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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.
ValGold’s Targets of Convenience Pay Off, Drilling Ongoing at Mochila
By Doug Hadfield
October 15, 2007
When ValGold’s team of more than thirty exploration experts first hit the field in northern Venezuela a year ago, the company planned to prove up a reasonable sized resource just north of Crystallex’s Tomi Mine. Assay results from 2007, coupled with historical drill results from previous property owners, now suggest that ValGold has completed the first big step in achieving that goal.
The geology of this area is an ideal host for large gold deposits, as was evidenced by the property’s two former operators, including Gold Fields, who were the first to use systemic drilling at ValGold’s Increible 3 concession. This summer, ValGold repeated the former owners’ success, with drill results reported from the company’s “targets of convenience” just last week.
In a conversation with VP of Exploration Tom Pollock and Investor Relations Officer Jeff Stuart, the two explained the significance of expanding the known limits of Los Patos. They showed me several maps detailing the geological and geochemical aspects of what they suspect may be an initial resource in the order of 200,000 ounces of gold.
“Notice that Los Patos is on the Los Chivos shear zone in Increible 3,” Stuart pointed out that these formations are just north of Crystallex’s Tomi Mine, which ships its ore to its nearby 1,350 tonne per day mill, too. The drill holes completed by ValGold this summer are in an orderly, grid-like pattern. Distributed in a heavy line across one map, red patches indicate anomalous areas of soil geochemistry high in gold content (between 400 and 800 ppb).
“Next, look along the shear zone to the west. You’ll notice that Gold Fields only poked a few holes here and there, very short holes too, right in the center of the strongest surface geochem, no matter what the underlying geology suggested. They were just drilling a hole or two and hoping to get lucky.”
The failure of Gold Fields to find a viable resource at Los Patos is a classic gold exploration tale of late 1990’s: The price of gold plunged and the value of foresight – the project had some excellent grades – was not enough to forestall termination. It was too pricey a venture to continue. However, Gold Fields did establish much in the way of useful geological footprint of the area.
The Los Patos gold occurrence was ValGold’s first target this summer. When measured against the potential of the company’s other targets in Venezuela and Guyana, the Los Patos gold occurrence was considered an appealing target, but also one of convenience. The company chose Los Patos to start its South American drill programs because of excellent mineral potential, but also open terrain, easy access, and close proximity to a number of operating mines and mills. With drills, personnel, and infrastructure in place, Los Patos was an ideal warm-up for ValGold’s aggressive exploration program in the Guyana Shield.
The results didn’t really show a lot we didn’t already know,” Stuart said. “They did give [the stock] some volume, and the knowledge that we have a deposit that hasn’t reached its limit.”
Stuart says that most of the check assays are pending on ValGold’s Los Patos drill program, and that the company is so far pleased with the results. “A lot of people never find an economic deposit. Since it’s our first drill program here we’re really happy. The next step will be to announce an indicated resource. In the meantime, we’ve just begun drilling on one of many occurrences at the Mochilla Lineament, which is our primary target in Venezuela. Our business plan is on track and we have many loyal investors who love our story, so things are looking great.”
“Let me put it this way,” Stuart said. “We had two brokers with many years of mining investment experience in our offices this morning wanting to finance us. They looked deep into our data set and stopped us halfway through our pitch to say they wanted the next financing in its entirety. So, yes, we’re really happy.”
Los Patos is located within the Lo Increible 3 concession approximately 20 km northeast of the town of El Callao and 4.5 km northeast of Crystallex's Tomi gold mine, which in 2006 produced 41,638 ounces at a cost of $175 per ounce. It is one of several gold occurrences found along the east-west striking, 6.8 km long, Los Chivos Shear Zone, all of which is 100% owned by ValGold.
Previous drilling by Gold Fields at Los Patos penetrated a 160 metre-long mineralized zone which varies from 8m to 27m in width and which has a weighted average grade of 1.03 g/T Au.. The 19 trenches excavated in this area, each 40 metres apart, returned grades of 52 metres at 1.81 g/t Au and 32 metres at 1.16 g/t Au, for example. From 1994 to 1999, 151 diamond drills holes totaling 15,431 metres were used to test and further define targets.
The new round of diamond drill holes completed last July consisted of 35 holes for a total accumulated length of core of 9,318 meters. Twenty-eight of the boreholes targeted the main Los Patos gold zones; the remaining seven tested three satellite zones within the concession. These holes outlined up to five parallel zones of mineralization which when averaged with the intervening lower grade material gave zones up to 58.0 metres wide assaying 1.27 g/t gold, almost 100% true width. Assays included 4.75 g/t gold over 17.0 metres and 3.98 g/t gold over 36.0 metres in holes LI307-07 and LI307-11. The gold zone here remains open in all directions.
To the south of the La Increible concessions is the Mochila Layered Complex, which has the potential to host a much larger ore body. These properties are in an isolated tropical jungle area about 30 km west of the major Grand Sabana Highway that connects the towns around southeast Venezuela with Brazil. Access is best served by using either helicopter or river boats.
Tom Pollock, who is ValGold’s VP of Exploration, told me that the Mochila exploration program is going to be much more exciting than the potential economic resource the company is hoping to define at Los Patos.
“This is a big structure, with many gold occurrences that we know of – they’re almost everywhere,” he said. “Nearby is Las Cristinas, with proven and probable reserves of 17 million ounces of gold, measured and indicated of 21 million ounces of gold… it’s huge. The geology is right here.”
Pollock and Stuart agreed that little exploration work has been done in the area, which explains the dearth of existing data for Mochila. “The Chicanán concessions cover some 750 square kilometers, with gold occurrences discovered on each concession. There hasn’t been a large one found yet because it hasn’t seen the exploration – all the indicators are there, it just needs the work.”
Stuart added, “The reason no gold has been found is simple: Only 200 m have been drilled so far.”
ValGold’s drill program on Mochila started in mid-September. The company plans an initial minimum 5,000-metre drill program consisting of approximately 15 to 20 holes. Drilling will focus along the upper contact of the middle gabbro unit and along the Mochila Lineament particularly where there are gold soil anomalies and/or artisinal workings. The total length of these two linear features is in excess of 7,000 metres. The company expects the first phase of drilling to take approximately two months to complete with assays in hand by the end of the year.
“It’s a very large area with many number of strong gold soil anomalies that have never seen drilling,” Stuart noted.
Strong targets and an excellent exploration team may mean early success, but ValGold’s Mochilla program is about depth: It is best for investors to look at the Mochilla Lineament as having multiple strong targets that may take a few years to explore, drill, and define.
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’s Targets of Convenience Pay Off, Drilling Ongoing at Mochila
By Doug Hadfield
October 15, 2007
When ValGold’s team of more than thirty exploration experts first hit the field in northern Venezuela a year ago, the company planned to prove up a reasonable sized resource just north of Crystallex’s Tomi Mine. Assay results from 2007, coupled with historical drill results from previous property owners, now suggest that ValGold has completed the first big step in achieving that goal.
The geology of this area is an ideal host for large gold deposits, as was evidenced by the property’s two former operators, including Gold Fields, who were the first to use systemic drilling at ValGold’s Increible 3 concession. This summer, ValGold repeated the former owners’ success, with drill results reported from the company’s “targets of convenience” just last week.
In a conversation with VP of Exploration Tom Pollock and Investor Relations Officer Jeff Stuart, the two explained the significance of expanding the known limits of Los Patos. They showed me several maps detailing the geological and geochemical aspects of what they suspect may be an initial resource in the order of 200,000 ounces of gold.
“Notice that Los Patos is on the Los Chivos shear zone in Increible 3,” Stuart pointed out that these formations are just north of Crystallex’s Tomi Mine, which ships its ore to its nearby 1,350 tonne per day mill, too. The drill holes completed by ValGold this summer are in an orderly, grid-like pattern. Distributed in a heavy line across one map, red patches indicate anomalous areas of soil geochemistry high in gold content (between 400 and 800 ppb).
“Next, look along the shear zone to the west. You’ll notice that Gold Fields only poked a few holes here and there, very short holes too, right in the center of the strongest surface geochem, no matter what the underlying geology suggested. They were just drilling a hole or two and hoping to get lucky.”
The failure of Gold Fields to find a viable resource at Los Patos is a classic gold exploration tale of late 1990’s: The price of gold plunged and the value of foresight – the project had some excellent grades – was not enough to forestall termination. It was too pricey a venture to continue. However, Gold Fields did establish much in the way of useful geological footprint of the area.
The Los Patos gold occurrence was ValGold’s first target this summer. When measured against the potential of the company’s other targets in Venezuela and Guyana, the Los Patos gold occurrence was considered an appealing target, but also one of convenience. The company chose Los Patos to start its South American drill programs because of excellent mineral potential, but also open terrain, easy access, and close proximity to a number of operating mines and mills. With drills, personnel, and infrastructure in place, Los Patos was an ideal warm-up for ValGold’s aggressive exploration program in the Guyana Shield.
The results didn’t really show a lot we didn’t already know,” Stuart said. “They did give [the stock] some volume, and the knowledge that we have a deposit that hasn’t reached its limit.”
Stuart says that most of the check assays are pending on ValGold’s Los Patos drill program, and that the company is so far pleased with the results. “A lot of people never find an economic deposit. Since it’s our first drill program here we’re really happy. The next step will be to announce an indicated resource. In the meantime, we’ve just begun drilling on one of many occurrences at the Mochilla Lineament, which is our primary target in Venezuela. Our business plan is on track and we have many loyal investors who love our story, so things are looking great.”
“Let me put it this way,” Stuart said. “We had two brokers with many years of mining investment experience in our offices this morning wanting to finance us. They looked deep into our data set and stopped us halfway through our pitch to say they wanted the next financing in its entirety. So, yes, we’re really happy.”
Los Patos is located within the Lo Increible 3 concession approximately 20 km northeast of the town of El Callao and 4.5 km northeast of Crystallex's Tomi gold mine, which in 2006 produced 41,638 ounces at a cost of $175 per ounce. It is one of several gold occurrences found along the east-west striking, 6.8 km long, Los Chivos Shear Zone, all of which is 100% owned by ValGold.
Previous drilling by Gold Fields at Los Patos penetrated a 160 metre-long mineralized zone which varies from 8m to 27m in width and which has a weighted average grade of 1.03 g/T Au.. The 19 trenches excavated in this area, each 40 metres apart, returned grades of 52 metres at 1.81 g/t Au and 32 metres at 1.16 g/t Au, for example. From 1994 to 1999, 151 diamond drills holes totaling 15,431 metres were used to test and further define targets.
The new round of diamond drill holes completed last July consisted of 35 holes for a total accumulated length of core of 9,318 meters. Twenty-eight of the boreholes targeted the main Los Patos gold zones; the remaining seven tested three satellite zones within the concession. These holes outlined up to five parallel zones of mineralization which when averaged with the intervening lower grade material gave zones up to 58.0 metres wide assaying 1.27 g/t gold, almost 100% true width. Assays included 4.75 g/t gold over 17.0 metres and 3.98 g/t gold over 36.0 metres in holes LI307-07 and LI307-11. The gold zone here remains open in all directions.
To the south of the La Increible concessions is the Mochila Layered Complex, which has the potential to host a much larger ore body. These properties are in an isolated tropical jungle area about 30 km west of the major Grand Sabana Highway that connects the towns around southeast Venezuela with Brazil. Access is best served by using either helicopter or river boats.
Tom Pollock, who is ValGold’s VP of Exploration, told me that the Mochila exploration program is going to be much more exciting than the potential economic resource the company is hoping to define at Los Patos.
“This is a big structure, with many gold occurrences that we know of – they’re almost everywhere,” he said. “Nearby is Las Cristinas, with proven and probable reserves of 17 million ounces of gold, measured and indicated of 21 million ounces of gold… it’s huge. The geology is right here.”
Pollock and Stuart agreed that little exploration work has been done in the area, which explains the dearth of existing data for Mochila. “The Chicanán concessions cover some 750 square kilometers, with gold occurrences discovered on each concession. There hasn’t been a large one found yet because it hasn’t seen the exploration – all the indicators are there, it just needs the work.”
Stuart added, “The reason no gold has been found is simple: Only 200 m have been drilled so far.”
ValGold’s drill program on Mochila started in mid-September. The company plans an initial minimum 5,000-metre drill program consisting of approximately 15 to 20 holes. Drilling will focus along the upper contact of the middle gabbro unit and along the Mochila Lineament particularly where there are gold soil anomalies and/or artisinal workings. The total length of these two linear features is in excess of 7,000 metres. The company expects the first phase of drilling to take approximately two months to complete with assays in hand by the end of the year.
“It’s a very large area with many number of strong gold soil anomalies that have never seen drilling,” Stuart noted.
Strong targets and an excellent exploration team may mean early success, but ValGold’s Mochilla program is about depth: It is best for investors to look at the Mochilla Lineament as having multiple strong targets that may take a few years to explore, drill, and define.
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’s Targets of Convenience Pay Off, Drilling Ongoing at Mochila
By Doug Hadfield
October 15, 2007
When ValGold’s team of more than thirty exploration experts first hit the field in northern Venezuela a year ago, the company planned to prove up a reasonable sized resource just north of Crystallex’s Tomi Mine. Assay results from 2007, coupled with historical drill results from previous property owners, now suggest that ValGold has completed the first big step in achieving that goal.
The geology of this area is an ideal host for large gold deposits, as was evidenced by the property’s two former operators, including Gold Fields, who were the first to use systemic drilling at ValGold’s Increible 3 concession. This summer, ValGold repeated the former owners’ success, with drill results reported from the company’s “targets of convenience” just last week.
