on 3 Fronts
By James West
Goldcliff Resources is making solid progress on exploration programs this year, and the company’s recent activity underscores that fact.
Goldcliff is spending $1,550,000 in exploration on several of its 100-per-cent-owned properties in British Columbia, Canada. The exploration is being conducted on Panorama Ridge (gold), Ainsworth (silver and molybdenum) and Big Sheep Creek (uranium). The company has also identified new properties of merit for acquisition.
The exploration at the Panorama Ridge property, located in the historical gold district of Hedley, is advancing ahead of schedule with trenching and drilling in progress. The property was a new discovery by Goldcliff who subsequently have excavated 4,276 metres of trenching in 154 trenches and drilled 77 holes totaling 7,621 metres So far this season, an additional 590 metres of trenching in 20 trenches has been excavated and the channel sampling completed. To date, the drilling program has completed over 30 core holes for a total of over 3,000 metres. Goldcliff's exploration objective for 2007 on the Panorama Ridge gold property is to advance from the gold-discovery-exploration-drill stage to the gold-resource-definition-stage.
Having identified the gold mineralized zones in the previous gold-discovery-exploration-drill stage, the gold-resource definition stage will measure the volume of gold content in these zones. The Company is confident that the gold mineralization encountered at the York-Viking and Nordic gold zones in surface trenching and in drilling represents potentially economic gold grades. The trench samples are in for assay and the core is being cut.
Since 2000, Goldcliff has acquired a total of 4,125 hectares (10,190 acres) at Panorama Ridge. The claims are free and clear of overriding production royalties, Net Profits Interests (NPI) and Net Smelter Returns (NSR). The Panorama Ridge property is 100% owned and operated by Goldcliff Resource Corporation and is located in the historic Hedley Basin.
The Hedley Basin has had a long history of gold production (1904 to 1996) from the Hedley North mining district. During this period, 2,524,313 ounces of gold were produced from auriferous skarn deposits. The Nickel Plate and Hedley-Mascot mines produced more than 97 per cent of the gold from a single gold-skarn deposit (Nickel Plate deposit). Smaller production came from the French, Good Hope and Canty gold skarns. A small amount of gold production came from the Banbury quartz-carbonate veins (Maple Leaf and Pine Knot) located in Hedley Basin South.
The Mascot and Nickel Plate mines eventually fell under the ownership of Mascot Gold Mines Ltd, which traded from a start of $0.45 to a high of $20.63 on Tuesday August 4th, 1987.
In some ways, Goldcliff’s approach to exploration at Panorama Ridge has become increasingly rare: The company started with a property that had seen no exploration work whatsoever. With the price of gold at historical highs, many juniors have fallen back on recycled properties that simply did not have economically viable grades prior to the present bull market. Since no one can say how long a bull will last, such projects have the dubious legacy of being abandoned again once prices return to historical averages. Goldcliff is seeking something akin to the Nickel Plate-Mascot mine, or what they have called a “company maker”.
Director and cofounder Ed Rockel, who was a mine geophysicist at the Nickel Plate-Mascot in the 1980s, explained how his work at Nickel Plate later mirrored results at Panorama Ridge. “The IP survey that I conducted over the old mine workings resulted in the discovery of additional gold mineralization around the old gold workings, that led to the development and production of Mascot’s Nickel Plate open pit mine in 1987. I was responsible for conducting the IP survey over the ground that is now owned by Goldcliff. The IP results are a dead-ringer to Nickel Plate. I think that I know what is going on from the geophysical standpoint on Panorama Ridge based on my experience and interpretation of Goldcliff’s geophysical data.”
On the Ainsworth properties in the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains of the Kootenay Lake region, the airborne geophysical survey program has been completed by Fugro Airborne Surveys Corporation (Toronto, Canada). The survey accumulated 1200 line kilometers of data consisting of magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric coverage. The preliminary interpretation of the geophysical data has identified several anomalies. A field crew is conducting follow-up prospecting and geochemical sampling.
On the Big Sheep Creek uranium property (a 32,388 hectare claim block underlain by an Eocene Coryell plutonic suite of syenitic to monzonitic intrusive rocks) the airborne geophysical survey program has been delayed and is scheduled for early October. Prospecting and geochemical stream sampling is planned for mid September.
The geochemical stream sampling will be a follow-up to the anomalous uranium values identified by the regional stream sediment sampling program (RGS 1976-1977) carried out by the British Columbia Geological Survey, which returned a number of anomalous uranium values, including two samples exceeding 300 parts per million or 0.03 per cent uranium.
Goldcliff has identified the streams where the RGS uranium anomalies occur. The majority of the anomalous uranium values occur along or near a major north-south geological structure and within a geophysical regional magnetic low. The regional magnetic low is within the intrusive rocks and has been interpreted to be an alteration feature that could be associated with the uranium mineralization.
Goldcliff has interpreted the Big Sheep Creek property as having a geological setting that is similar to the "granitic-intrusive-uranium model". This uranium mineralization model is a well-defined model for uranium deposition, the best known of which is the bulk tonnage Rossing deposit in Namibia, Africa, where uranium ore grades are in the 300 ppm uranium range (0.03 per cent uranium).
Goldcliff’s management team is comprised of senior and successful geoscientists. Messrs Saleken, Rockel, and Saxton were all senior members of the technical team that developed the Mascot Gold open pit at Hedley. The Company has had a busy summer and fall field season and anticipates results from the work on three projects to be received over the next couple of months.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Goldcliff Resources (TSX.V:GCN): Exploration on 3 Fronts
By James West
Goldcliff Resources is making solid progress on exploration programs this year, and the company’s recent activity underscores that fact.
Goldcliff is spending $1,550,000 in exploration on several of its 100-per-cent-owned properties in British Columbia, Canada. The exploration is being conducted on Panorama Ridge (gold), Ainsworth (silver and molybdenum) and Big Sheep Creek (uranium). The company has also identified new properties of merit for acquisition.
The exploration at the Panorama Ridge property, located in the historical gold district of Hedley, is advancing ahead of schedule with trenching and drilling in progress. The property was a new discovery by Goldcliff who subsequently have excavated 4,276 metres of trenching in 154 trenches and drilled 77 holes totaling 7,621 metres So far this season, an additional 590 metres of trenching in 20 trenches has been excavated and the channel sampling completed. To date, the drilling program has completed over 30 core holes for a total of over 3,000 metres. Goldcliff's exploration objective for 2007 on the Panorama Ridge gold property is to advance from the gold-discovery-exploration-drill stage to the gold-resource-definition-stage.
Having identified the gold mineralized zones in the previous gold-discovery-exploration-drill stage, the gold-resource definition stage will measure the volume of gold content in these zones. The Company is confident that the gold mineralization encountered at the York-Viking and Nordic gold zones in surface trenching and in drilling represents potentially economic gold grades. The trench samples are in for assay and the core is being cut.
Since 2000, Goldcliff has acquired a total of 4,125 hectares (10,190 acres) at Panorama Ridge. The claims are free and clear of overriding production royalties, Net Profits Interests (NPI) and Net Smelter Returns (NSR). The Panorama Ridge property is 100% owned and operated by Goldcliff Resource Corporation and is located in the historic Hedley Basin.
The Hedley Basin has had a long history of gold production (1904 to 1996) from the Hedley North mining district. During this period, 2,524,313 ounces of gold were produced from auriferous skarn deposits. The Nickel Plate and Hedley-Mascot mines produced more than 97 per cent of the gold from a single gold-skarn deposit (Nickel Plate deposit). Smaller production came from the French, Good Hope and Canty gold skarns. A small amount of gold production came from the Banbury quartz-carbonate veins (Maple Leaf and Pine Knot) located in Hedley Basin South.
The Mascot and Nickel Plate mines eventually fell under the ownership of Mascot Gold Mines Ltd, which traded from a start of $0.45 to a high of $20.63 on Tuesday August 4th, 1987.
In some ways, Goldcliff’s approach to exploration at Panorama Ridge has become increasingly rare: The company started with a property that had seen no exploration work whatsoever. With the price of gold at historical highs, many juniors have fallen back on recycled properties that simply did not have economically viable grades prior to the present bull market. Since no one can say how long a bull will last, such projects have the dubious legacy of being abandoned again once prices return to historical averages. Goldcliff is seeking something akin to the Nickel Plate-Mascot mine, or what they have called a “company maker”.
Director and cofounder Ed Rockel, who was a mine geophysicist at the Nickel Plate-Mascot in the 1980s, explained how his work at Nickel Plate later mirrored results at Panorama Ridge. “The IP survey that I conducted over the old mine workings resulted in the discovery of additional gold mineralization around the old gold workings, that led to the development and production of Mascot’s Nickel Plate open pit mine in 1987. I was responsible for conducting the IP survey over the ground that is now owned by Goldcliff. The IP results are a dead-ringer to Nickel Plate. I think that I know what is going on from the geophysical standpoint on Panorama Ridge based on my experience and interpretation of Goldcliff’s geophysical data.”
On the Ainsworth properties in the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains of the Kootenay Lake region, the airborne geophysical survey program has been completed by Fugro Airborne Surveys Corporation (Toronto, Canada). The survey accumulated 1200 line kilometers of data consisting of magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric coverage. The preliminary interpretation of the geophysical data has identified several anomalies. A field crew is conducting follow-up prospecting and geochemical sampling.
On the Big Sheep Creek uranium property (a 32,388 hectare claim block underlain by an Eocene Coryell plutonic suite of syenitic to monzonitic intrusive rocks) the airborne geophysical survey program has been delayed and is scheduled for early October. Prospecting and geochemical stream sampling is planned for mid September.
The geochemical stream sampling will be a follow-up to the anomalous uranium values identified by the regional stream sediment sampling program (RGS 1976-1977) carried out by the British Columbia Geological Survey, which returned a number of anomalous uranium values, including two samples exceeding 300 parts per million or 0.03 per cent uranium.
Goldcliff has identified the streams where the RGS uranium anomalies occur. The majority of the anomalous uranium values occur along or near a major north-south geological structure and within a geophysical regional magnetic low. The regional magnetic low is within the intrusive rocks and has been interpreted to be an alteration feature that could be associated with the uranium mineralization.
Goldcliff has interpreted the Big Sheep Creek property as having a geological setting that is similar to the "granitic-intrusive-uranium model". This uranium mineralization model is a well-defined model for uranium deposition, the best known of which is the bulk tonnage Rossing deposit in Namibia, Africa, where uranium ore grades are in the 300 ppm uranium range (0.03 per cent uranium).
Goldcliff’s management team is comprised of senior and successful geoscientists. Messrs Saleken, Rockel, and Saxton were all senior members of the technical team that developed the Mascot Gold open pit at Hedley. The Company has had a busy summer and fall field season and anticipates results from the work on three projects to be received over the next couple of months.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Goldcliff Resources (TSX.V:GCN): Exploration on 3 Fronts
By James West
Goldcliff Resources is making solid progress on exploration programs this year, and the company’s recent activity underscores that fact.
Goldcliff is spending $1,550,000 in exploration on several of its 100-per-cent-owned properties in British Columbia, Canada. The exploration is being conducted on Panorama Ridge (gold), Ainsworth (silver and molybdenum) and Big Sheep Creek (uranium). The company has also identified new properties of merit for acquisition.
The exploration at the Panorama Ridge property, located in the historical gold district of Hedley, is advancing ahead of schedule with trenching and drilling in progress. The property was a new discovery by Goldcliff who subsequently have excavated 4,276 metres of trenching in 154 trenches and drilled 77 holes totaling 7,621 metres So far this season, an additional 590 metres of trenching in 20 trenches has been excavated and the channel sampling completed. To date, the drilling program has completed over 30 core holes for a total of over 3,000 metres. Goldcliff's exploration objective for 2007 on the Panorama Ridge gold property is to advance from the gold-discovery-exploration-drill stage to the gold-resource-definition-stage.
Having identified the gold mineralized zones in the previous gold-discovery-exploration-drill stage, the gold-resource definition stage will measure the volume of gold content in these zones. The Company is confident that the gold mineralization encountered at the York-Viking and Nordic gold zones in surface trenching and in drilling represents potentially economic gold grades. The trench samples are in for assay and the core is being cut.
Since 2000, Goldcliff has acquired a total of 4,125 hectares (10,190 acres) at Panorama Ridge. The claims are free and clear of overriding production royalties, Net Profits Interests (NPI) and Net Smelter Returns (NSR). The Panorama Ridge property is 100% owned and operated by Goldcliff Resource Corporation and is located in the historic Hedley Basin.
The Hedley Basin has had a long history of gold production (1904 to 1996) from the Hedley North mining district. During this period, 2,524,313 ounces of gold were produced from auriferous skarn deposits. The Nickel Plate and Hedley-Mascot mines produced more than 97 per cent of the gold from a single gold-skarn deposit (Nickel Plate deposit). Smaller production came from the French, Good Hope and Canty gold skarns. A small amount of gold production came from the Banbury quartz-carbonate veins (Maple Leaf and Pine Knot) located in Hedley Basin South.
The Mascot and Nickel Plate mines eventually fell under the ownership of Mascot Gold Mines Ltd, which traded from a start of $0.45 to a high of $20.63 on Tuesday August 4th, 1987.
In some ways, Goldcliff’s approach to exploration at Panorama Ridge has become increasingly rare: The company started with a property that had seen no exploration work whatsoever. With the price of gold at historical highs, many juniors have fallen back on recycled properties that simply did not have economically viable grades prior to the present bull market. Since no one can say how long a bull will last, such projects have the dubious legacy of being abandoned again once prices return to historical averages. Goldcliff is seeking something akin to the Nickel Plate-Mascot mine, or what they have called a “company maker”.
Director and cofounder Ed Rockel, who was a mine geophysicist at the Nickel Plate-Mascot in the 1980s, explained how his work at Nickel Plate later mirrored results at Panorama Ridge. “The IP survey that I conducted over the old mine workings resulted in the discovery of additional gold mineralization around the old gold workings, that led to the development and production of Mascot’s Nickel Plate open pit mine in 1987. I was responsible for conducting the IP survey over the ground that is now owned by Goldcliff. The IP results are a dead-ringer to Nickel Plate. I think that I know what is going on from the geophysical standpoint on Panorama Ridge based on my experience and interpretation of Goldcliff’s geophysical data.”
On the Ainsworth properties in the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains of the Kootenay Lake region, the airborne geophysical survey program has been completed by Fugro Airborne Surveys Corporation (Toronto, Canada). The survey accumulated 1200 line kilometers of data consisting of magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric coverage. The preliminary interpretation of the geophysical data has identified several anomalies. A field crew is conducting follow-up prospecting and geochemical sampling.
On the Big Sheep Creek uranium property (a 32,388 hectare claim block underlain by an Eocene Coryell plutonic suite of syenitic to monzonitic intrusive rocks) the airborne geophysical survey program has been delayed and is scheduled for early October. Prospecting and geochemical stream sampling is planned for mid September.
The geochemical stream sampling will be a follow-up to the anomalous uranium values identified by the regional stream sediment sampling program (RGS 1976-1977) carried out by the British Columbia Geological Survey, which returned a number of anomalous uranium values, including two samples exceeding 300 parts per million or 0.03 per cent uranium.
Goldcliff has identified the streams where the RGS uranium anomalies occur. The majority of the anomalous uranium values occur along or near a major north-south geological structure and within a geophysical regional magnetic low. The regional magnetic low is within the intrusive rocks and has been interpreted to be an alteration feature that could be associated with the uranium mineralization.
Goldcliff has interpreted the Big Sheep Creek property as having a geological setting that is similar to the "granitic-intrusive-uranium model". This uranium mineralization model is a well-defined model for uranium deposition, the best known of which is the bulk tonnage Rossing deposit in Namibia, Africa, where uranium ore grades are in the 300 ppm uranium range (0.03 per cent uranium).
Goldcliff’s management team is comprised of senior and successful geoscientists. Messrs Saleken, Rockel, and Saxton were all senior members of the technical team that developed the Mascot Gold open pit at Hedley. The Company has had a busy summer and fall field season and anticipates results from the work on three projects to be received over the next couple of months.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Grenville Gold Corp. Works all Angles at Silveria
By Katherine Young
October 23, 2007
Focused primarily on its Silveria Project located 80km west-northwest of Lima, Peru, the Grenville Gold team [TSXV: GVG] is multi-tasking. On the one hand, the company is shopping for a milling partner to process mineralized rock and ultimately create cash flow, and on the other it’s resolving a recent conflict with High Ridge Resources, a company with neighboring concessions in Peru. High Ridge has recently taken Grenville to task about a road that provides access to High Ridge’s property. According to recent press releases, High Ridge maintains that the road is a public one and that Grenville is preventing High Ridge access to High Ridge’s properties. In an interview with Resourcex, Grenville President Paul Gill emphasized that he feels it is important to resolve the conflict with High Ridge, saying, “[the dispute] can’t be ignored.”
Demonstrating a pragmatic optimism, Gill talks about win-win scenarios, “We need to resolve these issues and be realistic about the fact that it is an issue. We are not ignoring it. We’re going to address it and we think both parties would benefit from a resolution.”
While Gill and his team determinedly wade through the necessary formalities to settle the issues with High Ridge, Grenville is progressing toward its eventual goal of production on Silveria. A partner providing a mill will be an important next step to secure cash flow from the project, however, even more important for the Grenville team at this point is to determine the value of the mineralized rock they send through the mill. “Right now the most important part is getting the information back on how valuable that mineralized rock is. Once you’re milling and getting bulk samples back you can tell from twenty tonnes of material – that’s a lot of material to process – let’s see how much precious and base metals we can get out of it,” Gill explained.
Without 43-101 compliant estimates in place yet, Grenville has been gleaning information from historical data, which, though promising, are not deemed to be reliable for resource calculations.
The Silveria concessions cover an area that is home to four past producing mines, the Silveria, Millotingo, Germania and Pacococha mines. Historical records for Germania and Silveria do not exist, however records for Millotingo and Pacococha mines show that the mines began producing in the 1962 and 1964 respectively and both mines closed in 1992. Like many mines around the world at the time, low metal prices contributed to the closings, however in this case, terrorist activities by Shining Path guerrillas created pressure that led to the closure of the mines.
Gill reads the premature closures as good news for Grenville in today’s mining-friendly Peru because the mines still had a significant amount of life left when they were closed. “Those mines shut down in the process of production. They closed because of terrorism issues and safety issues in the area.” For Grenville that means one thing—unexploited potential.
Grenville Gold’s August 2007 43-101 report on the Silveria Project gives us an idea of that potential. About the Millotingo mine it says, “A total of 2.6 million tonnes of mill feed is reported to have been produced…at an average grade of 16 troy ounces per tonne of silver with gold as a by-product…from which a total of 95,000 tonnes of silver concentrates is reported to have been produced, which contained about 39 million ounces of silver and 90,000 ounces of gold…” The same report noted that historical information from Millotingo gave evidence of a remaining 661,000 tonnes grading 12.8 troy ounces of silver per tonne, at the time the mine closed, and cautioned that an unknown amount of that resource has since been depleted through artisan mining.
Historical figures for the Pacococha Mine, which are not 43-101 compliant, report that between 1964 and 1991 8.4 million oz of silver was recovered from 2.7 million tonnes of mill feed. The reserve estimate from historical resources at Pacococha in 1991 was 449,019 diluted tonnes at an average grade of 4.49 oz/tonne of silver. Historical reports for the Pacococha mine also reported copper, lead and zinc reserves.
However, there is another way of looking at the remaining potential on the Silveria Project. Gill expands on potential silver reserves at the Silveria Project, “there are a total of 44 veins on the property. When Millotingo, Pacococha, Silveria and Germania mines were in production, they only extracted mineralized rock from 14 of the 44 veins.” Gill also points out that there are still tailings on the property, “and they have considerable amounts of silver still in them. They would be a very good target to test to see if they could be reprocessed and further stuff could be extracted from them.”
In addition, previous production at the mines returned high grades, however, Gill stresses that future production could return even higher grades. “The further you go down the system, the better chance you have of finding mantos, finding porphyry or finding further types of disseminated deposits that will have high-grade ore, high-grade mineralization, and high amounts of tonnage.” With these possibilities in mind, it’ll be rewarding to watch as the story unfolds, and we find out what’s really in the ground at Silveria.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Kootenay Gold Awaits Results on a New Treasure of the Sierra Madre at Promontorio, Sonora
By Christina de Wit
October 15, 2007
There are three things the Sonoran Desert demands from those who seek to make their living from it: resilience, resourcefulness, and a long time horizon. These qualities are embodied by one of the Sonora’s most famous denizens– the agave, or century plant. After years of marshalling its energy reserves in its sharp leaves, the agave drives up a long spike and flowers spectacularly.
It’s an apt scenario for Kootenay Gold’s (TSX.V:KTN) management and shareholders, as they await Phase I drilling results on the company’s Promontorio Silver Project in Sonora State, Mexico. The company has focused the bulk of its resources toward work on its claims in the Sierra Madre Occidental volcanic province – a system considered highly prospective for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Promontorio is 75 km northeast of Ciudad Obregón, the second largest city in Sonora State, and about 500 km south of Tucson, AZ. The area is easily accessible, with an international airport at Obregón and dry-season road access to the property.
The project consists of four contiguous claims totalling nearly 37,000 hectares. The company has staked an additional 400,000 hectares in the area – making Kootenay one of the largest landholders in the Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Belt. The claims are 100%-owned by Kootenay (save for a small NSR to the original landowners).
The rapid development of the Sierra Madre Occidental Belt can be compared to that of Nevada’s Carlin Trend – the Western Hemisphere’s richest gold area. Six years ago, there were no producers in the Sierra Madre Belt. Today, there are five profitable mines producing 1,000,000+ oz Au in the area, with two more mines coming on stream over the next 18 months.
Operators include Pan American, GoldCorp, Agnico-Eagle, Piedras Verdes and Alamos. Jim McDonald, Kootenay’s CEO, was one of the founders of National Gold, which subsequently merged with Alamos. In the early 1980s, the Carlin Trend experienced a similar major takeoff with the upsurge in the price of gold.
Promontorio has seen sporadic production over the past 100 years, with limited open-pit production during the 1960s and 1980s. Artisanal mining and previous small-scale production are usually precursors for big deposits. Old workings on the property include three shafts (the deepest one reaches an inclined depth of 158.5 meters), as well as an open cut 85 meters long ranging from 7 to 25 meters wide and 20 meters deep. Historic (non-43-101) calculations from a 1973 feasibility report outline an ore reserve estimated at 384,000 metric tons grading 0.12% Cu, 2.80% Pb, 1.74% Zn, 367 g/t Ag and 1.5 g/t Au, to a depth of 100 m. As reported in the company’s July 17th press release, recent chip sampling from Promontorio in the Pit Breccia has returned 480 grams per tonne silver, 2.51 grams per tonne gold, 11,199 ppm lead and 17,284 ppm zinc over an estimated true width of 19 meters. The 1990s saw the closure of the mine as a consequence of high interest rates and low metal prices. Kootenay acquired the ground at the early stages of the current bull market – making it the first company to apply the latest modern exploration methods to the property.
According to the company’s website, Promontorio “is highly prospective for large shallow level, intermediate-sulphidation epithermal system that may have developed close to a shallow level porphyry system and concentrated at the intersection of the regional WNW to NW fault zones.” The property’s Main Zone has a documented silver dominant polymetallic (Zn/Pb/Cu/Ag/Au) deposit, which has been the focus of the past 11 months’ work. The broad extent of alteration and mineralization found at surface is strongly suggestive of an underlying deposit. Only drilling will confirm this model, which with successful results could prove be the next discovery in the Sonoran Desert.