In a conversation with VP of Exploration Tom Pollock and Investor Relations Officer Jeff Stuart, the two explained the significance of expanding the known limits of Los Patos. They showed me several maps detailing the geological and geochemical aspects of what they suspect may be an initial resource in the order of 200,000 ounces of gold.
“Notice that Los Patos is on the Los Chivos shear zone in Increible 3,” Stuart pointed out that these formations are just north of Crystallex’s Tomi Mine, which ships its ore to its nearby 1,350 tonne per day mill, too. The drill holes completed by ValGold this summer are in an orderly, grid-like pattern. Distributed in a heavy line across one map, red patches indicate anomalous areas of soil geochemistry high in gold content (between 400 and 800 ppb).
“Next, look along the shear zone to the west. You’ll notice that Gold Fields only poked a few holes here and there, very short holes too, right in the center of the strongest surface geochem, no matter what the underlying geology suggested. They were just drilling a hole or two and hoping to get lucky.”
The failure of Gold Fields to find a viable resource at Los Patos is a classic gold exploration tale of late 1990’s: The price of gold plunged and the value of foresight – the project had some excellent grades – was not enough to forestall termination. It was too pricey a venture to continue. However, Gold Fields did establish much in the way of useful geological footprint of the area.
The Los Patos gold occurrence was ValGold’s first target this summer. When measured against the potential of the company’s other targets in Venezuela and Guyana, the Los Patos gold occurrence was considered an appealing target, but also one of convenience. The company chose Los Patos to start its South American drill programs because of excellent mineral potential, but also open terrain, easy access, and close proximity to a number of operating mines and mills. With drills, personnel, and infrastructure in place, Los Patos was an ideal warm-up for ValGold’s aggressive exploration program in the Guyana Shield.
The results didn’t really show a lot we didn’t already know,” Stuart said. “They did give [the stock] some volume, and the knowledge that we have a deposit that hasn’t reached its limit.”
Stuart says that most of the check assays are pending on ValGold’s Los Patos drill program, and that the company is so far pleased with the results. “A lot of people never find an economic deposit. Since it’s our first drill program here we’re really happy. The next step will be to announce an indicated resource. In the meantime, we’ve just begun drilling on one of many occurrences at the Mochilla Lineament, which is our primary target in Venezuela. Our business plan is on track and we have many loyal investors who love our story, so things are looking great.”
“Let me put it this way,” Stuart said. “We had two brokers with many years of mining investment experience in our offices this morning wanting to finance us. They looked deep into our data set and stopped us halfway through our pitch to say they wanted the next financing in its entirety. So, yes, we’re really happy.”
Los Patos is located within the Lo Increible 3 concession approximately 20 km northeast of the town of El Callao and 4.5 km northeast of Crystallex's Tomi gold mine, which in 2006 produced 41,638 ounces at a cost of $175 per ounce. It is one of several gold occurrences found along the east-west striking, 6.8 km long, Los Chivos Shear Zone, all of which is 100% owned by ValGold.
Previous drilling by Gold Fields at Los Patos penetrated a 160 metre-long mineralized zone which varies from 8m to 27m in width and which has a weighted average grade of 1.03 g/T Au.. The 19 trenches excavated in this area, each 40 metres apart, returned grades of 52 metres at 1.81 g/t Au and 32 metres at 1.16 g/t Au, for example. From 1994 to 1999, 151 diamond drills holes totaling 15,431 metres were used to test and further define targets.
The new round of diamond drill holes completed last July consisted of 35 holes for a total accumulated length of core of 9,318 meters. Twenty-eight of the boreholes targeted the main Los Patos gold zones; the remaining seven tested three satellite zones within the concession. These holes outlined up to five parallel zones of mineralization which when averaged with the intervening lower grade material gave zones up to 58.0 metres wide assaying 1.27 g/t gold, almost 100% true width. Assays included 4.75 g/t gold over 17.0 metres and 3.98 g/t gold over 36.0 metres in holes LI307-07 and LI307-11. The gold zone here remains open in all directions.
To the south of the La Increible concessions is the Mochila Layered Complex, which has the potential to host a much larger ore body. These properties are in an isolated tropical jungle area about 30 km west of the major Grand Sabana Highway that connects the towns around southeast Venezuela with Brazil. Access is best served by using either helicopter or river boats.
Tom Pollock, who is ValGold’s VP of Exploration, told me that the Mochila exploration program is going to be much more exciting than the potential economic resource the company is hoping to define at Los Patos.
“This is a big structure, with many gold occurrences that we know of – they’re almost everywhere,” he said. “Nearby is Las Cristinas, with proven and probable reserves of 17 million ounces of gold, measured and indicated of 21 million ounces of gold… it’s huge. The geology is right here.”
Pollock and Stuart agreed that little exploration work has been done in the area, which explains the dearth of existing data for Mochila. “The Chicanán concessions cover some 750 square kilometers, with gold occurrences discovered on each concession. There hasn’t been a large one found yet because it hasn’t seen the exploration – all the indicators are there, it just needs the work.”
Stuart added, “The reason no gold has been found is simple: Only 200 m have been drilled so far.”
ValGold’s drill program on Mochila started in mid-September. The company plans an initial minimum 5,000-metre drill program consisting of approximately 15 to 20 holes. Drilling will focus along the upper contact of the middle gabbro unit and along the Mochila Lineament particularly where there are gold soil anomalies and/or artisinal workings. The total length of these two linear features is in excess of 7,000 metres. The company expects the first phase of drilling to take approximately two months to complete with assays in hand by the end of the year.
“It’s a very large area with many number of strong gold soil anomalies that have never seen drilling,” Stuart noted.
Strong targets and an excellent exploration team may mean early success, but ValGold’s Mochilla program is about depth: It is best for investors to look at the Mochilla Lineament as having multiple strong targets that may take a few years to explore, drill, and define.
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 1
By Andrew K. Burger
October 10, 2007
The situation at Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) in Ecuador might serve as a snapshot of the enormous risks and rewards facing management at mining companies—and their investors—worldwide, but particularly in Ecuador and South America, where the volatile political landscape has shifted towards socialist-populist democratic inspired government action in recent years.
On the upside, 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 metal 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.”
On the downside, the Correa government on September 25 announced the formal suspension of Ascendant’s mining and community development activities in the Junin area in an effort to defuse tensions, an announcement Ascendant said was only a repetition of a previously announced order.
These tensions boiled over in December of last year on Ascendant’s agricultural property. Anti-mining activists confronted a third party contracted agricultural firm’s Intag workers and security guards resulting in almost 60 people being held captive by activists, and locked in the local community church for several days until order was restored by Ecuadorian police.
Ascendant in Ecuador
“ACX has magnificent assets in a country that has not had an operating metal mine for about 50 years. There are a few artisanal gold miners causing havoc with the environment with mercury that have the approval of the Government and that is the extent of metal mining in Ecuador,” Haigh told Resourcex.
Ascendant’s two main stakes in Ecuador are the Junin and Chaucha prospects, two NI 43-101 compliant copper-molybdenum properties. The Junin prospect has an inferred, NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate of 982 million tonnes. A drilling program is under way at the Chaucha property on the western flank of the Andes, the results of which are expected to up its combined resource estimate, according to Haigh.
Though preliminary indications of ore grade at the copper porphyry deposit at Chaucha are not as high as those at Junin, they are still high enough—above 0.4% copper excluding molybdenum, gold and silver credits—to warrant further exploration and development, particularly given the fact that the Pacific port of Belo lies just 40 kilometers away, he pointed out.
“The Junin deposit is supported by 10,000 meters of historical drilling and the Chaucha deposit is supported by 13,800 meters of historical drilling with about 10,000 meters of recent drilling by the company. We will have the current drilling sanctified by a NI43-101 report, and it looks like the resource package should increase to about 300 million tons,” Haigh elaborated.
“The Chaucha project would support a 30,000 to 40,000 tonne-per-day operation that would produce about 100 million pounds of copper per year at a cost of $1.40 per pound. At $3 copper, it could generate cash flow of about $160 million a year for 20 years.”
Given the company’s 70.8 million shares outstanding and excluding deductions for non-operating and non-cash flow expenses, liabilities and other deductions, this would translate into annual earnings per share of $2.26. Taking into account options and warrants, this would result in a rough annual EPS of $1.69 on a fully diluted basis.
Ascendant's management believe that world copper prices will remain high for the rest of this year and into next. “We think that reduced residential copper use in the States will be offset by increased copper use in hybrid gasoline-electric cars, which is double that of conventional cars and that China will continue to use all the copper they can get their hands on. We think that an average price of $3.18 per pound is achievable in 2008,” Haigh commented.
The Vagaries of a Shifting Political Landscape
Just how damaging the potential threat of socialist inspired, populist government intervention in mining projects is for mining companies and their investors is evident in the activity of Ascendant’s shares over recent months.
The company’s share price has been in steady decline since its November IPO, It has been trading downwards since July, when it was around C$0.40, only recently making slight gains to the C$0.20 per share level. Problems with environmental activists and with Ecuadorian politics have been the main causes.
“The problems that we have had and are having at Junin are the result of a massive campaign of ‘no mining in Ecuador’ conducted by a local NGO. This particular NGO has been operating since the mid-1990s and were violent objectors to Mitsubishi when they were drilling there from 1993 to 1997 on the same deposit.”
Despite all the promise Junin and Chaucha hold, and not just for Ascendant, further development at Junin will have to wait until the dust settles and Ecuador’s government establishes its new constitution and set of mining laws and regulations. In the meantime, larger mining companies such as Aurelian and Dynasty are moving forward on mine development in Ecuador; and work on Ascendant’s Chaucha and Telimbela projects continues. Furthermore, Ascendant is still moving forward with their Rio Tinto strategic partnership to develop additional properties.
In the meantime, Ascendant is shifting direction. Management began deploying a new business strategy about four months ago, the main thrust of which is an aggressive program to acquire near-term copper producing assets in North America, Haigh explained.
Ascendant is currently negotiating to acquire three copper assets in the western US. Announcements are expected in two to three months. “This should provide at least one cash flowing operation in 24 months and two in 36 months. The cash will be used to advance and protect the Ecuadorian assets,” Haigh commented.
NEXT WEEK: Visit Market News at www.resourcex.com for part two of Andrew Burger’s feature story on Ascendant Copper.
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 1
By Andrew K. Burger
October 10, 2007
The situation at Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) in Ecuador might serve as a snapshot of the enormous risks and rewards facing management at mining companies—and their investors—worldwide, but particularly in Ecuador and South America, where the volatile political landscape has shifted towards socialist-populist democratic inspired government action in recent years.
On the upside, 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 metal 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.”
On the downside, the Correa government on September 25 announced the formal suspension of Ascendant’s mining and community development activities in the Junin area in an effort to defuse tensions, an announcement Ascendant said was only a repetition of a previously announced order.
These tensions boiled over in December of last year on Ascendant’s agricultural property. Anti-mining activists confronted a third party contracted agricultural firm’s Intag workers and security guards resulting in almost 60 people being held captive by activists, and locked in the local community church for several days until order was restored by Ecuadorian police.
Ascendant in Ecuador
“ACX has magnificent assets in a country that has not had an operating metal mine for about 50 years. There are a few artisanal gold miners causing havoc with the environment with mercury that have the approval of the Government and that is the extent of metal mining in Ecuador,” Haigh told Resourcex.
Ascendant’s two main stakes in Ecuador are the Junin and Chaucha prospects, two NI 43-101 compliant copper-molybdenum properties. The Junin prospect has an inferred, NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate of 982 million tonnes. A drilling program is under way at the Chaucha property on the western flank of the Andes, the results of which are expected to up its combined resource estimate, according to Haigh.
Though preliminary indications of ore grade at the copper porphyry deposit at Chaucha are not as high as those at Junin, they are still high enough—above 0.4% copper excluding molybdenum, gold and silver credits—to warrant further exploration and development, particularly given the fact that the Pacific port of Belo lies just 40 kilometers away, he pointed out.
“The Junin deposit is supported by 10,000 meters of historical drilling and the Chaucha deposit is supported by 13,800 meters of historical drilling with about 10,000 meters of recent drilling by the company. We will have the current drilling sanctified by a NI43-101 report, and it looks like the resource package should increase to about 300 million tons,” Haigh elaborated.
“The Chaucha project would support a 30,000 to 40,000 tonne-per-day operation that would produce about 100 million pounds of copper per year at a cost of $1.40 per pound. At $3 copper, it could generate cash flow of about $160 million a year for 20 years.”
Given the company’s 70.8 million shares outstanding and excluding deductions for non-operating and non-cash flow expenses, liabilities and other deductions, this would translate into annual earnings per share of $2.26. Taking into account options and warrants, this would result in a rough annual EPS of $1.69 on a fully diluted basis.
Ascendant's management believe that world copper prices will remain high for the rest of this year and into next. “We think that reduced residential copper use in the States will be offset by increased copper use in hybrid gasoline-electric cars, which is double that of conventional cars and that China will continue to use all the copper they can get their hands on. We think that an average price of $3.18 per pound is achievable in 2008,” Haigh commented.
The Vagaries of a Shifting Political Landscape
Just how damaging the potential threat of socialist inspired, populist government intervention in mining projects is for mining companies and their investors is evident in the activity of Ascendant’s shares over recent months.
The company’s share price has been in steady decline since its November IPO, It has been trading downwards since July, when it was around C$0.40, only recently making slight gains to the C$0.20 per share level. Problems with environmental activists and with Ecuadorian politics have been the main causes.
“The problems that we have had and are having at Junin are the result of a massive campaign of ‘no mining in Ecuador’ conducted by a local NGO. This particular NGO has been operating since the mid-1990s and were violent objectors to Mitsubishi when they were drilling there from 1993 to 1997 on the same deposit.”