So far, the company has been diligent in doing its homework. Detailed mapping, geochemical sampling, and geophysical surveys have been completed along with Phase I of the drill program to confirm historic mineralization.Assay results are anticipated over the next 3 to 6 weeks.
Kootenay’s management is confident that its focused, methodical approach to fieldwork, financing, and risk management will pay off for the company’s investors. “Promontorio’s one that could be a real company maker,” said Ken Berry, Kootenay’s president. Management has laid a solid foundation for making a new discovery through years of dedicated effort. By building close relationships with key officials early on, the company was able to amass a comprehensive land package around Promontorio. Expert technical direction and careful financial management has enabled the project to advance to Phase II of the drilling stage, in which new prospects associated with the known mineralization will be delineated.
Given this stage of the market, it is rare to find a junior that has managed to stay in the game for six years, while maintaining a relatively tight share structure (23.7 million, fully diluted). This is due in part to the company’s having been privately financed for four years by Mr. McDonald.
Kootenay is also engaged in an ongoing, advanced drilling program with joint-venture partners at its Jumping Josephine Project near Castlegar, British Columbia.
“We’re making sure we’ve got lots of opportunities for success and at the same time, we want to spend our money in the ground, while minimizing dilution to the shareholders.” said Mr. Berry.
There’s a Mexican folk saying, ‘Acocote nuevo, tlachiquero viejo.’ that describes the process of extracting agua miel, (honey water) from the agave to make pulque, Mexico’s national drink. It translates roughly as “A difficult task must be done by someone who has the skills or experience to do it.” The market perception is that management is certainly up to the task at Promontorio – as per its Oct. 5th press release, the company raised $1.5 million in a non flow-through, non-brokered (and oversubscribed) private placement of 1.7million units @ $0.90/unit.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Commerce Resources Rolls out the Red Carpet at its Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project
by Christina de Wit
Despite the sight of a black bear on the September 7th-9th property tour of Commerce Resources' (TSX.V:CCE) Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project, the mood was nothing but bullish for a group of fund managers, industrialists, major newsletter writers, metal traders and senior analysts. Like bears to honey, a total of 105 investors– including key players in the German finance and industrial worlds– were drawn to the property by the company's announcement of its discovery of two new carbonatite anomalies– the Lower Gum and the Lower Switch Creeks at the company's Upper Fir Deposit. The Lower Gum geochemical anomaly is a minimum of 1,000 meters long and between 200 to 400 meters wide with geochem sample concentrations of 3,211 g/t Nb2O5 and 75 g/t Ta2O5, and highly enriched with light rare earth elements lanthanum (La) at 1,905 ppm; and cerium (Ce) at 2,666 ppm. The Lower Switch is a minimum of 700 meters long and 50 meters wide, with soil assays which returned values from background concentrations to 2,354 g/t Nb2O5. The anomaly extends through the historical trench location, where carbonatite samples collected by Anschutz Mining (Canada) Ltd., ran 21 and 2,930 g/t Ta2O5, and averaged 514 g/t.
The Blue River Project is located near Blue River, British Columbia. Commerce owns 100% of the 500km2 claim group. Infrastructure in the area is excellent, with proximity to rail lines, roads, and power. The first carbonatite bodies were discovered in 1949, when the property was first examined for its vermiculite potential. Commerce acquired the property in 2000 and has conducted bulk sampling, ground geophysics, stream sampling and drilling to date. A 2007 report prepared by independent consultant Gorham has outlined an indicated resource of 8,600,000 tonnes with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,372.6 g/t Nb2O5 and an inferred resource of 5,500,000 tonnes with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,349.9 g/t Nb2O5. With further drilling, there is a very good likelihood of finding new reserves.
Carbonatites are rare, peculiar igneous rocks derived from deep within the Earth’s crust. They are the host rocks for tantalum and niobium- which are usually found in tandem, along with other Rare Earth Elements (R.E.E.s). Tantalum (named for Tantalus, a figure in Greek mythology) is essential in the manufacture of most electronic devices due to its having the highest known capacitance of any metal. According to the company’s website, “tantalum ores are found primarily in Australia, Brazil, Canada and central Africa, with some additional quantities originating in southeast Asia. The average yearly growth rate of about 8 to 12% in tantalum demand since about 1995 has caused a significant increase in exploration for this element”. Niobium (named for Tantalus’ daughter, Niobe) is an additive used in steel-making. Its presence as an alloy triples steel’s tensile strength. This is of critical importance for pipelines, aerospace, and the automotive industry.
Visitors to the project were treated to a presentation by Bill Serjak, the world’s leading tantalum and niobium market analyst. Mr. Serjak expects a double-digit increase in the demand for tantalum over the next two years.
Commerce's goal is to become the world's leading source of high-quality tantalum and niobium. The next phase of development involves permitting, and an environmental study conducted by Gartner Lee, a top environmental consulting firm.
The company has also researched processing methods as part of its pre-feasibility preparations. Metallurgical work carried out in 2004 confirmed recovery rates for Ta and Nb of 83 to 97% of contained metal values. These recovery rates give the company a comparative advantage over producers in other parts of the world. Australia's Sons of Gwalia, currently the world's largest tantalum miner, has published a much lower recovery rate of 55%.
On the spot market, tantalum usually trades at around $25-$35/lb. The spot market is supplied by small producers in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo – with its attendant instability. These sources are not sanctioned by the UN; the tantalum concentrate that comes from a UN sanctioned country like Australia or Canada is worth twice the price of that on the spot. On a long-term contract from HC Starck, the world's largest tantalum processor, tantalum oxide will sell for $140-$150/lb. Presently, the world’s largest producer of niobium (from pyrochlore) is the mine at Araxá in Brazil. Niobium is currently trading at around $29/lb– quadruple January’s price.
With solid backing from German financiers and the people of Blue River– many of who are shareholders– the company has support for the project from start to finish. The company’s most recent private placement– originally intended to widen distribution into the US, had the unintended (but happy) consequence of having its original German investors strengthen their positions. Because the world trade in niobium and tantalum is done primarily on long-term contracts, it is in the interest of major industrialists to take an interest in developing new, high-quality, reliable sources in politically stable countries.
The company is in an unparalleled position to meet this demand. Alexei Rukhlov, the geologist in charge of the project– considered one of the leading experts on carbonatites in the world– describes the polymetallic deposit as “the only one of its kind in the world.” Highly-economic carbonatite deposits of this size and quality are exceedingly rare. With growing demand and a market which trades almost exclusively on long-term contracts, it is critical that new, stable, low-cost sources of tantalum and niobium are discovered and developed.
Commerce has had the foresight to build its market from the ground up by appealing to a core of long-term institutional investors, in effect, the end buyers of the company's products. So far, the market has responded favourably to this methodical approach– the company is trading in the $1 range. Investors can anticipate healthy long-term gains, without the volatility issues that affect precious and base metal markets. Napoleon Hill, advisor to U.S. Steel founder Andrew Carnegie and author of Think and Grow Rich, said, “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” Or, in Commerce’s case– as carbonatite is to steel– and success.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Nobody interested in Tantalum anymore?
Commerce Resources still is, apparently:
Commerce Resources Rolls out the Red Carpet at its Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project
by Christina de Wit
Despite the sight of a black bear on the September 7th-9th property tour of Commerce Resources' (TSX.V:CCE) Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project, the mood was nothing but bullish for a group of fund managers, industrialists, major newsletter writers, metal traders and senior analysts. Like bears to honey, a total of 105 investors– including key players in the German finance and industrial worlds– were drawn to the property by the company's announcement of its discovery of two new carbonatite anomalies– the Lower Gum and the Lower Switch Creeks at the company's Upper Fir Deposit. The Lower Gum geochemical anomaly is a minimum of 1,000 meters long and between 200 to 400 meters wide with geochem sample concentrations of 3,211 g/t Nb2O5 and 75 g/t Ta2O5, and highly enriched with light rare earth elements lanthanum (La) at 1,905 ppm; and cerium (Ce) at 2,666 ppm. The Lower Switch is a minimum of 700 meters long and 50 meters wide, with soil assays which returned values from background concentrations to 2,354 g/t Nb2O5. The anomaly extends through the historical trench location, where carbonatite samples collected by Anschutz Mining (Canada) Ltd., ran 21 and 2,930 g/t Ta2O5, and averaged 514 g/t.
The Blue River Project is located near Blue River, British Columbia. Commerce owns 100% of the 500km2 claim group. Infrastructure in the area is excellent, with proximity to rail lines, roads, and power. The first carbonatite bodies were discovered in 1949, when the property was first examined for its vermiculite potential. Commerce acquired the property in 2000 and has conducted bulk sampling, ground geophysics, stream sampling and drilling to date. A 2007 report prepared by independent consultant Gorham has outlined an indicated resource of 8,600,000 tonnes with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,372.6 g/t Nb2O5 and an inferred resource of 5,500,000 tonnes with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,349.9 g/t Nb2O5. With further drilling, there is a very good likelihood of finding new reserves.
Carbonatites are rare, peculiar igneous rocks derived from deep within the Earth’s crust. They are the host rocks for tantalum and niobium- which are usually found in tandem, along with other Rare Earth Elements (R.E.E.s). Tantalum (named for Tantalus, a figure in Greek mythology) is essential in the manufacture of most electronic devices due to its having the highest known capacitance of any metal. According to the company’s website, “tantalum ores are found primarily in Australia, Brazil, Canada and central Africa, with some additional quantities originating in southeast Asia. The average yearly growth rate of about 8 to 12% in tantalum demand since about 1995 has caused a significant increase in exploration for this element”. Niobium (named for Tantalus’ daughter, Niobe) is an additive used in steel-making. Its presence as an alloy triples steel’s tensile strength. This is of critical importance for pipelines, aerospace, and the automotive industry.
Visitors to the project were treated to a presentation by Bill Serjak, the world’s leading tantalum and niobium market analyst. Mr. Serjak expects a double-digit increase in the demand for tantalum over the next two years.
Commerce's goal is to become the world's leading source of high-quality tantalum and niobium. The next phase of development involves permitting, and an environmental study conducted by Gartner Lee, a top environmental consulting firm.
The company has also researched processing methods as part of its pre-feasibility preparations. Metallurgical work carried out in 2004 confirmed recovery rates for Ta and Nb of 83 to 97% of contained metal values. These recovery rates give the company a comparative advantage over producers in other parts of the world. Australia's Sons of Gwalia, currently the world's largest tantalum miner, has published a much lower recovery rate of 55%.
On the spot market, tantalum usually trades at around $25-$35/lb. The spot market is supplied by small producers in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo – with its attendant instability. These sources are not sanctioned by the UN; the tantalum concentrate that comes from a UN sanctioned country like Australia or Canada is worth twice the price of that on the spot. On a long-term contract from HC Starck, the world's largest tantalum processor, tantalum oxide will sell for $140-$150/lb. Presently, the world’s largest producer of niobium (from pyrochlore) is the mine at Araxá in Brazil. Niobium is currently trading at around $29/lb– quadruple January’s price.
With solid backing from German financiers and the people of Blue River– many of who are shareholders– the company has support for the project from start to finish. The company’s most recent private placement– originally intended to widen distribution into the US, had the unintended (but happy) consequence of having its original German investors strengthen their positions. Because the world trade in niobium and tantalum is done primarily on long-term contracts, it is in the interest of major industrialists to take an interest in developing new, high-quality, reliable sources in politically stable countries.
The company is in an unparalleled position to meet this demand. Alexei Rukhlov, the geologist in charge of the project– considered one of the leading experts on carbonatites in the world– describes the polymetallic deposit as “the only one of its kind in the world.” Highly-economic carbonatite deposits of this size and quality are exceedingly rare. With growing demand and a market which trades almost exclusively on long-term contracts, it is critical that new, stable, low-cost sources of tantalum and niobium are discovered and developed.