Despite all the promise Junin and Chaucha hold, and not just for Ascendant, further development at Junin will have to wait until the dust settles and Ecuador’s government establishes its new constitution and set of mining laws and regulations. In the meantime, larger mining companies such as Aurelian and Dynasty are moving forward on mine development in Ecuador; and work on Ascendant’s Chaucha and Telimbela projects continues. Furthermore, Ascendant is still moving forward with their Rio Tinto strategic partnership to develop additional properties.
In the meantime, Ascendant is shifting direction. Management began deploying a new business strategy about four months ago, the main thrust of which is an aggressive program to acquire near-term copper producing assets in North America, Haigh explained.
Ascendant is currently negotiating to acquire three copper assets in the western US. Announcements are expected in two to three months. “This should provide at least one cash flowing operation in 24 months and two in 36 months. The cash will be used to advance and protect the Ecuadorian assets,” Haigh commented.
NEXT WEEK: Visit Market News at www.resourcex.com for part two of Andrew Burger’s feature story on Ascendant Copper.
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 1
By Andrew K. Burger
October 10, 2007
The situation at Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) in Ecuador might serve as a snapshot of the enormous risks and rewards facing management at mining companies—and their investors—worldwide, but particularly in Ecuador and South America, where the volatile political landscape has shifted towards socialist-populist democratic inspired government action in recent years.
On the upside, 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 metal 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.”
On the downside, the Correa government on September 25 announced the formal suspension of Ascendant’s mining and community development activities in the Junin area in an effort to defuse tensions, an announcement Ascendant said was only a repetition of a previously announced order.
These tensions boiled over in December of last year on Ascendant’s agricultural property. Anti-mining activists confronted a third party contracted agricultural firm’s Intag workers and security guards resulting in almost 60 people being held captive by activists, and locked in the local community church for several days until order was restored by Ecuadorian police.
Ascendant in Ecuador
“ACX has magnificent assets in a country that has not had an operating metal mine for about 50 years. There are a few artisanal gold miners causing havoc with the environment with mercury that have the approval of the Government and that is the extent of metal mining in Ecuador,” Haigh told Resourcex.
Ascendant’s two main stakes in Ecuador are the Junin and Chaucha prospects, two NI 43-101 compliant copper-molybdenum properties. The Junin prospect has an inferred, NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate of 982 million tonnes. A drilling program is under way at the Chaucha property on the western flank of the Andes, the results of which are expected to up its combined resource estimate, according to Haigh.
Though preliminary indications of ore grade at the copper porphyry deposit at Chaucha are not as high as those at Junin, they are still high enough—above 0.4% copper excluding molybdenum, gold and silver credits—to warrant further exploration and development, particularly given the fact that the Pacific port of Belo lies just 40 kilometers away, he pointed out.
“The Junin deposit is supported by 10,000 meters of historical drilling and the Chaucha deposit is supported by 13,800 meters of historical drilling with about 10,000 meters of recent drilling by the company. We will have the current drilling sanctified by a NI43-101 report, and it looks like the resource package should increase to about 300 million tons,” Haigh elaborated.
“The Chaucha project would support a 30,000 to 40,000 tonne-per-day operation that would produce about 100 million pounds of copper per year at a cost of $1.40 per pound. At $3 copper, it could generate cash flow of about $160 million a year for 20 years.”
Given the company’s 70.8 million shares outstanding and excluding deductions for non-operating and non-cash flow expenses, liabilities and other deductions, this would translate into annual earnings per share of $2.26. Taking into account options and warrants, this would result in a rough annual EPS of $1.69 on a fully diluted basis.
Ascendant's management believe that world copper prices will remain high for the rest of this year and into next. “We think that reduced residential copper use in the States will be offset by increased copper use in hybrid gasoline-electric cars, which is double that of conventional cars and that China will continue to use all the copper they can get their hands on. We think that an average price of $3.18 per pound is achievable in 2008,” Haigh commented.
The Vagaries of a Shifting Political Landscape
Just how damaging the potential threat of socialist inspired, populist government intervention in mining projects is for mining companies and their investors is evident in the activity of Ascendant’s shares over recent months.
The company’s share price has been in steady decline since its November IPO, It has been trading downwards since July, when it was around C$0.40, only recently making slight gains to the C$0.20 per share level. Problems with environmental activists and with Ecuadorian politics have been the main causes.
“The problems that we have had and are having at Junin are the result of a massive campaign of ‘no mining in Ecuador’ conducted by a local NGO. This particular NGO has been operating since the mid-1990s and were violent objectors to Mitsubishi when they were drilling there from 1993 to 1997 on the same deposit.”
Despite all the promise Junin and Chaucha hold, and not just for Ascendant, further development at Junin will have to wait until the dust settles and Ecuador’s government establishes its new constitution and set of mining laws and regulations. In the meantime, larger mining companies such as Aurelian and Dynasty are moving forward on mine development in Ecuador; and work on Ascendant’s Chaucha and Telimbela projects continues. Furthermore, Ascendant is still moving forward with their Rio Tinto strategic partnership to develop additional properties.
In the meantime, Ascendant is shifting direction. Management began deploying a new business strategy about four months ago, the main thrust of which is an aggressive program to acquire near-term copper producing assets in North America, Haigh explained.
Ascendant is currently negotiating to acquire three copper assets in the western US. Announcements are expected in two to three months. “This should provide at least one cash flowing operation in 24 months and two in 36 months. The cash will be used to advance and protect the Ecuadorian assets,” Haigh commented.
NEXT WEEK: Visit Market News at www.resourcex.com for part two of Andrew Burger’s feature story on Ascendant Copper.
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.
Golden Reign Resources Discovers Potential New Gold Zone in Russian River Bed
By John Hurst
October 15, 2007
When Zoran Pudar returned to his Vancouver head office this week, his briefcase contained lots of good news about the ongoing exploration program on the company’s two prospective gold properties located in Far East Russia – across the Bering Strait from Alaska. The vice-president of exploration for Golden Reign Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: GRR) was returning from a field visit to the company’s properties. At the Dorozhni property, which covers 8.8 square km, gold mineralization is thought to be the source of 150,000 ounces of historically mined placer gold.
“In approximately two weeks time, I expect to receive assay results for samples collected during my visit to the properties,” he told Resourcex Investor on Thursday, “and we are still collecting some samples from the Butarni property. In total, 18 samples were sent to Alex Stewart (Assayers) Ltd., a British lab in Moscow.”
The Russian government has limited research data on the properties in the Magadan Region, under agreement to Golden Reign and more extensive information has been coming out only in recent weeks. Most of the work had been done following World War II and in the late 1980s. The property is held under a 20-year comprehensive exploration-mining licence.
“From what we know about the Dorozhni property,” Pudar said, “they were chasing some high-grade quartz veins. Typically, the gold is coarse. I had a chance to spend several days there and focused on the eastern part of the property where we have recently completed 1.5 km of trenching. We sampled some of those veins, which in 1946 had yielded over six kilos of gold (approx. 20 ounces).”
He said that high-grade gold mineralization occurs at the intersection of northwest orientated structures and the intrusive, hosting quartz veins. Of particular interest is the newly exposed mineralized sediments and breccia zone discovered in a river bed.
Pudar says that this newly discovered breccia zone appears to be 50 by 70 metres wide. “It is the type of target I was looking for. In fact, I brought home some really nice samples, just for show and tell. This new zone has really great potential, but the riverbed has to be totally exposed and properly sampled. There is rich sulphide mineralization within the zone, which is often associated with gold. This zone is considered a primary target for continued exploration.”
The first phase of exploration at the Dorozhni property was initiated this fall. Dorozhni, one of Golden Reign’s two highly-prospective gold properties at Magadan, is located at the headwaters of Dorozhni Creek. Previous exploration work focused on identifying and testing five separate gold-mineralized quartz veins at or near surface. The veins, which have been traced for 380 metres along strike, average between 0.4 to 2.4 metres in width and occasionally expand up to 17 metres wide. The distance between the veins ranges from 15 to 50 metres. Gold distribution is extremely irregular, with the highest reported grades resulting from two separate channel samples, both of which were collected from Vein No 1, of 6,322.2 g/t over 0.1 metres and 2,678.2 g/t over 0.5 metres.
Golden Reign believes that the property has potential for a low-grade bulk tonnage gold deposit. Exploration will test the sheeted vein system within the granite intrusive to evaluate the gold content between veins, with the intent of determining an average gold grade from the vein swarm and the intervening intrusive.
The first phase of exploration was designed to map the mineralized zones and to test whether the gold mineralization is restricted solely to quartz veins and veinlets, or whether mineralization occurs in the surrounding host rocks. Exploration will test the sheeted vein system within the granite intrusive to evaluate the gold content between veins, with the intent of determining an average gold grade from the vein swarm and the intervening intrusive.
The company has established an exploration camp, mobilized equipment and upgraded an existing access road. It has built a new two-km road to provide access to previously untested mineralized zones within the property boundaries. Comprehensive geological mapping, including reconnaissance traverses, and grab sampling have been completed. Assay results are pending and will be released as they become available.
Magadan, one of the world's richest mining areas, has about 2,000 placer gold deposits, 100 gold ore deposits and 48 silver deposits. Total probable gold reserves in the Magadan Oblast are estimated at 4,000 tons (128,000,000 ounces).
Pudar, who has been active in Russia for over 10 years, is a graduate of the University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina in the former Yugoslavia. He worked at the Geoinstitute of Sarajevo, Bosnia, and for several Canadian public and private companies involved in mineral property exploration.
In late Summer, work also began on Golden Reign’s Butarni property, 9.3 square km situated approximately 310 km north of Magadan, the capital city of the province. It is underlain by clastic sediments, which have been intruded by a biotite granite stock with dimensions of approximately 3.0 km x 1.6 km. Five known mineralized quartz vein zones are outlined within the stock, with a length ranging from 700 metres to 1,500 metres. Major veins are between 0.1 and 1.5 metres in width, 100 to 150 metres in length and are accompanied by zones of parallel quartz veinlets. Previous grab and channel sampling returned values from 1 g/t to 334.4 g/t, with an average grade of 21.3 g/t gold from 45 selected grab samples and 29.6 g/t gold from 22 channel samples.
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.
Golden Reign Resources Discovers Potential New Gold Zone in Russian River Bed
By John Hurst
October 15, 2007
When Zoran Pudar returned to his Vancouver head office this week, his briefcase contained lots of good news about the ongoing exploration program on the company’s two prospective gold properties located in Far East Russia – across the Bering Strait from Alaska. The vice-president of exploration for Golden Reign Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: GRR) was returning from a field visit to the company’s properties. At the Dorozhni property, which covers 8.8 square km, gold mineralization is thought to be the source of 150,000 ounces of historically mined placer gold.
“In approximately two weeks time, I expect to receive assay results for samples collected during my visit to the properties,” he told Resourcex Investor on Thursday, “and we are still collecting some samples from the Butarni property. In total, 18 samples were sent to Alex Stewart (Assayers) Ltd., a British lab in Moscow.”
The Russian government has limited research data on the properties in the Magadan Region, under agreement to Golden Reign and more extensive information has been coming out only in recent weeks. Most of the work had been done following World War II and in the late 1980s. The property is held under a 20-year comprehensive exploration-mining licence.
“From what we know about the Dorozhni property,” Pudar said, “they were chasing some high-grade quartz veins. Typically, the gold is coarse. I had a chance to spend several days there and focused on the eastern part of the property where we have recently completed 1.5 km of trenching. We sampled some of those veins, which in 1946 had yielded over six kilos of gold (approx. 20 ounces).”
He said that high-grade gold mineralization occurs at the intersection of northwest orientated structures and the intrusive, hosting quartz veins. Of particular interest is the newly exposed mineralized sediments and breccia zone discovered in a river bed.
Pudar says that this newly discovered breccia zone appears to be 50 by 70 metres wide. “It is the type of target I was looking for. In fact, I brought home some really nice samples, just for show and tell. This new zone has really great potential, but the riverbed has to be totally exposed and properly sampled. There is rich sulphide mineralization within the zone, which is often associated with gold. This zone is considered a primary target for continued exploration.”
The first phase of exploration at the Dorozhni property was initiated this fall. Dorozhni, one of Golden Reign’s two highly-prospective gold properties at Magadan, is located at the headwaters of Dorozhni Creek. Previous exploration work focused on identifying and testing five separate gold-mineralized quartz veins at or near surface. The veins, which have been traced for 380 metres along strike, average between 0.4 to 2.4 metres in width and occasionally expand up to 17 metres wide. The distance between the veins ranges from 15 to 50 metres. Gold distribution is extremely irregular, with the highest reported grades resulting from two separate channel samples, both of which were collected from Vein No 1, of 6,322.2 g/t over 0.1 metres and 2,678.2 g/t over 0.5 metres.
Golden Reign believes that the property has potential for a low-grade bulk tonnage gold deposit. Exploration will test the sheeted vein system within the granite intrusive to evaluate the gold content between veins, with the intent of determining an average gold grade from the vein swarm and the intervening intrusive.
The first phase of exploration was designed to map the mineralized zones and to test whether the gold mineralization is restricted solely to quartz veins and veinlets, or whether mineralization occurs in the surrounding host rocks. Exploration will test the sheeted vein system within the granite intrusive to evaluate the gold content between veins, with the intent of determining an average gold grade from the vein swarm and the intervening intrusive.
The company has established an exploration camp, mobilized equipment and upgraded an existing access road. It has built a new two-km road to provide access to previously untested mineralized zones within the property boundaries. Comprehensive geological mapping, including reconnaissance traverses, and grab sampling have been completed. Assay results are pending and will be released as they become available.
Magadan, one of the world's richest mining areas, has about 2,000 placer gold deposits, 100 gold ore deposits and 48 silver deposits. Total probable gold reserves in the Magadan Oblast are estimated at 4,000 tons (128,000,000 ounces).
Pudar, who has been active in Russia for over 10 years, is a graduate of the University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina in the former Yugoslavia. He worked at the Geoinstitute of Sarajevo, Bosnia, and for several Canadian public and private companies involved in mineral property exploration.
In late Summer, work also began on Golden Reign’s Butarni property, 9.3 square km situated approximately 310 km north of Magadan, the capital city of the province. It is underlain by clastic sediments, which have been intruded by a biotite granite stock with dimensions of approximately 3.0 km x 1.6 km. Five known mineralized quartz vein zones are outlined within the stock, with a length ranging from 700 metres to 1,500 metres. Major veins are between 0.1 and 1.5 metres in width, 100 to 150 metres in length and are accompanied by zones of parallel quartz veinlets. Previous grab and channel sampling returned values from 1 g/t to 334.4 g/t, with an average grade of 21.3 g/t gold from 45 selected grab samples and 29.6 g/t gold from 22 channel samples.
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.
Tribune Uranium Seeking Value in Spin Offs, New Properties
By Anne Fletcher
October 15, 2007
As signs of a split corporate personality start to appear, Tribune Uranium Corp. (TSX.V: TCB) is looking to cure the condition by spinning off its non-core assets, including giving shareholders an unanticipated dividend.
The Vancouver-based exploration company announced October 9 it has two letters of intent (LOI) in hand for gold and copper-zinc properties in Manitoba’s Reed Lake mining district, near the recent VMS Ventures Inc. (TSX.V: VMS) copper discovery.
But Tribune was set up as a uranium company and plans to stay that way, says chief executive Graham Harris.
“We just happened to have a couple of opportunities,” Harris said in an interview. “They came at a good price and they are drill-ready.”
So the Manitoba properties will join Tribune’s Potonico gold property in El Salvador - brought on board initially because vice-president, exploration, Marco Montecinos, knows the region - in a new stand-alone company.
The legal work to create that company may take up to six months, Harris said, and, by that time, as Tribune continues its active search for drill ready properties, he expects to have another non-uranium acquisition to bolster value.
Tribune will have no stake in the new corporation, which will have completely separate management, Harris said. Tribune shareholders can expect shares in the new company in some ratio to their current holdings, for example 1:5, he said.
With plans for a first-quarter 2008 drill program in place once the 90-day period for due diligence is up, work on the newly-acquired Manitoba properties may be well underway before shareholders get a look at that company.
Under the LOIs with W.S. Ferreira Ltd., Tribune can earn a 100% interest in the Quartz Claims, northeast of Snow Lake, Man. and the Green Claims, south of Snow Lake, for $170,000 cash and an aggregate of 500,000 common shares over five years, for each property. The company will also pay a finder’s fee of $50,000 for each property to an arm’s length party, for a total of $100,000, subject to final TSX approval.
Assay results released by VMS Ventures of North Vancouver on Oct. 4 include 10.5 metres of 11.19% copper and 2.50 metres of 15.30% copper from drill hole RD 07-02 on its new Reed Lake project, near Snow Lake.
That project, as well as Tribune’s new properties, lie within the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) belt that to date has yielded more than 20 VMS deposits of copper-zinc along with gold and silver, producing ore worth more than $29 million.
The belt’s average 5 million tonne VMS deposit has a gross metal value of more than $1.5 billion.
The Quartz Claims was last drilled in the 1980s by Hudbay Minerals Inc., but Harris said those old results look more interesting today as discoveries over the ensuing years have helped in understanding the geology of the area.
The Quartz Claims cover a 4,800-foot-long electromagnetic conductor, interpreted as lying in a fold axis. The old drill results turned up significant gold mineralization, along with the alternation mineralization commonly associated with VMS. Results from the eastern end include 0.64 oz/t (18.14 g/t) Au over 4.2 feet and 0.43 oz/t (12.19 g/t) Au over 4.5 feet.
The untouched western end of the conductor, with two EM conductor bodies, will be the site of the 2008 drill program.
Old drill results from the Green Claims to the south, straddling the east shoreline of Blue Lake, turned up copper and zinc, including 0.75% Cu over 46.9 feet and sulphide exhalite grading 3.12% Cu and 2.25% Zn over 1.3 feet.
For both properties, “we’ve got some pretty good drill targets based on past exploration,” Harris said.
Work on the 149.5-square-kilometre Potonico property in El Salvador rests in limbo right now as local opposition to mining makes even the first step tricky. “We’re negotiating with the local bishop to gain access to the property,” Harris said. “I think we can come to an agreement with him.”
But drilling programs are underway on Tribune’s joint venture properties in northern Saskatchewan’s uranium-rich Athabasca region, currently home to the world’s largest uranium mine, owned by Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ, TSX:CCO) and minority partner Areva Resources Canada Inc. That mine is producing 18.7 million tonnes per year of 20.5% uranium, the highest grade in the world.
Tribune is currently working on its 60%-owned, 100,000-hectare North Shore Property, just north of Lake Athabasca and 10 km west of Cameco’s Maurice Bay uranium deposit, discovered in 1977 and containing an estimated 1.3 million pounds of uranium.
The company also recently announced winter drilling programs for its joint venture properties of Dufferin Lake-East, on the southern edge of the Athabasca Basin and adjacent to Cameco’s Virgin River uranium project with its recent Centennial zone discovery, and for its near-by Botham Lake property.
As well, the shopping spree continues, with Tribune close to making a “significant” uranium acquisition, Harris said.
But a $3.4 million private placement in May, 2007 is enough to keep Tribune going. “We’re fully funded right now,” he said. “I don’t anticipate raising any capital.”
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.
Tribune Uranium Seeking Value in Spin Offs, New Properties
By Anne Fletcher
October 15, 2007
As signs of a split corporate personality start to appear, Tribune Uranium Corp. (TSX.V: TCB) is looking to cure the condition by spinning off its non-core assets, including giving shareholders an unanticipated dividend.
The Vancouver-based exploration company announced October 9 it has two letters of intent (LOI) in hand for gold and copper-zinc properties in Manitoba’s Reed Lake mining district, near the recent VMS Ventures Inc. (TSX.V: VMS) copper discovery.
But Tribune was set up as a uranium company and plans to stay that way, says chief executive Graham Harris.
“We just happened to have a couple of opportunities,” Harris said in an interview. “They came at a good price and they are drill-ready.”
So the Manitoba properties will join Tribune’s Potonico gold property in El Salvador - brought on board initially because vice-president, exploration, Marco Montecinos, knows the region - in a new stand-alone company.
The legal work to create that company may take up to six months, Harris said, and, by that time, as Tribune continues its active search for drill ready properties, he expects to have another non-uranium acquisition to bolster value.
Tribune will have no stake in the new corporation, which will have completely separate management, Harris said. Tribune shareholders can expect shares in the new company in some ratio to their current holdings, for example 1:5, he said.
With plans for a first-quarter 2008 drill program in place once the 90-day period for due diligence is up, work on the newly-acquired Manitoba properties may be well underway before shareholders get a look at that company.
Under the LOIs with W.S. Ferreira Ltd., Tribune can earn a 100% interest in the Quartz Claims, northeast of Snow Lake, Man. and the Green Claims, south of Snow Lake, for $170,000 cash and an aggregate of 500,000 common shares over five years, for each property. The company will also pay a finder’s fee of $50,000 for each property to an arm’s length party, for a total of $100,000, subject to final TSX approval.
Assay results released by VMS Ventures of North Vancouver on Oct. 4 include 10.5 metres of 11.19% copper and 2.50 metres of 15.30% copper from drill hole RD 07-02 on its new Reed Lake project, near Snow Lake.
That project, as well as Tribune’s new properties, lie within the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) belt that to date has yielded more than 20 VMS deposits of copper-zinc along with gold and silver, producing ore worth more than $29 million.
The belt’s average 5 million tonne VMS deposit has a gross metal value of more than $1.5 billion.
The Quartz Claims was last drilled in the 1980s by Hudbay Minerals Inc., but Harris said those old results look more interesting today as discoveries over the ensuing years have helped in understanding the geology of the area.
The Quartz Claims cover a 4,800-foot-long electromagnetic conductor, interpreted as lying in a fold axis. The old drill results turned up significant gold mineralization, along with the alternation mineralization commonly associated with VMS. Results from the eastern end include 0.64 oz/t (18.14 g/t) Au over 4.2 feet and 0.43 oz/t (12.19 g/t) Au over 4.5 feet.
The untouched western end of the conductor, with two EM conductor bodies, will be the site of the 2008 drill program.
Old drill results from the Green Claims to the south, straddling the east shoreline of Blue Lake, turned up copper and zinc, including 0.75% Cu over 46.9 feet and sulphide exhalite grading 3.12% Cu and 2.25% Zn over 1.3 feet.
For both properties, “we’ve got some pretty good drill targets based on past exploration,” Harris said.
Work on the 149.5-square-kilometre Potonico property in El Salvador rests in limbo right now as local opposition to mining makes even the first step tricky. “We’re negotiating with the local bishop to gain access to the property,” Harris said. “I think we can come to an agreement with him.”
But drilling programs are underway on Tribune’s joint venture properties in northern Saskatchewan’s uranium-rich Athabasca region, currently home to the world’s largest uranium mine, owned by Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ, TSX:CCO) and minority partner Areva Resources Canada Inc. That mine is producing 18.7 million tonnes per year of 20.5% uranium, the highest grade in the world.
Tribune is currently working on its 60%-owned, 100,000-hectare North Shore Property, just north of Lake Athabasca and 10 km west of Cameco’s Maurice Bay uranium deposit, discovered in 1977 and containing an estimated 1.3 million pounds of uranium.
The company also recently announced winter drilling programs for its joint venture properties of Dufferin Lake-East, on the southern edge of the Athabasca Basin and adjacent to Cameco’s Virgin River uranium project with its recent Centennial zone discovery, and for its near-by Botham Lake property.
As well, the shopping spree continues, with Tribune close to making a “significant” uranium acquisition, Harris said.
But a $3.4 million private placement in May, 2007 is enough to keep Tribune going. “We’re fully funded right now,” he said. “I don’t anticipate raising any capital.”
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.
Tribune Uranium Seeking Value in Spin Offs, New Properties
By Anne Fletcher
October 15, 2007
As signs of a split corporate personality start to appear, Tribune Uranium Corp. (TSX.V: TCB) is looking to cure the condition by spinning off its non-core assets, including giving shareholders an unanticipated dividend.
The Vancouver-based exploration company announced October 9 it has two letters of intent (LOI) in hand for gold and copper-zinc properties in Manitoba’s Reed Lake mining district, near the recent VMS Ventures Inc. (TSX.V: VMS) copper discovery.
But Tribune was set up as a uranium company and plans to stay that way, says chief executive Graham Harris.
“We just happened to have a couple of opportunities,” Harris said in an interview. “They came at a good price and they are drill-ready.”
So the Manitoba properties will join Tribune’s Potonico gold property in El Salvador - brought on board initially because vice-president, exploration, Marco Montecinos, knows the region - in a new stand-alone company.
The legal work to create that company may take up to six months, Harris said, and, by that time, as Tribune continues its active search for drill ready properties, he expects to have another non-uranium acquisition to bolster value.
Tribune will have no stake in the new corporation, which will have completely separate management, Harris said. Tribune shareholders can expect shares in the new company in some ratio to their current holdings, for example 1:5, he said.
With plans for a first-quarter 2008 drill program in place once the 90-day period for due diligence is up, work on the newly-acquired Manitoba properties may be well underway before shareholders get a look at that company.
Under the LOIs with W.S. Ferreira Ltd., Tribune can earn a 100% interest in the Quartz Claims, northeast of Snow Lake, Man. and the Green Claims, south of Snow Lake, for $170,000 cash and an aggregate of 500,000 common shares over five years, for each property. The company will also pay a finder’s fee of $50,000 for each property to an arm’s length party, for a total of $100,000, subject to final TSX approval.
Assay results released by VMS Ventures of North Vancouver on Oct. 4 include 10.5 metres of 11.19% copper and 2.50 metres of 15.30% copper from drill hole RD 07-02 on its new Reed Lake project, near Snow Lake.
That project, as well as Tribune’s new properties, lie within the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) belt that to date has yielded more than 20 VMS deposits of copper-zinc along with gold and silver, producing ore worth more than $29 million.
The belt’s average 5 million tonne VMS deposit has a gross metal value of more than $1.5 billion.
The Quartz Claims was last drilled in the 1980s by Hudbay Minerals Inc., but Harris said those old results look more interesting today as discoveries over the ensuing years have helped in understanding the geology of the area.
The Quartz Claims cover a 4,800-foot-long electromagnetic conductor, interpreted as lying in a fold axis. The old drill results turned up significant gold mineralization, along with the alternation mineralization commonly associated with VMS. Results from the eastern end include 0.64 oz/t (18.14 g/t) Au over 4.2 feet and 0.43 oz/t (12.19 g/t) Au over 4.5 feet.
The untouched western end of the conductor, with two EM conductor bodies, will be the site of the 2008 drill program.
Old drill results from the Green Claims to the south, straddling the east shoreline of Blue Lake, turned up copper and zinc, including 0.75% Cu over 46.9 feet and sulphide exhalite grading 3.12% Cu and 2.25% Zn over 1.3 feet.
For both properties, “we’ve got some pretty good drill targets based on past exploration,” Harris said.