Commerce has had the foresight to build its market from the ground up by appealing to a core of long-term institutional investors, in effect, the end buyers of the company's products. So far, the market has responded favourably to this methodical approach– the company is trading in the $1 range. Investors can anticipate healthy long-term gains, without the volatility issues that affect precious and base metal markets. Napoleon Hill, advisor to U.S. Steel founder Andrew Carnegie and author of Think and Grow Rich, said, “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” Or, in Commerce’s case– as carbonatite is to steel– and success.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Commerce Resources Rolls out the Red Carpet at its Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project
by Christina de Wit
Despite the sight of a black bear on the September 7th-9th property tour of Commerce Resources' (TSX.V:CCE) Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project, the mood was nothing but bullish for a group of fund managers, industrialists, major newsletter writers, metal traders and senior analysts. Like bears to honey, a total of 105 investors– including key players in the German finance and industrial worlds– were drawn to the property by the company's announcement of its discovery of two new carbonatite anomalies– the Lower Gum and the Lower Switch Creeks at the company's Upper Fir Deposit. The Lower Gum geochemical anomaly is a minimum of 1,000 meters long and between 200 to 400 meters wide with geochem sample concentrations of 3,211 g/t Nb2O5 and 75 g/t Ta2O5, and highly enriched with light rare earth elements lanthanum (La) at 1,905 ppm; and cerium (Ce) at 2,666 ppm. The Lower Switch is a minimum of 700 meters long and 50 meters wide, with soil assays which returned values from background concentrations to 2,354 g/t Nb2O5. The anomaly extends through the historical trench location, where carbonatite samples collected by Anschutz Mining (Canada) Ltd., ran 21 and 2,930 g/t Ta2O5, and averaged 514 g/t.
The Blue River Project is located near Blue River, British Columbia. Commerce owns 100% of the 500km2 claim group. Infrastructure in the area is excellent, with proximity to rail lines, roads, and power. The first carbonatite bodies were discovered in 1949, when the property was first examined for its vermiculite potential. Commerce acquired the property in 2000 and has conducted bulk sampling, ground geophysics, stream sampling and drilling to date. A 2007 report prepared by independent consultant Gorham has outlined an indicated resource of 8,600,000 tonnes with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,372.6 g/t Nb2O5 and an inferred resource of 5,500,000 tonnes with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,349.9 g/t Nb2O5. With further drilling, there is a very good likelihood of finding new reserves.
Carbonatites are rare, peculiar igneous rocks derived from deep within the Earth’s crust. They are the host rocks for tantalum and niobium- which are usually found in tandem, along with other Rare Earth Elements (R.E.E.s). Tantalum (named for Tantalus, a figure in Greek mythology) is essential in the manufacture of most electronic devices due to its having the highest known capacitance of any metal. According to the company’s website, “tantalum ores are found primarily in Australia, Brazil, Canada and central Africa, with some additional quantities originating in southeast Asia. The average yearly growth rate of about 8 to 12% in tantalum demand since about 1995 has caused a significant increase in exploration for this element”. Niobium (named for Tantalus’ daughter, Niobe) is an additive used in steel-making. Its presence as an alloy triples steel’s tensile strength. This is of critical importance for pipelines, aerospace, and the automotive industry.
Visitors to the project were treated to a presentation by Bill Serjak, the world’s leading tantalum and niobium market analyst. Mr. Serjak expects a double-digit increase in the demand for tantalum over the next two years.
Commerce's goal is to become the world's leading source of high-quality tantalum and niobium. The next phase of development involves permitting, and an environmental study conducted by Gartner Lee, a top environmental consulting firm.
The company has also researched processing methods as part of its pre-feasibility preparations. Metallurgical work carried out in 2004 confirmed recovery rates for Ta and Nb of 83 to 97% of contained metal values. These recovery rates give the company a comparative advantage over producers in other parts of the world. Australia's Sons of Gwalia, currently the world's largest tantalum miner, has published a much lower recovery rate of 55%.
On the spot market, tantalum usually trades at around $25-$35/lb. The spot market is supplied by small producers in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo – with its attendant instability. These sources are not sanctioned by the UN; the tantalum concentrate that comes from a UN sanctioned country like Australia or Canada is worth twice the price of that on the spot. On a long-term contract from HC Starck, the world's largest tantalum processor, tantalum oxide will sell for $140-$150/lb. Presently, the world’s largest producer of niobium (from pyrochlore) is the mine at Araxá in Brazil. Niobium is currently trading at around $29/lb– quadruple January’s price.
With solid backing from German financiers and the people of Blue River– many of who are shareholders– the company has support for the project from start to finish. The company’s most recent private placement– originally intended to widen distribution into the US, had the unintended (but happy) consequence of having its original German investors strengthen their positions. Because the world trade in niobium and tantalum is done primarily on long-term contracts, it is in the interest of major industrialists to take an interest in developing new, high-quality, reliable sources in politically stable countries.
The company is in an unparalleled position to meet this demand. Alexei Rukhlov, the geologist in charge of the project– considered one of the leading experts on carbonatites in the world– describes the polymetallic deposit as “the only one of its kind in the world.” Highly-economic carbonatite deposits of this size and quality are exceedingly rare. With growing demand and a market which trades almost exclusively on long-term contracts, it is critical that new, stable, low-cost sources of tantalum and niobium are discovered and developed.
Commerce has had the foresight to build its market from the ground up by appealing to a core of long-term institutional investors, in effect, the end buyers of the company's products. So far, the market has responded favourably to this methodical approach– the company is trading in the $1 range. Investors can anticipate healthy long-term gains, without the volatility issues that affect precious and base metal markets. Napoleon Hill, advisor to U.S. Steel founder Andrew Carnegie and author of Think and Grow Rich, said, “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” Or, in Commerce’s case– as carbonatite is to steel– and success.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Commerce Resources (CCE.V)
Commerce Resources Rolls out the Red Carpet at its Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project
by Christina de Wit
October 10, 2007
Despite the sight of a black bear on the September 7th-9th property tour of Commerce Resources' (TSX.V:CCE) Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project, the mood was nothing but bullish for a group of fund managers, industrialists, major newsletter writers, metal traders and senior analysts. Like bears to honey, a total of 105 investors– including key players in the German finance and industrial worlds– were drawn to the property by the company's announcement of its discovery of two new carbonatite anomalies– the Lower Gum and the Lower Switch Creeks at the company's Upper Fir Deposit. The Lower Gum geochemical anomaly is a minimum of 1,000 meters long and between 200 to 400 meters wide with geochem sample concentrations of 3,211 g/t Nb2O5 and 75 g/t Ta2O5, and highly enriched with light rare earth elements lanthanum (La) at 1,905 ppm; and cerium (Ce) at 2,666 ppm. The Lower Switch is a minimum of 700 meters long and 50 meters wide, with soil assays which returned values from background concentrations to 2,354 g/t Nb2O5. The anomaly extends through the historical trench location, where carbonatite samples collected by Anschutz Mining (Canada) Ltd., ran 21 and 2,930 g/t Ta2O5, and averaged 514 g/t.
The Blue River Project is located near Blue River, British Columbia. Commerce owns 100% of the 500km2 claim group. Infrastructure in the area is excellent, with proximity to rail lines, roads, and power. The first carbonatite bodies were discovered in 1949, when the property was first examined for its vermiculite potential. Commerce acquired the property in 2000 and has conducted bulk sampling, ground geophysics, stream sampling and drilling to date. A 2007 report prepared by independent consultant Gorham has outlined an indicated resource of 8,600,000 tonnes with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,372.6 g/t Nb2O5 and an inferred resource of 5,500,000 tonnes with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,349.9 g/t Nb2O5. With further drilling, there is a very good likelihood of finding new reserves.
Carbonatites are rare, peculiar igneous rocks derived from deep within the Earth’s crust. They are the host rocks for tantalum and niobium- which are usually found in tandem, along with other Rare Earth Elements (R.E.E.s). Tantalum (named for Tantalus, a figure in Greek mythology) is essential in the manufacture of most electronic devices due to its having the highest known capacitance of any metal. According to the company’s website, “tantalum ores are found primarily in Australia, Brazil, Canada and central Africa, with some additional quantities originating in southeast Asia. The average yearly growth rate of about 8 to 12% in tantalum demand since about 1995 has caused a significant increase in exploration for this element”. Niobium (named for Tantalus’ daughter, Niobe) is an additive used in steel-making. Its presence as an alloy triples steel’s tensile strength. This is of critical importance for pipelines, aerospace, and the automotive industry.
Visitors to the project were treated to a presentation by Bill Serjak, the world’s leading tantalum and niobium market analyst. Mr. Serjak expects a double-digit increase in the demand for tantalum over the next two years.
Commerce's goal is to become the world's leading source of high-quality tantalum and niobium. The next phase of development involves permitting, and an environmental study conducted by Gartner Lee, a top environmental consulting firm.
The company has also researched processing methods as part of its pre-feasibility preparations. Metallurgical work carried out in 2004 confirmed recovery rates for Ta and Nb of 83 to 97% of contained metal values. These recovery rates give the company a comparative advantage over producers in other parts of the world. Australia's Sons of Gwalia, currently the world's largest tantalum miner, has published a much lower recovery rate of 55%.
On the spot market, tantalum usually trades at around $25-$35/lb. The spot market is supplied by small producers in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo – with its attendant instability. These sources are not sanctioned by the UN; the tantalum concentrate that comes from a UN sanctioned country like Australia or Canada is worth twice the price of that on the spot. On a long-term contract from HC Starck, the world's largest tantalum processor, tantalum oxide will sell for $140-$150/lb. Presently, the world’s largest producer of niobium (from pyrochlore) is the mine at Araxá in Brazil. Niobium is currently trading at around $29/lb– quadruple January’s price.
With solid backing from German financiers and the people of Blue River– many of who are shareholders– the company has support for the project from start to finish. The company’s most recent private placement– originally intended to widen distribution into the US, had the unintended (but happy) consequence of having its original German investors strengthen their positions. Because the world trade in niobium and tantalum is done primarily on long-term contracts, it is in the interest of major industrialists to take an interest in developing new, high-quality, reliable sources in politically stable countries.
The company is in an unparalleled position to meet this demand. Alexei Rukhlov, the geologist in charge of the project– considered one of the leading experts on carbonatites in the world– describes the polymetallic deposit as “the only one of its kind in the world.” Highly-economic carbonatite deposits of this size and quality are exceedingly rare. With growing demand and a market which trades almost exclusively on long-term contracts, it is critical that new, stable, low-cost sources of tantalum and niobium are discovered and developed.
Commerce has had the foresight to build its market from the ground up by appealing to a core of long-term institutional investors, in effect, the end buyers of the company's products. So far, the market has responded favourably to this methodical approach– the company is trading in the $1 range. Investors can anticipate healthy long-term gains, without the volatility issues that affect precious and base metal markets. Napoleon Hill, advisor to U.S. Steel founder Andrew Carnegie and author of Think and Grow Rich, said, “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” Or, in Commerce’s case– as carbonatite is to steel– and success.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
New Junior Uranium Company
Universal Power: Uranium Exploration With a Polymetallic Twist
By Eric Pratt
www.ResourcexInvestor.com
October 19, 2007
A brand new entry in the global uranium exploration ring, Universal Power Corp. (TSX.V:UNX) began trading under its new name and symbol on October 2nd of this year. Universal’s unique mix of Uranium, Silver and Iron Oxide Copper Gold (“IOCG”) prospects gives investors a unique blend of exposure to upside across various in-demand commodities.
With an eye towards limiting exposure to political risk, the company has assembled a portfolio of properties in Tanzania and Malawi in Africa, Canada’s Northwest Territories and Ontario.
Canada
Of particular interest is the Great Bear Lake IOCG property that covers 45,000 acres roughly 400 kilometers north of Yellowknife, and due south of Alberta Star Development’s (TSX.V:ASX) Contact Lake Property.
The Eldorado & Contact Lake claim block now consists of eleven contiguous claims located 5 km southeast of Port Radium on the east side of Great Bear Lake Northwest Territories and 470 kilometers north of the city of Yellowknife.