Work on the 149.5-square-kilometre Potonico property in El Salvador rests in limbo right now as local opposition to mining makes even the first step tricky. “We’re negotiating with the local bishop to gain access to the property,” Harris said. “I think we can come to an agreement with him.”
But drilling programs are underway on Tribune’s joint venture properties in northern Saskatchewan’s uranium-rich Athabasca region, currently home to the world’s largest uranium mine, owned by Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ, TSX:CCO) and minority partner Areva Resources Canada Inc. That mine is producing 18.7 million tonnes per year of 20.5% uranium, the highest grade in the world.
Tribune is currently working on its 60%-owned, 100,000-hectare North Shore Property, just north of Lake Athabasca and 10 km west of Cameco’s Maurice Bay uranium deposit, discovered in 1977 and containing an estimated 1.3 million pounds of uranium.
The company also recently announced winter drilling programs for its joint venture properties of Dufferin Lake-East, on the southern edge of the Athabasca Basin and adjacent to Cameco’s Virgin River uranium project with its recent Centennial zone discovery, and for its near-by Botham Lake property.
As well, the shopping spree continues, with Tribune close to making a “significant” uranium acquisition, Harris said.
But a $3.4 million private placement in May, 2007 is enough to keep Tribune going. “We’re fully funded right now,” he said. “I don’t anticipate raising any capital.”
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.
Tribune Uranium Seeking Value in Spin Offs, New Properties
By Anne Fletcher
October 15, 2007
As signs of a split corporate personality start to appear, Tribune Uranium Corp. (TSX.V: TCB) is looking to cure the condition by spinning off its non-core assets, including giving shareholders an unanticipated dividend.
The Vancouver-based exploration company announced October 9 it has two letters of intent (LOI) in hand for gold and copper-zinc properties in Manitoba’s Reed Lake mining district, near the recent VMS Ventures Inc. (TSX.V: VMS) copper discovery.
But Tribune was set up as a uranium company and plans to stay that way, says chief executive Graham Harris.
“We just happened to have a couple of opportunities,” Harris said in an interview. “They came at a good price and they are drill-ready.”
So the Manitoba properties will join Tribune’s Potonico gold property in El Salvador - brought on board initially because vice-president, exploration, Marco Montecinos, knows the region - in a new stand-alone company.
The legal work to create that company may take up to six months, Harris said, and, by that time, as Tribune continues its active search for drill ready properties, he expects to have another non-uranium acquisition to bolster value.
Tribune will have no stake in the new corporation, which will have completely separate management, Harris said. Tribune shareholders can expect shares in the new company in some ratio to their current holdings, for example 1:5, he said.
With plans for a first-quarter 2008 drill program in place once the 90-day period for due diligence is up, work on the newly-acquired Manitoba properties may be well underway before shareholders get a look at that company.
Under the LOIs with W.S. Ferreira Ltd., Tribune can earn a 100% interest in the Quartz Claims, northeast of Snow Lake, Man. and the Green Claims, south of Snow Lake, for $170,000 cash and an aggregate of 500,000 common shares over five years, for each property. The company will also pay a finder’s fee of $50,000 for each property to an arm’s length party, for a total of $100,000, subject to final TSX approval.
Assay results released by VMS Ventures of North Vancouver on Oct. 4 include 10.5 metres of 11.19% copper and 2.50 metres of 15.30% copper from drill hole RD 07-02 on its new Reed Lake project, near Snow Lake.
That project, as well as Tribune’s new properties, lie within the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) belt that to date has yielded more than 20 VMS deposits of copper-zinc along with gold and silver, producing ore worth more than $29 million.
The belt’s average 5 million tonne VMS deposit has a gross metal value of more than $1.5 billion.
The Quartz Claims was last drilled in the 1980s by Hudbay Minerals Inc., but Harris said those old results look more interesting today as discoveries over the ensuing years have helped in understanding the geology of the area.
The Quartz Claims cover a 4,800-foot-long electromagnetic conductor, interpreted as lying in a fold axis. The old drill results turned up significant gold mineralization, along with the alternation mineralization commonly associated with VMS. Results from the eastern end include 0.64 oz/t (18.14 g/t) Au over 4.2 feet and 0.43 oz/t (12.19 g/t) Au over 4.5 feet.
The untouched western end of the conductor, with two EM conductor bodies, will be the site of the 2008 drill program.
Old drill results from the Green Claims to the south, straddling the east shoreline of Blue Lake, turned up copper and zinc, including 0.75% Cu over 46.9 feet and sulphide exhalite grading 3.12% Cu and 2.25% Zn over 1.3 feet.
For both properties, “we’ve got some pretty good drill targets based on past exploration,” Harris said.
Work on the 149.5-square-kilometre Potonico property in El Salvador rests in limbo right now as local opposition to mining makes even the first step tricky. “We’re negotiating with the local bishop to gain access to the property,” Harris said. “I think we can come to an agreement with him.”
But drilling programs are underway on Tribune’s joint venture properties in northern Saskatchewan’s uranium-rich Athabasca region, currently home to the world’s largest uranium mine, owned by Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ, TSX:CCO) and minority partner Areva Resources Canada Inc. That mine is producing 18.7 million tonnes per year of 20.5% uranium, the highest grade in the world.
Tribune is currently working on its 60%-owned, 100,000-hectare North Shore Property, just north of Lake Athabasca and 10 km west of Cameco’s Maurice Bay uranium deposit, discovered in 1977 and containing an estimated 1.3 million pounds of uranium.
The company also recently announced winter drilling programs for its joint venture properties of Dufferin Lake-East, on the southern edge of the Athabasca Basin and adjacent to Cameco’s Virgin River uranium project with its recent Centennial zone discovery, and for its near-by Botham Lake property.
As well, the shopping spree continues, with Tribune close to making a “significant” uranium acquisition, Harris said.
But a $3.4 million private placement in May, 2007 is enough to keep Tribune going. “We’re fully funded right now,” he said. “I don’t anticipate raising any capital.”
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.
Teryl Resources Creates a Buzz Near Bisbee’s Copper Queen
By Christina de Wit
October 12, 2007
Teryl Resources (TSX.V:TRC) is set to take flight as it moves into the next stage of an ambitious drilling program on its Gold Hill property near Bisbee, Arizona. The company has just signed a drilling contract for the project, with work to commence as soon as a drill becomes available. The program will target several copper showings on the property. The Gold Hill Mine property comprises 14 patented mining claims that include the Old Gold Hill, Superior, and Baston mines. Old shallow placer diggings are found throughout the property as well as small shafts, pits and cuts. Gold Hill is located less than four miles west of Phelps Dodge’s (since bought out by Freeport McMoRan for $26 billion) Copper Queen/Lavender Pit, which was one of the world’s biggest and richest mines during its heyday from 1954-1970. This open-pit operation yielded 75 million tons of gold, silver and copper ore for Phelps Dodge. The company has expanded its holdings in the area by staking another dozen patented claims near Copper Queen. Teryl has a chance to earn a 100% interest in the property, with a small royalty payable to the original owners.
Teryl’s other major project consists of four strategically-located claim blocks (the Gil Project, the Fish Creek claims, the Stepovich claims, and the West Ridge property) in the Fairbanks Mining District of Alaska– where it is one of the main landowners- with holdings contiguous to Kinross’ (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) Fort Knox Project. Fort Knox is the largest producing gold mine in Alaska, with a 4,000,000 oz. Au ore deposit.
Other properties in the company’s portfolio include a joint venture silver prospect located in northern British Columbia, as well as revenue-producing oil and gas projects in Texas and Kentucky.
Production in the Bisbee Mining District dates back to 1880 with the discovery of the copper carbonate deposit at the Copper Queen. New reserves are still being found, and as of 2006, there were 11 producing copper mines in Arizona. According to a monograph by Spencer Titley and Lukas Zurcher of the University of Arizona, the geology of the area is recognized as “Nevadan-aged plate convergence [which] was attended by formation of rhyolite calderas in a WNW-trending belt that overlaps the international border and, of which, Bisbee, Arizona (ca. 200Ma) may be a product. Extension of the Chihuahua terrane into southern Arizona reveals a distinctive crustal block characterized by Laramide igneous activity and Cu-related intrusion centered ore systems in a metal province than transgresses the border.” Results on the property so far support such a hypothesis– with 3% Cu in surface sampling, with gold values as well. Recent very deep penetrating geophysics in Arizona has revealed new deep-seated copper resources previously unknown by past operators. The company’s analysis of its geophysical info has defined 3-4 highly anomalous drill targets.
Teryl’s strategy is simple in that it looks for deposits near major existing or former producers. This approach allows the company to maximize reward potential while mitigating risk for investors. The company is also applying this philosophy to its program in Alaska. Teryl has entered into a joint venture agreement with Kinross, with 80% Kinross/20% Teryl, on the Gil Project. The main Gil Zone consists of a 3000 ft. strike length. According to Teryl’s website, the company has spent $1.6 million on exploration that has defined a resource of 400,000 ounces of gold (10 million tons grading 0.04 ounces per ton gold).
The company’s management isn’t afraid to think big. “All we need to do is find another Fort Knox,” says John Robertson, Teryl’s president. The company also has a 50-50 joint venture agreement with Linux Gold (of which Mr. Robertson is also president), on the Fish Creek claims. The company has recently completed a $400,000 private placement– with $150,000 earmarked for drilling targeted zones on the Fish Creek property that were identified as geophysical anomalies.
Alaska is usually regarded as an expensive place to work; however, Teryl is particularly well situated to run a low-cost operation. The property is only 22 miles north of Fairbanks– hence workers can stay in town- thus eliminating the need for company-constructed housing. The area’s infrastructure is excellent, given the property’s close proximity to the Fort Knox mill and to a major highway.
Several key factors allow the company to offer its investors an attractive risk-reward ratio: the ability to defray its overhead costs; two work programs entering the drilling stage; properties in the backyards of major producers in historically rich (and politically stable) areas, and high metals prices.
Any exploration success at Bisbee will undoubtedly garner interest from the majors like Rio Tinto (owners of Bear Creek), Freeport McMoRan, and Newmont. Mr. Robertson is optimistic regarding the company’s direction, as “the price of gold is moving to new highs, and Teryl is very well-positioned”.
Teryl offers unparalleled value at its current price range- with the downside risk being minimal– while the ongoing program at Gold Hill shows very high upside potential. Few companies at this price range have this much potential. This could well be a play that floats like a butterfly– and stings like a bee.
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.
Teryl Resources Creates a Buzz Near Bisbee’s Copper Queen
By Christina de Wit
October 12, 2007
Teryl Resources (TSX.V:TRC) is set to take flight as it moves into the next stage of an ambitious drilling program on its Gold Hill property near Bisbee, Arizona. The company has just signed a drilling contract for the project, with work to commence as soon as a drill becomes available. The program will target several copper showings on the property. The Gold Hill Mine property comprises 14 patented mining claims that include the Old Gold Hill, Superior, and Baston mines. Old shallow placer diggings are found throughout the property as well as small shafts, pits and cuts. Gold Hill is located less than four miles west of Phelps Dodge’s (since bought out by Freeport McMoRan for $26 billion) Copper Queen/Lavender Pit, which was one of the world’s biggest and richest mines during its heyday from 1954-1970. This open-pit operation yielded 75 million tons of gold, silver and copper ore for Phelps Dodge. The company has expanded its holdings in the area by staking another dozen patented claims near Copper Queen. Teryl has a chance to earn a 100% interest in the property, with a small royalty payable to the original owners.
Teryl’s other major project consists of four strategically-located claim blocks (the Gil Project, the Fish Creek claims, the Stepovich claims, and the West Ridge property) in the Fairbanks Mining District of Alaska– where it is one of the main landowners- with holdings contiguous to Kinross’ (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) Fort Knox Project. Fort Knox is the largest producing gold mine in Alaska, with a 4,000,000 oz. Au ore deposit.
Other properties in the company’s portfolio include a joint venture silver prospect located in northern British Columbia, as well as revenue-producing oil and gas projects in Texas and Kentucky.
Production in the Bisbee Mining District dates back to 1880 with the discovery of the copper carbonate deposit at the Copper Queen. New reserves are still being found, and as of 2006, there were 11 producing copper mines in Arizona. According to a monograph by Spencer Titley and Lukas Zurcher of the University of Arizona, the geology of the area is recognized as “Nevadan-aged plate convergence [which] was attended by formation of rhyolite calderas in a WNW-trending belt that overlaps the international border and, of which, Bisbee, Arizona (ca. 200Ma) may be a product. Extension of the Chihuahua terrane into southern Arizona reveals a distinctive crustal block characterized by Laramide igneous activity and Cu-related intrusion centered ore systems in a metal province than transgresses the border.” Results on the property so far support such a hypothesis– with 3% Cu in surface sampling, with gold values as well. Recent very deep penetrating geophysics in Arizona has revealed new deep-seated copper resources previously unknown by past operators. The company’s analysis of its geophysical info has defined 3-4 highly anomalous drill targets.
Teryl’s strategy is simple in that it looks for deposits near major existing or former producers. This approach allows the company to maximize reward potential while mitigating risk for investors. The company is also applying this philosophy to its program in Alaska. Teryl has entered into a joint venture agreement with Kinross, with 80% Kinross/20% Teryl, on the Gil Project. The main Gil Zone consists of a 3000 ft. strike length. According to Teryl’s website, the company has spent $1.6 million on exploration that has defined a resource of 400,000 ounces of gold (10 million tons grading 0.04 ounces per ton gold).
The company’s management isn’t afraid to think big. “All we need to do is find another Fort Knox,” says John Robertson, Teryl’s president. The company also has a 50-50 joint venture agreement with Linux Gold (of which Mr. Robertson is also president), on the Fish Creek claims. The company has recently completed a $400,000 private placement– with $150,000 earmarked for drilling targeted zones on the Fish Creek property that were identified as geophysical anomalies.
Alaska is usually regarded as an expensive place to work; however, Teryl is particularly well situated to run a low-cost operation. The property is only 22 miles north of Fairbanks– hence workers can stay in town- thus eliminating the need for company-constructed housing. The area’s infrastructure is excellent, given the property’s close proximity to the Fort Knox mill and to a major highway.
Several key factors allow the company to offer its investors an attractive risk-reward ratio: the ability to defray its overhead costs; two work programs entering the drilling stage; properties in the backyards of major producers in historically rich (and politically stable) areas, and high metals prices.
Any exploration success at Bisbee will undoubtedly garner interest from the majors like Rio Tinto (owners of Bear Creek), Freeport McMoRan, and Newmont. Mr. Robertson is optimistic regarding the company’s direction, as “the price of gold is moving to new highs, and Teryl is very well-positioned”.
Teryl offers unparalleled value at its current price range- with the downside risk being minimal– while the ongoing program at Gold Hill shows very high upside potential. Few companies at this price range have this much potential. This could well be a play that floats like a butterfly– and stings like a bee.
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.
Teryl Resources Creates a Buzz Near Bisbee’s Copper Queen
By Christina de Wit
October 12, 2007
Teryl Resources (TSX.V:TRC) is set to take flight as it moves into the next stage of an ambitious drilling program on its Gold Hill property near Bisbee, Arizona. The company has just signed a drilling contract for the project, with work to commence as soon as a drill becomes available. The program will target several copper showings on the property. The Gold Hill Mine property comprises 14 patented mining claims that include the Old Gold Hill, Superior, and Baston mines. Old shallow placer diggings are found throughout the property as well as small shafts, pits and cuts. Gold Hill is located less than four miles west of Phelps Dodge’s (since bought out by Freeport McMoRan for $26 billion) Copper Queen/Lavender Pit, which was one of the world’s biggest and richest mines during its heyday from 1954-1970. This open-pit operation yielded 75 million tons of gold, silver and copper ore for Phelps Dodge. The company has expanded its holdings in the area by staking another dozen patented claims near Copper Queen. Teryl has a chance to earn a 100% interest in the property, with a small royalty payable to the original owners.
Teryl’s other major project consists of four strategically-located claim blocks (the Gil Project, the Fish Creek claims, the Stepovich claims, and the West Ridge property) in the Fairbanks Mining District of Alaska– where it is one of the main landowners- with holdings contiguous to Kinross’ (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) Fort Knox Project. Fort Knox is the largest producing gold mine in Alaska, with a 4,000,000 oz. Au ore deposit.
Other properties in the company’s portfolio include a joint venture silver prospect located in northern British Columbia, as well as revenue-producing oil and gas projects in Texas and Kentucky.
Production in the Bisbee Mining District dates back to 1880 with the discovery of the copper carbonate deposit at the Copper Queen. New reserves are still being found, and as of 2006, there were 11 producing copper mines in Arizona. According to a monograph by Spencer Titley and Lukas Zurcher of the University of Arizona, the geology of the area is recognized as “Nevadan-aged plate convergence [which] was attended by formation of rhyolite calderas in a WNW-trending belt that overlaps the international border and, of which, Bisbee, Arizona (ca. 200Ma) may be a product. Extension of the Chihuahua terrane into southern Arizona reveals a distinctive crustal block characterized by Laramide igneous activity and Cu-related intrusion centered ore systems in a metal province than transgresses the border.” Results on the property so far support such a hypothesis– with 3% Cu in surface sampling, with gold values as well. Recent very deep penetrating geophysics in Arizona has revealed new deep-seated copper resources previously unknown by past operators. The company’s analysis of its geophysical info has defined 3-4 highly anomalous drill targets.
Teryl’s strategy is simple in that it looks for deposits near major existing or former producers. This approach allows the company to maximize reward potential while mitigating risk for investors. The company is also applying this philosophy to its program in Alaska. Teryl has entered into a joint venture agreement with Kinross, with 80% Kinross/20% Teryl, on the Gil Project. The main Gil Zone consists of a 3000 ft. strike length. According to Teryl’s website, the company has spent $1.6 million on exploration that has defined a resource of 400,000 ounces of gold (10 million tons grading 0.04 ounces per ton gold).
The company’s management isn’t afraid to think big. “All we need to do is find another Fort Knox,” says John Robertson, Teryl’s president. The company also has a 50-50 joint venture agreement with Linux Gold (of which Mr. Robertson is also president), on the Fish Creek claims. The company has recently completed a $400,000 private placement– with $150,000 earmarked for drilling targeted zones on the Fish Creek property that were identified as geophysical anomalies.
Alaska is usually regarded as an expensive place to work; however, Teryl is particularly well situated to run a low-cost operation. The property is only 22 miles north of Fairbanks– hence workers can stay in town- thus eliminating the need for company-constructed housing. The area’s infrastructure is excellent, given the property’s close proximity to the Fort Knox mill and to a major highway.
Several key factors allow the company to offer its investors an attractive risk-reward ratio: the ability to defray its overhead costs; two work programs entering the drilling stage; properties in the backyards of major producers in historically rich (and politically stable) areas, and high metals prices.
Any exploration success at Bisbee will undoubtedly garner interest from the majors like Rio Tinto (owners of Bear Creek), Freeport McMoRan, and Newmont. Mr. Robertson is optimistic regarding the company’s direction, as “the price of gold is moving to new highs, and Teryl is very well-positioned”.
Teryl offers unparalleled value at its current price range- with the downside risk being minimal– while the ongoing program at Gold Hill shows very high upside potential. Few companies at this price range have this much potential. This could well be a play that floats like a butterfly– and stings like a bee.
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.
Golden Reign: Two New Properties in Premier Russian Gold Region Make Golden Reign a Great Deal
Doug Hadfield
To look at Golden Reign’s (TSXV: GRR) stock chart, the company looks like either a bargain or a wash out: It was trading at $0.40 at the end of 2006. Since that time, shares in GRR have taken a hammering down to $0.15 per share. To me, this usually indicates a company mismanaged, but occasionally it indicates something much juicier – an overlooked, value-priced junior. After some thorough due diligence, including speaking to the company officers and reading two NI43-101 reports on the company’s two 50% JV deals, I bought in on a respectable position.
Why? It’s a bit of a no brainer, to me. The company is trading at $0.15 with two properties, both of which have proven widely disseminated gold mineralization in an area with resources of over 120 million ounces gold, nearby infrastructure, with excellent roads and transportation and the protection of an operator on the project that is a prominent Russian bank – Status LLC. What else do you want from a value-priced junior? It’s going no place but up.
Let’s go over the details. First, why has the company been sinking on the TSX Venture? Simply put, they were shafted by local politics. After pouring $300,000 into exploration last year, the government sniffed gold on the property and handed it to a local company in the next land auction.
The temporal aspect of the land auction process in Russia ensures mineral properties are actually explored, which is a good thing. There are two types of permit available at auction: A 5-year exploration license and a comprehensive 20-year mining license. Golden Reign had the former, which left it vulnerable because, when it came time to auction off the 20-year mining permit for the property, Golden Reign’s application to take part was rejected.
This time around, they have a solid high-level partner and a 20-year mining permit already in place.
I spoke with both CFO Kim Evans and Larry Myles, who runs the corporate communications department for Golden Reign. They were exuberant that the company’s slide down the TSX charts now poses a value opportunity for investors – I obviously agree.
“It’s entirely different this time,” Myles told me. “When we started in Russia, we were going from the ground up. In Russia, if you’re working with a bank or a governmental agency, you’re working from the roof down. You’re protected.”
Golden Reign’s partner, Status LLC, is the mining division of CentroCredit Joint Stock Commercial Bank, which is headquartered in Moscow, with another branch office in London. CentroCredit is a member of the Association of Russian Banks, the Moscow Banking Union and National Stock Association participating in the Russian Trading System (RTS), the Moscow Stock Exchange (MSE) and the Saint-Petersburg Stock Exchange. As of January, 2006, it was ranked the 38th largest in equity capital amongst the top Russian banks. In other words, it is the real deal.
To earn its 50% of the new company, simply called Gold Mining Company LLC (GMC), Golden Reign must pay $6 million in expenditures over the next three years – the company raised $4 million last year in its IPO, so another small private placement (PP) or debt financing is in the offing.
Both of the two properties Gold Mining Company has in its portfolio have favourable NI43-101 reports; and both are posted on Golden Reign’s website: Goldenreignresources.com.
The Dorozhni property covers 8.8 square kilometers in the centre of Magadan Province. The property lies along an all-weather road approximately 17 kilometres west of the community of Susuman – the nearest service centre.
According to the 43-101 technical report, previous exploration work and mining of the Dorozhni gold deposit was focused on shallow dipping sub parallel gold-bearing quartz veins. The veins have been traced for lengths of 450 metres along strike and 380 metres down dip with veins ranging from 0.4 metres to 2.4 metres in width, occasionally expanding up to 17 metres (such as the Burovoya vein).
To date, gold mineralization has been reported in five separate quartz veins. Historical reports state that placer mines from Dorozhni Creek produced approximately 95,000 oz of gold.
In spite of the placer mining and high-grade vein hunting in the area, the qualified person and author of the technical report believes that the Dorozhni property contains features suggesting the potential for large tonnage gold deposit. “The high gold numbers in the quartz veins suggests that average grade for this mineralization could be much higher than the norm for other large tonnage, low-grade deposits, developed in remote northern regions, such as Alaska,” he wrote.
“The deposit type envisioned for this project is intrusive hosted gold mineralization similar to many intrusive hosted deposits located in North America, particularly the Fort Knox deposit in Alaska. A series of sub parallel veins and veinlets carry high grade gold mineralization.”
Since much of the gold found at Dorozhni is alluvial in nature, grains are often easily found on the property’s streams and riverbeds. “Grains range in size from 0.5-3 mm although, along vein selvages, gold grains occasionally grow up to few centimeters in size. One such grain weighed 800 grams,” the report states. “The distribution of gold mineralization is extremely irregular, with a highest reported grade of 6,322.2 g/t gold.”
The situation is similar at the Butarni Licence, which covers 9.3 square kilometres, approximately 310 kilometres north of Magadan (the capital). While major veins are between 0.1 and 1.5 metres in width, the author of the Butarni technical report believes that “the broad extent of the mineralized zones and the proximity to surface provides the opportunity for the development of a large tonnage, open pittable deposit. This style of mineralization, consisting of sheeted quartz veins and veinlets, and minor wall rock alteration in a granite host rock, is similar to known intrusive hosted gold mineralization in North America, particularly the Fort Knox gold deposit in Alaska.”
Historical grab and channel sampling returned values from 1 g/t to 334.4 g/t, with an average grade of 21.3 g/t gold from 45 samples and 29.6 g/t gold from 22 channel samples. As well, there are number of placer gold operations within 20 kilometres of Butarni, including placer tailings within four kilometres of the project site.
Magadan Region is known as Russia's most important gold mining territory. The region boasts some of the largest gold and silver reserves in Russia. Also, there are nearly 2000 placer gold deposits, 100 gold ore deposits, and 48 silver ore deposits in the territory. Total probable gold reserves in Magadan Region are estimated at 128 million ounces.
So, in Golden Reign, we’ve got a rosy picture for a junior trading at $0.15 with only 26 million shares on the market:
• two properties with extensive trenching and drilling carried out
• located in Russia’s most prolific gold mining region
• the potential for large tonnage, open pit gold mines
• a well-funded, respected JV partner
• a 20-year mining license
And did I mention she was trading at $0.15?
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.
The author and ResourcexInvestor.com are not shareholders in the companies herein mentioned, and the author, as an employee of Resourcex Publishing Corp is expressly prohibited for owning any securities about which they may write for a period of 30 days prior to and 30 days after initial publication of the article in which the securities of any company are mentioned.
Oil Drilling Expertise Fashioned in Alberta Translates to Hard-won Acceptance in Tennessee
John Hurst
Since the turn of the 20th century, the green hills of Tennessee have largely remained a patchwork of small, undisturbed private land holdings. Consequently, any oil exploration of note has been done by family businesses and small to intermediate oil and gas companies, while Big Oil has largely passed the Appalachians by for larger, easier pickings in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, and California.
Besides not having to deal with so many small landowners, amassing large land packages was a motivator for looking elsewhere in the early years of US oil exploration. More often, according to sources like the US Geological Survey, it was the technical nature of finding oil in the Appalachians.
Montello Resources Ltd. (TSX.V:MEO) is one of only a handful of oil & gas companies to commence a multi-million dollar oil and gas exploration program in the technically challenging Appalachians Mountains and Foothills. The upstart company from Calgary, Alberta, recently won over government approval besides local resident support to earn a shot at re-drilling two of the most exciting oil prospects that the State of Tennessee has seen in decades. Montello is undaunted by the prospect of being one of the few companies to drill far deeper than most would contemplate in this under-developed but emerging oil & gas state.
Bill Cawker, who heads Montello, rightly echoes country comedienne Minnie Pearl: “We’re just so proud to be here,” he says, “because the advice, experience, smart field savvy, overall execution and technical expertise of our Alberta professionals goes such a long way here.”
“Everyone we work with says, “You have such a professional well site! It’s amazing that you are a little company from Calgary. Anyone coming here would think this is run by Conoco, Phillips or Shell, not a small Canadian company like yourselves.”
Cawker says he believes that if Montello had not posted photographs of its well site on the company’s website, some people might not believe the progress they’ve made. Montello has chiseled a well site 250 feet by 250 feet by some 30 to 40 feet deep out of the rock.