The area consists of 87,706 acres and is comprised of two distinct areas, Contact Lake North and Contact Lake South. The Eldorado & Contact Lake IOCG + uranium project areas include five past producing high grade silver and uranium mines. In Contact Lake North, the Echo Bay Mine produced 23,779,178 ounces of silver, and 6,900 lbs of uranium, the Eldorado Mine produced 15 million pounds of uranium, and 8 million ounces of silver and the area also included the Cross Fault Lake Uranium mine (Normin NTGO: SENES Report 2005).
The average head grade for the Echo Bay mine was 66 ounces per ton silver and the average head grade for the Eldorado silver -- uranium mine was 0.75 % uranium. In the Contact Lake South area, The Contact Lake Mine, the Bonanza and the El Bonanza mines were all former producers of silver and high grade uranium, and are included in Alberta Star’s land package.
Uranium was first discovered in the Great Bear Lake area in 1929 by Gilbert Labine when the Eldorado Mining Company uncovered high grade silver -- pitchblende veins at Port Radium. Newly discovered veins at Port Radium, Eldorado and Contact Lake were mined until 1940.
In 1941 the Eldorado Mining Company gifted Columbia University 5 tons of Uranium oxide for chain reaction experiments and the mine re-opened to supply the ore to the United States Government, to develop the Manhattan Project. When the price of Uranium dropped, the mine was deemed no longer profitable and was closed in 1960, and all exploration for Uranium in the area ceased.
Universal’s Great Bear Lake project is geologically analogous to the Olympic Dam deposit at Roxby Downs in the Gawler craton of southwest Australia.
It is an extremely large deposit of copper, uranium, gold and silver, which supports an underground mine as well as an integrated metallurgical processing plant. It is the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world, though uranium represents only a minority of the mine's total revenue.
The deposit was discovered by Western Mining Corporation in 1975 and started production in 1987. It now belongs to BHP Billiton,(NYSE:BHP) which acquired WMC Resources in 2005. The mine currently operates by an underground mining method called sublevel open stoping, using modern and highly productive mining equipment. The March 2005 mine production rate is an annualized 9.1 million tonnes making it one of Australia's larger mines. 2005 metal production is thought to be in excess of 220,000 tonnes of copper, 4,500 tonnes of uranium oxide, plus gold and silver. The copper and uranium oxide are exported through Port Adelaide.
Universal’s Havoc Property, located in the Havoc Lake area in the Sibley Basin near Thunder Bay, Ontario is a mid-Proterozoic-age sedimentary basin that has the potential to host unconformity related uranium deposits such as those found in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin, home of the world’s richest uranium mines.
Similarities between the Sibley Basin and the Athabasca Basin have been recognized before but led only to modest exploration of the area in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
The presence of commercial grade Uranium was confirmed in 2005 by Rampart Ventures (TSX.V:RPT). Drilling results included 2.99% U308 over 1.5 metres. . Surface prospecting returned samples of 4.32 % and 5.24 %. Rampart is underway on their 2007 drilling program.
The Sibley Basin (also referred to as the Nipigon Embayment) of northwest Ontario is a late Proterozoic (Helikian age) sedimentary basin that shows significant geological parallels with the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. These similarities have long been recognized before, but led only to a very modest amount of exploration for uranium in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Overall, the Sibley Basin is the least explored of all the Helikian-age sedimentary basins in Canada. It is also the most accessible, with an extensive network of logging roads.
Africa
Universal’s most recent acquisition is a 0% interest in two key acquisitions in Tanzania in the Madaba and Mkuju prospects covering over 1000sq kilometres with Uranium potential located along the extension of the Malawi Kayekar Uranium prospect that Paladin Resources (TSX:PDN) has been developing over the last few years.
Paladin recently approved a Bankable Feasibility Study that indicated a mine life of 7 years and a processing life of 11 years were achievable from the existing resources. This gave a reserve of 10.46Mt at an average grade of 0.11% U308 for 11,377t U308. Based on an annual production rate of 1.5 million tonnes per annum and a 90% recovery the BFS shows that an average of 1,493t U308 will be produced for the first 7 years from a feed grade of 0.109% U308 and 530 tonnes per annum U308 over the last 4 years using accumulated marginal material grading 0.039% U308.
In Tanzania, three uranium occurrences will be the focus of a National Instrument 43-101 study, where the sandstone of the Karoo are reminiscent of the sandstone which hosts uranium deposits in South Africa and in the state of Colorado in USA. No systematic prospecting has been done in the Tanzania Karoo sand stones, but, such work is anticipated to be very rewarding.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Ascendant Copper Holding Steady on Ecuadorian Nest Egg: Part 2
By Andrew K. Burger
http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2751
Mining companies with stakes in Ecuador have been urgently meeting with government officials in an effort to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship, environmental and social responsibility to preserve their interests in the face of a new constitution and mining legislation to be drafted by 136 newly elected members of a National Constituent Assembly. What transpires will shape the face of mining, foreign investment and development in Ecuador, and very possibly elsewhere in South America, for years to come.
Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) is one junior miner intimately involved in the process. The company has been working to explore and develop Junin, a world-class copper porphyry deposit, as well as Chaucha, a second similar deposit the Andes’ western flank in northern Ecuador.
Ascendant is sitting on Junin, a world-class copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect, as well as two others, the Chaucha and Telimbela prospects. “We are sitting on the second if not the largest copper/molybdenum property in the world,” commented John Haigh, Ascendant’s Investor Relations manager. “Our Junín property consists of 23,475 acres of property containing billions of pounds of economic resource; in fact we are looking at a potential in excess of a billion pounds of molybdenum and in excess of 20 billion pounds of copper.”
While management remains optimistic in the longer-term, recent elections and upcoming debates and controversy associated with drafting a new constitution, as well as new mining laws and regulations, is prompting management to shift their focus elsewhere in the shorter term.
Mining & the Environment
Mining is inherently damaging to the environment yet practically every society in the world today could not function or support itself, nor would they have grown or developed to the extent they have were it not for a steady supply of key metals and minerals. Copper is one.
In keeping with the times and technology, Ascendant has made substantial efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship. These are encapsulated in the U.N. Global Compact, a program and internationally recognized set of standards regarding human and labor rights, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption to which Ascendant ascribes and has been formally accepted.
More specifically with regard to Junin and its other prospects in Ecuador, Ascendant has during the past two years established social and environmental programs within nearby Junin communities.
These include providing much needed medical and dental facilities and personnel, working to improve the educational system-- including teacher training and scholarships-- providing training on farming techniques, vaccinating cattle, supporting soccer camps, providing trash collection and disposal, maintaining and building roads, and developing nurseries with more than 40,000 plants to support reforestation of areas deforested by slash-and-burn agricultural methods, according to company information.
Moreover, it should be noted that all the above is in addition to potentially substantial government revenues and foreign exchange earnings the Ecuadorian government stands to garner should Ascendant’s development plans move forward.
An Easy Target for Protestors
The area around the Junin property has been a hotbed of legal and illegal protest. Ascendant’s demonstration farm in the Intag area was illegally seized and the company has been unable to conduct independent drilling to confirm and expand on historical exploration and assay results.
That looked set to change after March 20 when the company concluded agreements with the government and Decoin aimed at restoring law and order to the region, reducing tensions and respecting the rights of all parties.
One of the conditions was the return of the Intag demonstration farm, which had been seized the previous week. Based on Decoin’s demands, Ascendant also reluctantly agreed to reduce its work force substantially, from 159 to 48 people—most of whom were involved in community development efforts—as well as its current activities, which include the provision of medical and dental services in the area.
Ironically and somewhat quizzically, the ecological group was able to push through the shutdown of social services, claiming that such activities influenced the local community to look favorably on the Junin project and Ascendant.
The Ecuadorian government as part of the March agreement stated that it would organize a commission of community leaders, government officials and representatives for Ascendant to ensure the compliance of all parties.
A group of government officials visiting the Junin property and area in early August found that Ascendant was operating a medical center and a school bus for Intag's children. They asked the company to stop these social programs and Ascendant was compelled to agree based on the three-party agreement signed earlier in the year.
“We did it regardless of the fact the country has no legal authority to control our social programs. The opposition was annoyed because our projects increase the community’s support for mining,” Francisco Veintimilla, the company’s Ecuador general manager, stated in a media release.
The Government, Ascendant and Mining Going Forward
Mining experts from Canada, Chile, Peru and Spain were among some 350-plus participants on hand in Quito Sept. 18 when Ecuador’s recently appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Galo Chiriboga, led a forum that brought together government, mining and community representatives to present and debate the central issues regarding the future of mining in the country.
Chiriboga stated his support for environmentally and socially responsible large-scale mining in a recent interview. He also announced that the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum would be restructured so that it could devise and enact improved national mining policies in both the short and long-term that would involve drawing input from all stakeholders.
Representatives from Cornerstone Capital Resources, another Canadian junior mining company with projects in Ecuador, were “favorably impressed and encouraged by this and other very positive signals,” the company’s manager of corporate communications, Roseanne Williams, wrote in a recent update.
All parties stand to gain if the Correa government can successfully negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement regarding Ascendant’s Junin property. Doing so might also be a significant step forward for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum’s efforts to forge an equitable and practical set of mining policies and regulations going forward. If and when this scenario pans out, expect Ascendant’s shares to make a strong surge to the upside.
Ascendant’s management “estimates that a lasting, mutually agreeable arrangement with the Ecuadorian government can be reached in 30 months,” Investor Relations manager John Haigh told Resourcex. “We believe that it will be at least one more year before the Ecuadorian mining law will be rewritten and will include a royalty to the government of at least 3%, that they currently don't have. That's fine with us.”
In the interim, Ascendant has launched efforts to acquire three near-term copper producing properties in the western US. Negotiations are well under way for two of the three, with an announcement expected on the third in about three months, according to Haigh.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Universal Power: Uranium Exploration With a Polymetallic Twist
By Eric Pratt
www.ResourcexInvestor.com
October 19, 2007
A brand new entry in the global uranium exploration ring, Universal Power Corp. (TSX.V:UNX) began trading under its new name and symbol on October 2nd of this year. Universal’s unique mix of Uranium, Silver and Iron Oxide Copper Gold (“IOCG”) prospects gives investors a unique blend of exposure to upside across various in-demand commodities.
With an eye towards limiting exposure to political risk, the company has assembled a portfolio of properties in Tanzania and Malawi in Africa, Canada’s Northwest Territories and Ontario.
Canada
Of particular interest is the Great Bear Lake IOCG property that covers 45,000 acres roughly 400 kilometers north of Yellowknife, and due south of Alberta Star Development’s (TSX.V:ASX) Contact Lake Property.
The Eldorado & Contact Lake claim block now consists of eleven contiguous claims located 5 km southeast of Port Radium on the east side of Great Bear Lake Northwest Territories and 470 kilometers north of the city of Yellowknife.
The area consists of 87,706 acres and is comprised of two distinct areas, Contact Lake North and Contact Lake South. The Eldorado & Contact Lake IOCG + uranium project areas include five past producing high grade silver and uranium mines. In Contact Lake North, the Echo Bay Mine produced 23,779,178 ounces of silver, and 6,900 lbs of uranium, the Eldorado Mine produced 15 million pounds of uranium, and 8 million ounces of silver and the area also included the Cross Fault Lake Uranium mine (Normin NTGO: SENES Report 2005).
The average head grade for the Echo Bay mine was 66 ounces per ton silver and the average head grade for the Eldorado silver -- uranium mine was 0.75 % uranium. In the Contact Lake South area, The Contact Lake Mine, the Bonanza and the El Bonanza mines were all former producers of silver and high grade uranium, and are included in Alberta Star’s land package.
Uranium was first discovered in the Great Bear Lake area in 1929 by Gilbert Labine when the Eldorado Mining Company uncovered high grade silver -- pitchblende veins at Port Radium. Newly discovered veins at Port Radium, Eldorado and Contact Lake were mined until 1940.
In 1941 the Eldorado Mining Company gifted Columbia University 5 tons of Uranium oxide for chain reaction experiments and the mine re-opened to supply the ore to the United States Government, to develop the Manhattan Project. When the price of Uranium dropped, the mine was deemed no longer profitable and was closed in 1960, and all exploration for Uranium in the area ceased.
Universal’s Great Bear Lake project is geologically analogous to the Olympic Dam deposit at Roxby Downs in the Gawler craton of southwest Australia.
It is an extremely large deposit of copper, uranium, gold and silver, which supports an underground mine as well as an integrated metallurgical processing plant. It is the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world, though uranium represents only a minority of the mine's total revenue.
The deposit was discovered by Western Mining Corporation in 1975 and started production in 1987. It now belongs to BHP Billiton,(NYSE:BHP) which acquired WMC Resources in 2005. The mine currently operates by an underground mining method called sublevel open stoping, using modern and highly productive mining equipment. The March 2005 mine production rate is an annualized 9.1 million tonnes making it one of Australia's larger mines. 2005 metal production is thought to be in excess of 220,000 tonnes of copper, 4,500 tonnes of uranium oxide, plus gold and silver. The copper and uranium oxide are exported through Port Adelaide.
Universal’s Havoc Property, located in the Havoc Lake area in the Sibley Basin near Thunder Bay, Ontario is a mid-Proterozoic-age sedimentary basin that has the potential to host unconformity related uranium deposits such as those found in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin, home of the world’s richest uranium mines.
Similarities between the Sibley Basin and the Athabasca Basin have been recognized before but led only to modest exploration of the area in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
The presence of commercial grade Uranium was confirmed in 2005 by Rampart Ventures (TSX.V:RPT). Drilling results included 2.99% U308 over 1.5 metres. . Surface prospecting returned samples of 4.32 % and 5.24 %. Rampart is underway on their 2007 drilling program.
The Sibley Basin (also referred to as the Nipigon Embayment) of northwest Ontario is a late Proterozoic (Helikian age) sedimentary basin that shows significant geological parallels with the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. These similarities have long been recognized before, but led only to a very modest amount of exploration for uranium in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Overall, the Sibley Basin is the least explored of all the Helikian-age sedimentary basins in Canada. It is also the most accessible, with an extensive network of logging roads.
Africa
Universal’s most recent acquisition is a 0% interest in two key acquisitions in Tanzania in the Madaba and Mkuju prospects covering over 1000sq kilometres with Uranium potential located along the extension of the Malawi Kayekar Uranium prospect that Paladin Resources (TSX:PDN) has been developing over the last few years.
Paladin recently approved a Bankable Feasibility Study that indicated a mine life of 7 years and a processing life of 11 years were achievable from the existing resources. This gave a reserve of 10.46Mt at an average grade of 0.11% U308 for 11,377t U308. Based on an annual production rate of 1.5 million tonnes per annum and a 90% recovery the BFS shows that an average of 1,493t U308 will be produced for the first 7 years from a feed grade of 0.109% U308 and 530 tonnes per annum U308 over the last 4 years using accumulated marginal material grading 0.039% U308.
In Tanzania, three uranium occurrences will be the focus of a National Instrument 43-101 study, where the sandstone of the Karoo are reminiscent of the sandstone which hosts uranium deposits in South Africa and in the state of Colorado in USA. No systematic prospecting has been done in the Tanzania Karoo sand stones, but, such work is anticipated to be very rewarding.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
New Uranium Company
Universal Power: Uranium Exploration With a Polymetallic Twist
By Eric Pratt
www.ResourcexInvestor.com
October 19, 2007
A brand new entry in the global uranium exploration ring, Universal Power Corp. (TSX.V:UNX) began trading under its new name and symbol on October 2nd of this year. Universal’s unique mix of Uranium, Silver and Iron Oxide Copper Gold (“IOCG”) prospects gives investors a unique blend of exposure to upside across various in-demand commodities.
With an eye towards limiting exposure to political risk, the company has assembled a portfolio of properties in Tanzania and Malawi in Africa, Canada’s Northwest Territories and Ontario.
Canada
Of particular interest is the Great Bear Lake IOCG property that covers 45,000 acres roughly 400 kilometers north of Yellowknife, and due south of Alberta Star Development’s (TSX.V:ASX) Contact Lake Property.
The Eldorado & Contact Lake claim block now consists of eleven contiguous claims located 5 km southeast of Port Radium on the east side of Great Bear Lake Northwest Territories and 470 kilometers north of the city of Yellowknife.
The area consists of 87,706 acres and is comprised of two distinct areas, Contact Lake North and Contact Lake South. The Eldorado & Contact Lake IOCG + uranium project areas include five past producing high grade silver and uranium mines. In Contact Lake North, the Echo Bay Mine produced 23,779,178 ounces of silver, and 6,900 lbs of uranium, the Eldorado Mine produced 15 million pounds of uranium, and 8 million ounces of silver and the area also included the Cross Fault Lake Uranium mine (Normin NTGO: SENES Report 2005).
The average head grade for the Echo Bay mine was 66 ounces per ton silver and the average head grade for the Eldorado silver -- uranium mine was 0.75 % uranium. In the Contact Lake South area, The Contact Lake Mine, the Bonanza and the El Bonanza mines were all former producers of silver and high grade uranium, and are included in Alberta Star’s land package.
Uranium was first discovered in the Great Bear Lake area in 1929 by Gilbert Labine when the Eldorado Mining Company uncovered high grade silver -- pitchblende veins at Port Radium. Newly discovered veins at Port Radium, Eldorado and Contact Lake were mined until 1940.
In 1941 the Eldorado Mining Company gifted Columbia University 5 tons of Uranium oxide for chain reaction experiments and the mine re-opened to supply the ore to the United States Government, to develop the Manhattan Project. When the price of Uranium dropped, the mine was deemed no longer profitable and was closed in 1960, and all exploration for Uranium in the area ceased.
Universal’s Great Bear Lake project is geologically analogous to the Olympic Dam deposit at Roxby Downs in the Gawler craton of southwest Australia.
It is an extremely large deposit of copper, uranium, gold and silver, which supports an underground mine as well as an integrated metallurgical processing plant. It is the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world, though uranium represents only a minority of the mine's total revenue.
The deposit was discovered by Western Mining Corporation in 1975 and started production in 1987. It now belongs to BHP Billiton,(NYSE:BHP) which acquired WMC Resources in 2005. The mine currently operates by an underground mining method called sublevel open stoping, using modern and highly productive mining equipment. The March 2005 mine production rate is an annualized 9.1 million tonnes making it one of Australia's larger mines. 2005 metal production is thought to be in excess of 220,000 tonnes of copper, 4,500 tonnes of uranium oxide, plus gold and silver. The copper and uranium oxide are exported through Port Adelaide.
Universal’s Havoc Property, located in the Havoc Lake area in the Sibley Basin near Thunder Bay, Ontario is a mid-Proterozoic-age sedimentary basin that has the potential to host unconformity related uranium deposits such as those found in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin, home of the world’s richest uranium mines.
Similarities between the Sibley Basin and the Athabasca Basin have been recognized before but led only to modest exploration of the area in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
The presence of commercial grade Uranium was confirmed in 2005 by Rampart Ventures (TSX.V:RPT). Drilling results included 2.99% U308 over 1.5 metres. . Surface prospecting returned samples of 4.32 % and 5.24 %. Rampart is underway on their 2007 drilling program.
The Sibley Basin (also referred to as the Nipigon Embayment) of northwest Ontario is a late Proterozoic (Helikian age) sedimentary basin that shows significant geological parallels with the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. These similarities have long been recognized before, but led only to a very modest amount of exploration for uranium in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Overall, the Sibley Basin is the least explored of all the Helikian-age sedimentary basins in Canada. It is also the most accessible, with an extensive network of logging roads.
Africa
Universal’s most recent acquisition is a 0% interest in two key acquisitions in Tanzania in the Madaba and Mkuju prospects covering over 1000sq kilometres with Uranium potential located along the extension of the Malawi Kayekar Uranium prospect that Paladin Resources (TSX:PDN) has been developing over the last few years.
Paladin recently approved a Bankable Feasibility Study that indicated a mine life of 7 years and a processing life of 11 years were achievable from the existing resources. This gave a reserve of 10.46Mt at an average grade of 0.11% U308 for 11,377t U308. Based on an annual production rate of 1.5 million tonnes per annum and a 90% recovery the BFS shows that an average of 1,493t U308 will be produced for the first 7 years from a feed grade of 0.109% U308 and 530 tonnes per annum U308 over the last 4 years using accumulated marginal material grading 0.039% U308.
In Tanzania, three uranium occurrences will be the focus of a National Instrument 43-101 study, where the sandstone of the Karoo are reminiscent of the sandstone which hosts uranium deposits in South Africa and in the state of Colorado in USA. No systematic prospecting has been done in the Tanzania Karoo sand stones, but, such work is anticipated to be very rewarding.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Here's Part 2:
Ascendant Copper Holding Steady on Ecuadorian Nest Egg: Part 2
By Andrew K. Burger
October 19, 2007
Mining companies with stakes in Ecuador have been urgently meeting with government officials in an effort to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship, environmental and social responsibility to preserve their interests in the face of a new constitution and mining legislation to be drafted by 136 newly elected members of a National Constituent Assembly. What transpires will shape the face of mining, foreign investment and development in Ecuador, and very possibly elsewhere in South America, for years to come.
Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) is one junior miner intimately involved in the process. The company has been working to explore and develop Junin, a world-class copper porphyry deposit, as well as Chaucha, a second similar deposit the Andes’ western flank in northern Ecuador.
Ascendant is sitting on Junin, a world-class copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect, as well as two others, the Chaucha and Telimbela prospects. “We are sitting on the second if not the largest copper/molybdenum property in the world,” commented John Haigh, Ascendant’s Investor Relations manager. “Our Junín property consists of 23,475 acres of property containing billions of pounds of economic resource; in fact we are looking at a potential in excess of a billion pounds of molybdenum and in excess of 20 billion pounds of copper.”
While management remains optimistic in the longer-term, recent elections and upcoming debates and controversy associated with drafting a new constitution, as well as new mining laws and regulations, is prompting management to shift their focus elsewhere in the shorter term.
Mining & the Environment
Mining is inherently damaging to the environment yet practically every society in the world today could not function or support itself, nor would they have grown or developed to the extent they have were it not for a steady supply of key metals and minerals. Copper is one.
In keeping with the times and technology, Ascendant has made substantial efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship. These are encapsulated in the U.N. Global Compact, a program and internationally recognized set of standards regarding human and labor rights, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption to which Ascendant ascribes and has been formally accepted.
More specifically with regard to Junin and its other prospects in Ecuador, Ascendant has during the past two years established social and environmental programs within nearby Junin communities.
These include providing much needed medical and dental facilities and personnel, working to improve the educational system-- including teacher training and scholarships-- providing training on farming techniques, vaccinating cattle, supporting soccer camps, providing trash collection and disposal, maintaining and building roads, and developing nurseries with more than 40,000 plants to support reforestation of areas deforested by slash-and-burn agricultural methods, according to company information.
Moreover, it should be noted that all the above is in addition to potentially substantial government revenues and foreign exchange earnings the Ecuadorian government stands to garner should Ascendant’s development plans move forward.
An Easy Target for Protestors
The area around the Junin property has been a hotbed of legal and illegal protest. Ascendant’s demonstration farm in the Intag area was illegally seized and the company has been unable to conduct independent drilling to confirm and expand on historical exploration and assay results.
That looked set to change after March 20 when the company concluded agreements with the government and Decoin aimed at restoring law and order to the region, reducing tensions and respecting the rights of all parties.
One of the conditions was the return of the Intag demonstration farm, which had been seized the previous week. Based on Decoin’s demands, Ascendant also reluctantly agreed to reduce its work force substantially, from 159 to 48 people—most of whom were involved in community development efforts—as well as its current activities, which include the provision of medical and dental services in the area.
Ironically and somewhat quizzically, the ecological group was able to push through the shutdown of social services, claiming that such activities influenced the local community to look favorably on the Junin project and Ascendant.