“This is the type of project normally tackled by a company much, much bigger than ours, so we come by the upstart or underdog tag honestly here. We like proving ourselves and relish the fact that we are showing up all the naysayers to date.”
Montello’s drill site is situated at the heart of a scenic farming region that offers few discernable clues as to the potentially prolific oil reserves that are believed to exist completely untapped thousands of feet below Morgan County’s lush green pastures. Hence, the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Geology, Oil and Gas Program, has officials monitor Montello’s work, closely and constantly. Cawker says Montello welcomes the assistance of top flight geologists from the state while drilling the John Bowen #2 Well.
A drill permit application on the Morgan Highpoint Project #1 well (officially known as the John Bowen #2 Well) was granted by the Department of Environment and Conservation, in July. Construction of the well site was completed to the satisfaction of the Department and its oil and gas inspector walked the site and presented a hard copy of the approved Drill Permit in person on Monday, July 23.
Montello and its joint venture partners are drilling on the property, 164 acres that adjoin the Howard family farm property near the community of High Point in rural north-central Tennessee, one hour and 40 minutes drive north of Knoxville. The drill location is a mile from the site of Pryor Oil’s Howard White #1 well – the original name of an over-pressurized gusher that came to be known as “the Blowout Well.” The oil released from the well was a light crude oil (38.1 API) with low to medium viscosity. It flowed at up to 750 barrels per hour, acccording to the well’s operator. But the subsequent blow-out caused a fire and a minor oil spill that essentially put the operator out of business.
The well has languished in a legal limbo ever since.
However, a nearby well named the John Bowen #1 Well (originally called the TexFlora well) also struck pay-dirt of up to 800 bpd in November 2003, but encountered problems of an entirely different nature and entirely unrelated to the well’s potential for commercialization: After the well was shut-in during the fall of 2003, owner Jerry Walsack took a Thanksgiving vacation at his home in Florida. While there, he died unexpectedly and as a result the John Bowen #1 was never put into production.
Now it’s Montello’s turn to tap into Morgan County’s previously elusive oil reserves. And this plucky junior is no stranger to major challenges and high stakes rolls of the dice, as recently appointed company president, Bill Cawker, is keen to point out.
“Montello has been around just about forever,” he says. “In 20 to 25 years the company has gone through three or four incarnations, with at least three different management groups doing mineral exploration, such as diamonds in North Alberta, shallow oil and gas, and so on.”
The current 2007 drilling programs in Tennessee and Pincher Creek, Alberta could be the company’s elusive ticket to the next level. Judging from the demonstrated oil and gas structures that caused the Howard White #1 blowout, John Bowen #2 has the potential to provide major shareholder growth.
The company and its management team have certainly risen to the occasion for their shareholders as they’ve devoted considerable time and energy, as well as big dollars to ensure that the company is marshalling the best technological know-how, the best equipment and the best consultants in the business to get the desired results from this high-impact drill program.
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.
The author and ResourcexInvestor.com are not shareholders in the companies herein mentioned, and the author, as an employee of Resourcex Publishing Corp is expressly prohibited for owning any securities about which they may write for a period of 30 days prior to and 30 days after initial publication of the article in which the securities of any company are mentioned.
Article on Kootenay Gold
Quoted from Article: "Kootenay is currently conducting a 3,000-metre drill program on the Promontorio Property; results are expected in the next 30 to 60 days. Highlights from chip samples in the spring included 480 g/t silver over an estimated true width of 19m as well as 2.51 g/t gold, 11,199 ppm lead and 17,284 ppm zinc. Plans are to continue drilling on three other identified mineralized zones, which together comprise a small 200m x 400m area of a total mineralized trend along a strike of 2000m with a width of 500m. With completion of the Phase I drill program, which aims to confirm historic data, the company plans a Phase II program to test additional targets on the trend. Consistent with Kootenay’s strategy to focus on advanced stage projects, Kootenay has secured the right to 100% registered and beneficial interest in the project. "
Full Article: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2336
Kootenay Gold Employs Sound Strategy to Maximize Mineral, Minimize Dirt
By Katherine Young
My thirteen year-old daughter is studying mining in her grade eight social studies class. She tells me that when asked for the first three things they thought of about mining, the students in her class named: dirt, explosives and gold. My daughter then informed me that following their logic, a good mining company basically has less dirt and more gold. There was something elegant and simple to her conclusion, I thought. All these exploration companies with different strategies, different exploration and management styles, all essentially attempting to maximize gold, or silver as the case may be, and minimize dirt.
Kootenay Gold (TSX.V:KTN) is a company with a sound strategy for dirt, explosives and gold. Notice how the company describes its approach: To create generative exploration discoveries, establish junior venture partnerships and acquire advanced stage projects.
Clearly, Kootenay is strategic in its effort to find minerals and see projects grow and flourish. Kootenay’s teams are actively exploring in BC and Mexico to find resources that could become a real resource and mine. Their strategy of creating joint venture agreements with other companies allows them to increase their chances of finding something by casting their net wide, while simultaneously decreasing risk.
In the company’s Management Discussion and Analysis dated June 30, 2007, Kootenay listed six separate generative exploration projects in Mexico and British Columbia. Relying on joint venture agreements with companies like Klondike Silver and Astral Mining reduces risk to Kootenay because it minimizes dilution to Kootenay stock. Instead of having to raise funds on the stock market, Kootenay creates revenue by, in effect, selling a percentage of the spoils of exploration. At the same time, Kootenay is able to leverage the success of the exploration they jointly undertake by holding stock in the partner company.
Also, by associating their projects with companies like Klondike Silver and Amador Gold Corp., both of which are led by the highly respected and massively successful Richard Hughes, Kootenay is running with the best in the business.
And all the while Kootenay can focus its efforts on its 100% owned property of promise. The company’s flagship, advanced-stage Promontorio Silver Project located in Northwestern Mexico is home to a past-producing mine and open pit. It covers approximately 37,000 hectares and four adjacent claims.
A previous feasibility study from 1973, which is not NI 43-101 compliant, estimated an ore reserve of 384,000 metric tons with grades of 0.12% copper, 2.8% lead, 1.74% zinc, 1.5 g/t gold and 367 g/t silver. The recommendation following the feasibility study was to move toward production as well as further exploration on the property to increase the resource.
However, exploitation of the estimated reserve has been limited. During the early 1960s and late 1980s a Mexican-built mine and small open pit produced 48,000 tonnes of oxide and sulphide ore. Along with so many other mines, operations at Promontorio halted on the heels of the gold bear market in the 1990s.
War Eagle Mining undertook further exploration on the property in the late 1990s, including mapping, line cutting, geophysical surveys and drilling. However, under the full weight of the bear market, the exploration junior abandoned the project. Enter bull market and Kootenay Gold, which plans to capitalize on both the resource opportunity and the timing.
Kootenay is currently conducting a 3,000-metre drill program on the Promontorio Property; results are expected in the next 30 to 60 days. Highlights from chip samples in the spring included 480 g/t silver over an estimated true width of 19m as well as 2.51 g/t gold, 11,199 ppm lead and 17,284 ppm zinc. Plans are to continue drilling on three other identified mineralized zones, which together comprise a small 200m x 400m area of a total mineralized trend along a strike of 2000m with a width of 500m. With completion of the Phase I drill program, which aims to confirm historic data, the company plans a Phase II program to test additional targets on the trend. Consistent with Kootenay’s strategy to focus on advanced stage projects, Kootenay has secured the right to 100% registered and beneficial interest in the project.
During the last year Kootenay has pursued an aggressive growth strategy. With Phase I exploration at the Promontorio progressing well, Kootenay will continue, along with JV partners of choice, to develop their many generative exploration projects across Mexico and BC. Certainly, some will thrive and others will not. Kootenay will dedicate an incredible amount of expertise, time, thought and financial resources to developing exploration opportunities and watching them grow.
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.
The author and ResourcexInvestor.com are not shareholders in the companies herein mentioned, and the author, as an employee of Resourcex Publishing Corp is expressly prohibited for owning any securities about which they may write for a period of 30 days prior to and 30 days after initial publication of the article in which the securities of any company are mentioned.
Kootenay Gold Employs Sound Strategy to Maximize Mineral, Minimize Dirt
By Katherine Young
My thirteen year-old daughter is studying mining in her grade eight social studies class. She tells me that when asked for the first three things they thought of about mining, the students in her class named: dirt, explosives and gold. My daughter then informed me that following their logic, a good mining company basically has less dirt and more gold. There was something elegant and simple to her conclusion, I thought. All these exploration companies with different strategies, different exploration and management styles, all essentially attempting to maximize gold, or silver as the case may be, and minimize dirt.
Kootenay Gold (TSX.V:KTN) is a company with a sound strategy for dirt, explosives and gold. Notice how the company describes its approach: To create generative exploration discoveries, establish junior venture partnerships and acquire advanced stage projects.
Clearly, Kootenay is strategic in its effort to find minerals and see projects grow and flourish. Kootenay’s teams are actively exploring in BC and Mexico to find resources that could become a real resource and mine. Their strategy of creating joint venture agreements with other companies allows them to increase their chances of finding something by casting their net wide, while simultaneously decreasing risk.
In the company’s Management Discussion and Analysis dated June 30, 2007, Kootenay listed six separate generative exploration projects in Mexico and British Columbia. Relying on joint venture agreements with companies like Klondike Silver and Astral Mining reduces risk to Kootenay because it minimizes dilution to Kootenay stock. Instead of having to raise funds on the stock market, Kootenay creates revenue by, in effect, selling a percentage of the spoils of exploration. At the same time, Kootenay is able to leverage the success of the exploration they jointly undertake by holding stock in the partner company.
Also, by associating their projects with companies like Klondike Silver and Amador Gold Corp., both of which are led by the highly respected and massively successful Richard Hughes, Kootenay is running with the best in the business.
And all the while Kootenay can focus its efforts on its 100% owned property of promise. The company’s flagship, advanced-stage Promontorio Silver Project located in Northwestern Mexico is home to a past-producing mine and open pit. It covers approximately 37,000 hectares and four adjacent claims.
A previous feasibility study from 1973, which is not NI 43-101 compliant, estimated an ore reserve of 384,000 metric tons with grades of 0.12% copper, 2.8% lead, 1.74% zinc, 1.5 g/t gold and 367 g/t silver. The recommendation following the feasibility study was to move toward production as well as further exploration on the property to increase the resource.
However, exploitation of the estimated reserve has been limited. During the early 1960s and late 1980s a Mexican-built mine and small open pit produced 48,000 tonnes of oxide and sulphide ore. Along with so many other mines, operations at Promontorio halted on the heels of the gold bear market in the 1990s.
War Eagle Mining undertook further exploration on the property in the late 1990s, including mapping, line cutting, geophysical surveys and drilling. However, under the full weight of the bear market, the exploration junior abandoned the project. Enter bull market and Kootenay Gold, which plans to capitalize on both the resource opportunity and the timing.
Kootenay is currently conducting a 3,000-metre drill program on the Promontorio Property; results are expected in the next 30 to 60 days. Highlights from chip samples in the spring included 480 g/t silver over an estimated true width of 19m as well as 2.51 g/t gold, 11,199 ppm lead and 17,284 ppm zinc. Plans are to continue drilling on three other identified mineralized zones, which together comprise a small 200m x 400m area of a total mineralized trend along a strike of 2000m with a width of 500m. With completion of the Phase I drill program, which aims to confirm historic data, the company plans a Phase II program to test additional targets on the trend. Consistent with Kootenay’s strategy to focus on advanced stage projects, Kootenay has secured the right to 100% registered and beneficial interest in the project.
During the last year Kootenay has pursued an aggressive growth strategy. With Phase I exploration at the Promontorio progressing well, Kootenay will continue, along with JV partners of choice, to develop their many generative exploration projects across Mexico and BC. Certainly, some will thrive and others will not. Kootenay will dedicate an incredible amount of expertise, time, thought and financial resources to developing exploration opportunities and watching them grow.
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.
The author and ResourcexInvestor.com are not shareholders in the companies herein mentioned, and the author, as an employee of Resourcex Publishing Corp is expressly prohibited for owning any securities about which they may write for a period of 30 days prior to and 30 days after initial publication of the article in which the securities of any company are mentioned.
As Yale Encounters Porphyry Deposits in Mexico, a Grand Mystery Unfolds as to its True Nature
By John Hurst
ResourcexInvestor.com
September 26, 2007
A grassroots company no longer, porphyry deposits have encouraged Yale Resources Ltd. (TSX.V:YLL) to expand its La Verde land package in Mexico by 400 hectares. Often a holy grail for explorers, porphyry deposits – all the way from Alaska to Chile – make for great exploration targets. They are typically low grade, promise immense tonnages and create your “As Seen on Google Earth”, open-pit mines.
Yale Resources’ La Verde project, a copper-zinc-silver-gold property located 45 km northwest of Hermosillo, Sonora State, Mexico, has at least six deposits, with workings on them dating back to the early 1900’s.
“We now have known mineralization of potentially economic grades. It’s not a grassroots exploration play. These are deposits and we are going to determine how large they are as quickly as we can,” stated Ian Foreman, the Vancouver company’s geologist-president.
La Verde Grande (The Big Green) is the project’s main deposit. Yale’s first program was done there. Land acquisitions adjoining its northeast corner cover the La Sierrita copper-zinc-molybdenum porphyry that was drilled in early 2000’s by Freeport McMoRan. In its amalgamation with Phelps Dodge, that behemoth chose to leave Mexico and the project was dropped. Another Canadian junior had the project in the 1990s, and dropped it too.