The Ecuadorian government as part of the March agreement stated that it would organize a commission of community leaders, government officials and representatives for Ascendant to ensure the compliance of all parties.
A group of government officials visiting the Junin property and area in early August found that Ascendant was operating a medical center and a school bus for Intag's children. They asked the company to stop these social programs and Ascendant was compelled to agree based on the three-party agreement signed earlier in the year.
“We did it regardless of the fact the country has no legal authority to control our social programs. The opposition was annoyed because our projects increase the community’s support for mining,” Francisco Veintimilla, the company’s Ecuador general manager, stated in a media release.
The Government, Ascendant and Mining Going Forward
Mining experts from Canada, Chile, Peru and Spain were among some 350-plus participants on hand in Quito Sept. 18 when Ecuador’s recently appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Galo Chiriboga, led a forum that brought together government, mining and community representatives to present and debate the central issues regarding the future of mining in the country.
Chiriboga stated his support for environmentally and socially responsible large-scale mining in a recent interview. He also announced that the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum would be restructured so that it could devise and enact improved national mining policies in both the short and long-term that would involve drawing input from all stakeholders.
Representatives from Cornerstone Capital Resources, another Canadian junior mining company with projects in Ecuador, were “favorably impressed and encouraged by this and other very positive signals,” the company’s manager of corporate communications, Roseanne Williams, wrote in a recent update.
All parties stand to gain if the Correa government can successfully negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement regarding Ascendant’s Junin property. Doing so might also be a significant step forward for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum’s efforts to forge an equitable and practical set of mining policies and regulations going forward. If and when this scenario pans out, expect Ascendant’s shares to make a strong surge to the upside.
Ascendant’s management “estimates that a lasting, mutually agreeable arrangement with the Ecuadorian government can be reached in 30 months,” Investor Relations manager John Haigh told Resourcex. “We believe that it will be at least one more year before the Ecuadorian mining law will be rewritten and will include a royalty to the government of at least 3%, that they currently don't have. That's fine with us.”
In the interim, Ascendant has launched efforts to acquire three near-term copper producing properties in the western US. Negotiations are well under way for two of the three, with an announcement expected on the third in about three months, according to Haigh.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Ascendant Copper Holding Steady on Ecuadorian Nest Egg: Part 2
By Andrew K. Burger
October 19, 2007
Mining companies with stakes in Ecuador have been urgently meeting with government officials in an effort to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship, environmental and social responsibility to preserve their interests in the face of a new constitution and mining legislation to be drafted by 136 newly elected members of a National Constituent Assembly. What transpires will shape the face of mining, foreign investment and development in Ecuador, and very possibly elsewhere in South America, for years to come.
Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) is one junior miner intimately involved in the process. The company has been working to explore and develop Junin, a world-class copper porphyry deposit, as well as Chaucha, a second similar deposit the Andes’ western flank in northern Ecuador.
Ascendant is sitting on Junin, a world-class copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect, as well as two others, the Chaucha and Telimbela prospects. “We are sitting on the second if not the largest copper/molybdenum property in the world,” commented John Haigh, Ascendant’s Investor Relations manager. “Our Junín property consists of 23,475 acres of property containing billions of pounds of economic resource; in fact we are looking at a potential in excess of a billion pounds of molybdenum and in excess of 20 billion pounds of copper.”
While management remains optimistic in the longer-term, recent elections and upcoming debates and controversy associated with drafting a new constitution, as well as new mining laws and regulations, is prompting management to shift their focus elsewhere in the shorter term.
Mining & the Environment
Mining is inherently damaging to the environment yet practically every society in the world today could not function or support itself, nor would they have grown or developed to the extent they have were it not for a steady supply of key metals and minerals. Copper is one.
In keeping with the times and technology, Ascendant has made substantial efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship. These are encapsulated in the U.N. Global Compact, a program and internationally recognized set of standards regarding human and labor rights, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption to which Ascendant ascribes and has been formally accepted.
More specifically with regard to Junin and its other prospects in Ecuador, Ascendant has during the past two years established social and environmental programs within nearby Junin communities.
These include providing much needed medical and dental facilities and personnel, working to improve the educational system-- including teacher training and scholarships-- providing training on farming techniques, vaccinating cattle, supporting soccer camps, providing trash collection and disposal, maintaining and building roads, and developing nurseries with more than 40,000 plants to support reforestation of areas deforested by slash-and-burn agricultural methods, according to company information.
Moreover, it should be noted that all the above is in addition to potentially substantial government revenues and foreign exchange earnings the Ecuadorian government stands to garner should Ascendant’s development plans move forward.
An Easy Target for Protestors
The area around the Junin property has been a hotbed of legal and illegal protest. Ascendant’s demonstration farm in the Intag area was illegally seized and the company has been unable to conduct independent drilling to confirm and expand on historical exploration and assay results.
That looked set to change after March 20 when the company concluded agreements with the government and Decoin aimed at restoring law and order to the region, reducing tensions and respecting the rights of all parties.
One of the conditions was the return of the Intag demonstration farm, which had been seized the previous week. Based on Decoin’s demands, Ascendant also reluctantly agreed to reduce its work force substantially, from 159 to 48 people—most of whom were involved in community development efforts—as well as its current activities, which include the provision of medical and dental services in the area.
Ironically and somewhat quizzically, the ecological group was able to push through the shutdown of social services, claiming that such activities influenced the local community to look favorably on the Junin project and Ascendant.
The Ecuadorian government as part of the March agreement stated that it would organize a commission of community leaders, government officials and representatives for Ascendant to ensure the compliance of all parties.
A group of government officials visiting the Junin property and area in early August found that Ascendant was operating a medical center and a school bus for Intag's children. They asked the company to stop these social programs and Ascendant was compelled to agree based on the three-party agreement signed earlier in the year.
“We did it regardless of the fact the country has no legal authority to control our social programs. The opposition was annoyed because our projects increase the community’s support for mining,” Francisco Veintimilla, the company’s Ecuador general manager, stated in a media release.
The Government, Ascendant and Mining Going Forward
Mining experts from Canada, Chile, Peru and Spain were among some 350-plus participants on hand in Quito Sept. 18 when Ecuador’s recently appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Galo Chiriboga, led a forum that brought together government, mining and community representatives to present and debate the central issues regarding the future of mining in the country.
Chiriboga stated his support for environmentally and socially responsible large-scale mining in a recent interview. He also announced that the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum would be restructured so that it could devise and enact improved national mining policies in both the short and long-term that would involve drawing input from all stakeholders.
Representatives from Cornerstone Capital Resources, another Canadian junior mining company with projects in Ecuador, were “favorably impressed and encouraged by this and other very positive signals,” the company’s manager of corporate communications, Roseanne Williams, wrote in a recent update.
All parties stand to gain if the Correa government can successfully negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement regarding Ascendant’s Junin property. Doing so might also be a significant step forward for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum’s efforts to forge an equitable and practical set of mining policies and regulations going forward. If and when this scenario pans out, expect Ascendant’s shares to make a strong surge to the upside.
Ascendant’s management “estimates that a lasting, mutually agreeable arrangement with the Ecuadorian government can be reached in 30 months,” Investor Relations manager John Haigh told Resourcex. “We believe that it will be at least one more year before the Ecuadorian mining law will be rewritten and will include a royalty to the government of at least 3%, that they currently don't have. That's fine with us.”
In the interim, Ascendant has launched efforts to acquire three near-term copper producing properties in the western US. Negotiations are well under way for two of the three, with an announcement expected on the third in about three months, according to Haigh.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Ascendant Copper Holding Steady on Ecuadorian Nest Egg: Part 2
By Andrew K. Burger
October 19, 2007
Mining companies with stakes in Ecuador have been urgently meeting with government officials in an effort to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship, environmental and social responsibility to preserve their interests in the face of a new constitution and mining legislation to be drafted by 136 newly elected members of a National Constituent Assembly. What transpires will shape the face of mining, foreign investment and development in Ecuador, and very possibly elsewhere in South America, for years to come.
Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) is one junior miner intimately involved in the process. The company has been working to explore and develop Junin, a world-class copper porphyry deposit, as well as Chaucha, a second similar deposit the Andes’ western flank in northern Ecuador.
Ascendant is sitting on Junin, a world-class copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect, as well as two others, the Chaucha and Telimbela prospects. “We are sitting on the second if not the largest copper/molybdenum property in the world,” commented John Haigh, Ascendant’s Investor Relations manager. “Our Junín property consists of 23,475 acres of property containing billions of pounds of economic resource; in fact we are looking at a potential in excess of a billion pounds of molybdenum and in excess of 20 billion pounds of copper.”
While management remains optimistic in the longer-term, recent elections and upcoming debates and controversy associated with drafting a new constitution, as well as new mining laws and regulations, is prompting management to shift their focus elsewhere in the shorter term.
Mining & the Environment
Mining is inherently damaging to the environment yet practically every society in the world today could not function or support itself, nor would they have grown or developed to the extent they have were it not for a steady supply of key metals and minerals. Copper is one.
In keeping with the times and technology, Ascendant has made substantial efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship. These are encapsulated in the U.N. Global Compact, a program and internationally recognized set of standards regarding human and labor rights, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption to which Ascendant ascribes and has been formally accepted.
More specifically with regard to Junin and its other prospects in Ecuador, Ascendant has during the past two years established social and environmental programs within nearby Junin communities.
These include providing much needed medical and dental facilities and personnel, working to improve the educational system-- including teacher training and scholarships-- providing training on farming techniques, vaccinating cattle, supporting soccer camps, providing trash collection and disposal, maintaining and building roads, and developing nurseries with more than 40,000 plants to support reforestation of areas deforested by slash-and-burn agricultural methods, according to company information.
Moreover, it should be noted that all the above is in addition to potentially substantial government revenues and foreign exchange earnings the Ecuadorian government stands to garner should Ascendant’s development plans move forward.
An Easy Target for Protestors
The area around the Junin property has been a hotbed of legal and illegal protest. Ascendant’s demonstration farm in the Intag area was illegally seized and the company has been unable to conduct independent drilling to confirm and expand on historical exploration and assay results.
That looked set to change after March 20 when the company concluded agreements with the government and Decoin aimed at restoring law and order to the region, reducing tensions and respecting the rights of all parties.
One of the conditions was the return of the Intag demonstration farm, which had been seized the previous week. Based on Decoin’s demands, Ascendant also reluctantly agreed to reduce its work force substantially, from 159 to 48 people—most of whom were involved in community development efforts—as well as its current activities, which include the provision of medical and dental services in the area.
Ironically and somewhat quizzically, the ecological group was able to push through the shutdown of social services, claiming that such activities influenced the local community to look favorably on the Junin project and Ascendant.
The Ecuadorian government as part of the March agreement stated that it would organize a commission of community leaders, government officials and representatives for Ascendant to ensure the compliance of all parties.
A group of government officials visiting the Junin property and area in early August found that Ascendant was operating a medical center and a school bus for Intag's children. They asked the company to stop these social programs and Ascendant was compelled to agree based on the three-party agreement signed earlier in the year.
“We did it regardless of the fact the country has no legal authority to control our social programs. The opposition was annoyed because our projects increase the community’s support for mining,” Francisco Veintimilla, the company’s Ecuador general manager, stated in a media release.
The Government, Ascendant and Mining Going Forward
Mining experts from Canada, Chile, Peru and Spain were among some 350-plus participants on hand in Quito Sept. 18 when Ecuador’s recently appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Galo Chiriboga, led a forum that brought together government, mining and community representatives to present and debate the central issues regarding the future of mining in the country.
Chiriboga stated his support for environmentally and socially responsible large-scale mining in a recent interview. He also announced that the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum would be restructured so that it could devise and enact improved national mining policies in both the short and long-term that would involve drawing input from all stakeholders.
Representatives from Cornerstone Capital Resources, another Canadian junior mining company with projects in Ecuador, were “favorably impressed and encouraged by this and other very positive signals,” the company’s manager of corporate communications, Roseanne Williams, wrote in a recent update.
All parties stand to gain if the Correa government can successfully negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement regarding Ascendant’s Junin property. Doing so might also be a significant step forward for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum’s efforts to forge an equitable and practical set of mining policies and regulations going forward. If and when this scenario pans out, expect Ascendant’s shares to make a strong surge to the upside.
Ascendant’s management “estimates that a lasting, mutually agreeable arrangement with the Ecuadorian government can be reached in 30 months,” Investor Relations manager John Haigh told Resourcex. “We believe that it will be at least one more year before the Ecuadorian mining law will be rewritten and will include a royalty to the government of at least 3%, that they currently don't have. That's fine with us.”
In the interim, Ascendant has launched efforts to acquire three near-term copper producing properties in the western US. Negotiations are well under way for two of the three, with an announcement expected on the third in about three months, according to Haigh.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Ascendant Copper Holding Steady on Ecuadorian Nest Egg: Part 2
By Andrew K. Burger
October 19, 2007
Mining companies with stakes in Ecuador have been urgently meeting with government officials in an effort to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship, environmental and social responsibility to preserve their interests in the face of a new constitution and mining legislation to be drafted by 136 newly elected members of a National Constituent Assembly. What transpires will shape the face of mining, foreign investment and development in Ecuador, and very possibly elsewhere in South America, for years to come.
Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) is one junior miner intimately involved in the process. The company has been working to explore and develop Junin, a world-class copper porphyry deposit, as well as Chaucha, a second similar deposit the Andes’ western flank in northern Ecuador.
Ascendant is sitting on Junin, a world-class copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect, as well as two others, the Chaucha and Telimbela prospects. “We are sitting on the second if not the largest copper/molybdenum property in the world,” commented John Haigh, Ascendant’s Investor Relations manager. “Our Junín property consists of 23,475 acres of property containing billions of pounds of economic resource; in fact we are looking at a potential in excess of a billion pounds of molybdenum and in excess of 20 billion pounds of copper.”
While management remains optimistic in the longer-term, recent elections and upcoming debates and controversy associated with drafting a new constitution, as well as new mining laws and regulations, is prompting management to shift their focus elsewhere in the shorter term.
Mining & the Environment
Mining is inherently damaging to the environment yet practically every society in the world today could not function or support itself, nor would they have grown or developed to the extent they have were it not for a steady supply of key metals and minerals. Copper is one.
In keeping with the times and technology, Ascendant has made substantial efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship. These are encapsulated in the U.N. Global Compact, a program and internationally recognized set of standards regarding human and labor rights, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption to which Ascendant ascribes and has been formally accepted.
More specifically with regard to Junin and its other prospects in Ecuador, Ascendant has during the past two years established social and environmental programs within nearby Junin communities.
These include providing much needed medical and dental facilities and personnel, working to improve the educational system-- including teacher training and scholarships-- providing training on farming techniques, vaccinating cattle, supporting soccer camps, providing trash collection and disposal, maintaining and building roads, and developing nurseries with more than 40,000 plants to support reforestation of areas deforested by slash-and-burn agricultural methods, according to company information.
Moreover, it should be noted that all the above is in addition to potentially substantial government revenues and foreign exchange earnings the Ecuadorian government stands to garner should Ascendant’s development plans move forward.
An Easy Target for Protestors
The area around the Junin property has been a hotbed of legal and illegal protest. Ascendant’s demonstration farm in the Intag area was illegally seized and the company has been unable to conduct independent drilling to confirm and expand on historical exploration and assay results.
That looked set to change after March 20 when the company concluded agreements with the government and Decoin aimed at restoring law and order to the region, reducing tensions and respecting the rights of all parties.
One of the conditions was the return of the Intag demonstration farm, which had been seized the previous week. Based on Decoin’s demands, Ascendant also reluctantly agreed to reduce its work force substantially, from 159 to 48 people—most of whom were involved in community development efforts—as well as its current activities, which include the provision of medical and dental services in the area.
Ironically and somewhat quizzically, the ecological group was able to push through the shutdown of social services, claiming that such activities influenced the local community to look favorably on the Junin project and Ascendant.
The Ecuadorian government as part of the March agreement stated that it would organize a commission of community leaders, government officials and representatives for Ascendant to ensure the compliance of all parties.
A group of government officials visiting the Junin property and area in early August found that Ascendant was operating a medical center and a school bus for Intag's children. They asked the company to stop these social programs and Ascendant was compelled to agree based on the three-party agreement signed earlier in the year.
“We did it regardless of the fact the country has no legal authority to control our social programs. The opposition was annoyed because our projects increase the community’s support for mining,” Francisco Veintimilla, the company’s Ecuador general manager, stated in a media release.
The Government, Ascendant and Mining Going Forward
Mining experts from Canada, Chile, Peru and Spain were among some 350-plus participants on hand in Quito Sept. 18 when Ecuador’s recently appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Galo Chiriboga, led a forum that brought together government, mining and community representatives to present and debate the central issues regarding the future of mining in the country.
Chiriboga stated his support for environmentally and socially responsible large-scale mining in a recent interview. He also announced that the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum would be restructured so that it could devise and enact improved national mining policies in both the short and long-term that would involve drawing input from all stakeholders.
Representatives from Cornerstone Capital Resources, another Canadian junior mining company with projects in Ecuador, were “favorably impressed and encouraged by this and other very positive signals,” the company’s manager of corporate communications, Roseanne Williams, wrote in a recent update.
All parties stand to gain if the Correa government can successfully negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement regarding Ascendant’s Junin property. Doing so might also be a significant step forward for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum’s efforts to forge an equitable and practical set of mining policies and regulations going forward. If and when this scenario pans out, expect Ascendant’s shares to make a strong surge to the upside.
Ascendant’s management “estimates that a lasting, mutually agreeable arrangement with the Ecuadorian government can be reached in 30 months,” Investor Relations manager John Haigh told Resourcex. “We believe that it will be at least one more year before the Ecuadorian mining law will be rewritten and will include a royalty to the government of at least 3%, that they currently don't have. That's fine with us.”
In the interim, Ascendant has launched efforts to acquire three near-term copper producing properties in the western US. Negotiations are well under way for two of the three, with an announcement expected on the third in about three months, according to Haigh.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
Gas Discovery in Alberta Drives Montello toward 12-Month High
By Myles Kirk
October 15, 2007
With oil prices over $80 per barrel, storm activity in the Gulf of Mexico and a cold winter predicted ahead elsewhere, not to mention worldwide demand for crude oil poised to rise again during the fourth quarter of 2007, now is a great time to be an oil and gas junior. One company taking full advantage of the sector’s upswing with successes of their own is Montello Resources (TSX-V: MEO). This emerging oil and gas company is engaged in drilling and exploration activities on their properties in Canada and the United States – with potential for blue sky payloads in both zones, particularly in Tennessee. Recent successes have garnered Montello a little increased investor attention in the past few weeks, with positive re-completion in Alberta and drilling approaching depth in Tennessee.
The company has a broad investor base, with approximately 150 million shares outstanding, and with new investors piling on, current trading volume is well up over one million shares a day. This increased volume is not surprising, considering that share prices in Montello have gained over 25% in the last month, not to mention the fact that Montello has now surpassed its 12-month high. Last Friday, more than 19 million shares MEO shares changed hands. On that day, the company was the leading volume trader on the TSX Venture exchange. On Monday, Montello was still trading exceptionally high at over 10 million shares.
Some of this success can be attributed to Montello recently announcing (October 4th 2007) positive re-completion results for its jointly owned Pincher Creek project – Montello owns a 25% interest with Paramount Resources holding 25%, a private company owning 12.5%, and the remaining 37.5% being retained by the operator, Pennine Petroleum Corp (TSX-V:PNN). The project, which covers over 4,800 acres, is located approximately 175 kilometres south of Calgary, in the prolific Pincher Creek Field. Since 1947, the field has produced approximately one million bbls of oil and 600 BCF (billion cubic feet) of gas, with estimates of over 220 BCF of gas still remaining to be produced. The region itself, which includes such fields as: Lookout Butte, Turner Valley, and Jumping Pound, have produced more than one trillion cubic feet gas and over 100 million bbls of associated liquids.
Montello’s JV partner Pennine recently completed (September 27th 2007) two 60-tonne fracture simulations on the Brown Sand and Cadomin/Kootenay section of the Pincher Creek project, with results uncovering two condensate zones. Both tested between 40 and 46 degrees, plus associated gas, with initial extended flow test results of over 330 boepd where none were pumping before.
The Brown Sand zone yielded an average production of 140 barrels of fluid a day with an initial water cut of 60% for a net 56 boepd and is expected to increase as frac fluid further drains. Montello is planning further exploration in the Brown Sand zone to assess feasibility.
Preliminary swab and flow results for the Cadomin/ Kootenay formation were more promising, having returned an average of 225 barrels of fluid a day with no water cut, and as much as 500 mcf of gas per day which can potentially translate to an additional equivalent of over 70 boepd.
Pennine has announced that they intend to install pumping equipment and the required production facilities to test the Cadomin/ Kootenay zone, and following positive results, may submit a Commingling Application to the Alberta Energy Utility Board, in order to take full advantage of the well. An existing pipe line is accessible to transport the gas, with plans for liquids to be taken out by truck to a processing facility. Pennine plans to announce the stabilized liquid and gas production rates following stabilized production.
With the success of recent drilling activities in Alberta, Montello and Pennine plan to follow sand development across the Pincher Creek structure and access hydrocarbon-baring sand via existing well-bores.
Montello is also involved in exploration and drilling activities (with JV partners Great Northern Oil Sands Inc. and Austin Developments Corp.) on its Morgan Highpoint project, located in the Tennessee Appalachians. The project is situated in a precarious but prolific region, near the spot where in 2002 Pryor Oil suffered a massive blow-out on its Howard-White #1 well when its drill penetrated an area containing highly pressurized oil. Incredibly, hydrocarbon fluids spewed up and out of the ground at a rate of 12,000 bbls a day and caught fire. The government stepped in and halted work on the project – permanently.
On its neighbouring property, Montello is using advanced techniques to literally “dig deep”, in an attempt to find the source of the Pryor Oil blow out or similar pockets. Montello recently announced that drilling at its John Bowen # 2 well had passed 7,780 feet in the Rogersville Formation and entered the Rome formation at 7,850. The location of the monster payload that caused the blow-out at the nearby Howard-White #1 remains illusive, but a possibility as the company continues toward basement, which is a first for the area – and is believed to be between 8,500 and 9,500 feet deep.
Resourcex Investor asked Marc Davis, a director for Montello, if he was happy with the rate of progress for the Tennessee project, and why no one else had ever tried or been able to drill this deep in this area before.
“It has been tough going, you know. This is a difficult environment to work; the rock is very dense. At the same time, we’ve seen very encouraging results and believe ourselves to be a few days away from hitting basement.”
Davis continued, “As for how we have been able to drill deeper than anyone before in this part of Tennessee, it has everything to do with money. Other companies in Tennessee simply have not had the opportunity to go that deep. But we think we could be close to a sizable pay off here.”
The cost of the well, initially estimated at $3 million US, (Montello paid 10% of this) has escalated to US $5 million, to date. Early in October, the company announced, “A Supplementary Authorization For Expenditure ("AFE") of USD $1.7 million has been issued to the partners based on their earned interests in the Test Well being Montello as to 55%, Austin as to 40% and Great Northern as to 5%. All partners have paid their proportionate share of the cash call associated with the Supplementary AFE.”
When asked which property he thinks is most important to Montello at the moment, Davis replied, “Tennessee as it has the greatest potential, but Pincher Creek [in Alberta] is money in the bag.”
With the recent activity at both their Tennessee and Alberta projects, Montello seems to be garnering more investor interest than ever before. On October 12, volume trading surged past 13 million shares, pushing the stock price past $0.20 for the first time in 12 months. And the volume has continued to be very heavy. Whether this activity is due to speculation of success in Tennessee or Alberta (or both) is hard to say. But the excitement in MEO’s stock charts is palpable.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.