“In each case, the company would drop the property for larger economic reasons, not geological reasons,” Foreman said. “Either the metal prices were too low or the Canadian exchange rate was too high or the world markets were weak…but nobody came to a conclusion with regards to the geological potential of the project, and that was really key for us.
“Freeport-McMoRan drilled eight holes, of which seven are on land that Yale controls. Five of those holes intersected a porphyry. Each of those holes has long intervals of anomalous copper, zinc and molybdenum mineralization. We know that over this four-square-kilometer area, that’s a huge exploration target, and we’ve added a large additional target to the property,” Foreman said.
“So we know that there is a large mineralizing system present. The association between the La Sierrita porphyry and the skarn deposits we are concentrating on at the present, is currently unknown. Is it the source for all the mineralization that has bled into the limestones and created the skarns, or maybe that is indicative of additional porphyry present and maybe the additional porphyry is what is feeding these skarn systems and therefore is a genuine porphyry target on its own.”
The La Verde Grande mine has three principal levels – two of which are about 100 metres in length – and recent field work has identified two additional levels vertically higher, which indicate that there is the potential for additional resources to be defined both up and down dip. The northeast extension of the mine, located 30 metres to the north, has additional workings that continue for another 30 metres along strike. The northeast extension has a second level of workings, located 23 metres below, which have visual mineralization. These were not sampled in previous exploration campaigns but have been sampled by Yale personnel. A three-week rehabilitation program was required before sampling could begin.
A total of 175 samples have been taken and all samples have been submitted to ALS Chemex labs in Hermosillo. Samples were taken every five metres as vertical chip channel samples along the walls of the workings. This sampling program also included initial samples from the historic workings that are all within a radius of 150 metres of the La Verde Grande Mine. In each working, skarn mineralization with visible copper mineralization was encountered.
There has been only very limited drilling done at La Verde. Yale’s exploration strategy for the La Verde Project is that it wants to explore all the targets in the concept that there is a larger mineralizing system present. The technical team and sampling crews will now be moving to the El Picacho prospect, located 900 metres along strike from the La Verde Grande Mine, where work in the early 1900's exposed a breccia with strong copper oxide staining over a 15 metre width.
Trails leading up to the La Tescalama prospect, some 250 metres up the hillside, are being cleared so that the crews will have access. The La Tescalama prospect saw significant historical development as the principal working extends in at least 40 metres and exposed strongly copper mineralized skarn throughout.
“It’s our impression that all previous exploration has tackled these small, high-grade deposits individually,” he stated.
“How are they connected? Are they connected, and if so, what is the key that ties them together? Right now, we are trying to get a feeling for how much mineralization there is. In the La Verde Grande area, there is a mine with three levels of workings; there is an extension off to the northeast with two levels of workings that show the strike length is a deposit in the neighborhood of 150 metres. To us, that already is twice as long as what we understood the deposit to be when we first optioned the property. Now, in just simple exploration, we’ve identified six other small pits or workings that the old-timers had found mineralization, back in the day when they found just something interesting.
“That, to us, indicates that there is genuine exploration potential not just in the 150-metre radius surrounding the mine, but in the surrounding land.”
Much of the site is covered by calcrete, a calcium alteration product up to several metres in thickness and more difficult to explore. All will have to be reckoned with before Yale decides where to drill.
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.
The author and ResourcexInvestor.com are not shareholders in the companies herein mentioned, and the author, as an employee of Resourcex Publishing Corp is expressly prohibited for owning any securities about which they may write for a period of 30 days prior to and 30 days after initial publication of the article in which the securities of any company are mentioned.
As Yale Encounters Porphyry Deposits in Mexico, a Grand Mystery Unfolds as to its True Nature
By John Hurst
ResourcexInvestor.com
September 26, 2007
A grassroots company no longer, porphyry deposits have encouraged Yale Resources Ltd. (TSX.V:YLL) to expand its La Verde land package in Mexico by 400 hectares. Often a holy grail for explorers, porphyry deposits – all the way from Alaska to Chile – make for great exploration targets. They are typically low grade, promise immense tonnages and create your “As Seen on Google Earth”, open-pit mines.
Yale Resources’ La Verde project, a copper-zinc-silver-gold property located 45 km northwest of Hermosillo, Sonora State, Mexico, has at least six deposits, with workings on them dating back to the early 1900’s.
“We now have known mineralization of potentially economic grades. It’s not a grassroots exploration play. These are deposits and we are going to determine how large they are as quickly as we can,” stated Ian Foreman, the Vancouver company’s geologist-president.
La Verde Grande (The Big Green) is the project’s main deposit. Yale’s first program was done there. Land acquisitions adjoining its northeast corner cover the La Sierrita copper-zinc-molybdenum porphyry that was drilled in early 2000’s by Freeport McMoRan. In its amalgamation with Phelps Dodge, that behemoth chose to leave Mexico and the project was dropped. Another Canadian junior had the project in the 1990s, and dropped it too.
“In each case, the company would drop the property for larger economic reasons, not geological reasons,” Foreman said. “Either the metal prices were too low or the Canadian exchange rate was too high or the world markets were weak…but nobody came to a conclusion with regards to the geological potential of the project, and that was really key for us.
“Freeport-McMoRan drilled eight holes, of which seven are on land that Yale controls. Five of those holes intersected a porphyry. Each of those holes has long intervals of anomalous copper, zinc and molybdenum mineralization. We know that over this four-square-kilometer area, that’s a huge exploration target, and we’ve added a large additional target to the property,” Foreman said.
“So we know that there is a large mineralizing system present. The association between the La Sierrita porphyry and the skarn deposits we are concentrating on at the present, is currently unknown. Is it the source for all the mineralization that has bled into the limestones and created the skarns, or maybe that is indicative of additional porphyry present and maybe the additional porphyry is what is feeding these skarn systems and therefore is a genuine porphyry target on its own.”
The La Verde Grande mine has three principal levels – two of which are about 100 metres in length – and recent field work has identified two additional levels vertically higher, which indicate that there is the potential for additional resources to be defined both up and down dip. The northeast extension of the mine, located 30 metres to the north, has additional workings that continue for another 30 metres along strike. The northeast extension has a second level of workings, located 23 metres below, which have visual mineralization. These were not sampled in previous exploration campaigns but have been sampled by Yale personnel. A three-week rehabilitation program was required before sampling could begin.
A total of 175 samples have been taken and all samples have been submitted to ALS Chemex labs in Hermosillo. Samples were taken every five metres as vertical chip channel samples along the walls of the workings. This sampling program also included initial samples from the historic workings that are all within a radius of 150 metres of the La Verde Grande Mine. In each working, skarn mineralization with visible copper mineralization was encountered.
There has been only very limited drilling done at La Verde. Yale’s exploration strategy for the La Verde Project is that it wants to explore all the targets in the concept that there is a larger mineralizing system present. The technical team and sampling crews will now be moving to the El Picacho prospect, located 900 metres along strike from the La Verde Grande Mine, where work in the early 1900's exposed a breccia with strong copper oxide staining over a 15 metre width.
Trails leading up to the La Tescalama prospect, some 250 metres up the hillside, are being cleared so that the crews will have access. The La Tescalama prospect saw significant historical development as the principal working extends in at least 40 metres and exposed strongly copper mineralized skarn throughout.
“It’s our impression that all previous exploration has tackled these small, high-grade deposits individually,” he stated.
“How are they connected? Are they connected, and if so, what is the key that ties them together? Right now, we are trying to get a feeling for how much mineralization there is. In the La Verde Grande area, there is a mine with three levels of workings; there is an extension off to the northeast with two levels of workings that show the strike length is a deposit in the neighborhood of 150 metres. To us, that already is twice as long as what we understood the deposit to be when we first optioned the property. Now, in just simple exploration, we’ve identified six other small pits or workings that the old-timers had found mineralization, back in the day when they found just something interesting.
“That, to us, indicates that there is genuine exploration potential not just in the 150-metre radius surrounding the mine, but in the surrounding land.”
Much of the site is covered by calcrete, a calcium alteration product up to several metres in thickness and more difficult to explore. All will have to be reckoned with before Yale decides where to drill.
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.
The author and ResourcexInvestor.com are not shareholders in the companies herein mentioned, and the author, as an employee of Resourcex Publishing Corp is expressly prohibited for owning any securities about which they may write for a period of 30 days prior to and 30 days after initial publication of the article in which the securities of any company are mentioned.
Yale Resources (TSX.V:YLL) Encounters Porphyry Deposits in Mexico
As Yale Encounters Porphyry Deposits in Mexico, a Grand Mystery Unfolds as to its True Nature
By John Hurst
ResourcexInvestor.com
September 26, 2007
A grassroots company no longer, porphyry deposits have encouraged Yale Resources Ltd. (TSX.V:YLL) to expand its La Verde land package in Mexico by 400 hectares. Often a holy grail for explorers, porphyry deposits – all the way from Alaska to Chile – make for great exploration targets. They are typically low grade, promise immense tonnages and create your “As Seen on Google Earth”, open-pit mines.
Yale Resources’ La Verde project, a copper-zinc-silver-gold property located 45 km northwest of Hermosillo, Sonora State, Mexico, has at least six deposits, with workings on them dating back to the early 1900’s.
“We now have known mineralization of potentially economic grades. It’s not a grassroots exploration play. These are deposits and we are going to determine how large they are as quickly as we can,” stated Ian Foreman, the Vancouver company’s geologist-president.
La Verde Grande (The Big Green) is the project’s main deposit. Yale’s first program was done there. Land acquisitions adjoining its northeast corner cover the La Sierrita copper-zinc-molybdenum porphyry that was drilled in early 2000’s by Freeport McMoRan. In its amalgamation with Phelps Dodge, that behemoth chose to leave Mexico and the project was dropped. Another Canadian junior had the project in the 1990s, and dropped it too.
“In each case, the company would drop the property for larger economic reasons, not geological reasons,” Foreman said. “Either the metal prices were too low or the Canadian exchange rate was too high or the world markets were weak…but nobody came to a conclusion with regards to the geological potential of the project, and that was really key for us.
“Freeport-McMoRan drilled eight holes, of which seven are on land that Yale controls. Five of those holes intersected a porphyry. Each of those holes has long intervals of anomalous copper, zinc and molybdenum mineralization. We know that over this four-square-kilometer area, that’s a huge exploration target, and we’ve added a large additional target to the property,” Foreman said.
“So we know that there is a large mineralizing system present. The association between the La Sierrita porphyry and the skarn deposits we are concentrating on at the present, is currently unknown. Is it the source for all the mineralization that has bled into the limestones and created the skarns, or maybe that is indicative of additional porphyry present and maybe the additional porphyry is what is feeding these skarn systems and therefore is a genuine porphyry target on its own.”
The La Verde Grande mine has three principal levels – two of which are about 100 metres in length – and recent field work has identified two additional levels vertically higher, which indicate that there is the potential for additional resources to be defined both up and down dip. The northeast extension of the mine, located 30 metres to the north, has additional workings that continue for another 30 metres along strike. The northeast extension has a second level of workings, located 23 metres below, which have visual mineralization. These were not sampled in previous exploration campaigns but have been sampled by Yale personnel. A three-week rehabilitation program was required before sampling could begin.
A total of 175 samples have been taken and all samples have been submitted to ALS Chemex labs in Hermosillo. Samples were taken every five metres as vertical chip channel samples along the walls of the workings. This sampling program also included initial samples from the historic workings that are all within a radius of 150 metres of the La Verde Grande Mine. In each working, skarn mineralization with visible copper mineralization was encountered.
There has been only very limited drilling done at La Verde. Yale’s exploration strategy for the La Verde Project is that it wants to explore all the targets in the concept that there is a larger mineralizing system present. The technical team and sampling crews will now be moving to the El Picacho prospect, located 900 metres along strike from the La Verde Grande Mine, where work in the early 1900's exposed a breccia with strong copper oxide staining over a 15 metre width.
Trails leading up to the La Tescalama prospect, some 250 metres up the hillside, are being cleared so that the crews will have access. The La Tescalama prospect saw significant historical development as the principal working extends in at least 40 metres and exposed strongly copper mineralized skarn throughout.
“It’s our impression that all previous exploration has tackled these small, high-grade deposits individually,” he stated.
“How are they connected? Are they connected, and if so, what is the key that ties them together? Right now, we are trying to get a feeling for how much mineralization there is. In the La Verde Grande area, there is a mine with three levels of workings; there is an extension off to the northeast with two levels of workings that show the strike length is a deposit in the neighborhood of 150 metres. To us, that already is twice as long as what we understood the deposit to be when we first optioned the property. Now, in just simple exploration, we’ve identified six other small pits or workings that the old-timers had found mineralization, back in the day when they found just something interesting.
“That, to us, indicates that there is genuine exploration potential not just in the 150-metre radius surrounding the mine, but in the surrounding land.”
Much of the site is covered by calcrete, a calcium alteration product up to several metres in thickness and more difficult to explore. All will have to be reckoned with before Yale decides where to drill.
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.
The author and ResourcexInvestor.com are not shareholders in the companies herein mentioned, and the author, as an employee of Resourcex Publishing Corp is expressly prohibited for owning any securities about which they may write for a period of 30 days prior to and 30 days after initial publication of the article in which the securities of any company are mentioned.
Yale Encounters Porphyry Deposits in Mexico
As Yale Encounters Porphyry Deposits in Mexico, a Grand Mystery Unfolds as to its True Nature
By John Hurst
ResourcexInvestor.com
September 26, 2007
A grassroots company no longer, porphyry deposits have encouraged Yale Resources Ltd. (TSX.V:YLL) to expand its La Verde land package in Mexico by 400 hectares. Often a holy grail for explorers, porphyry deposits – all the way from Alaska to Chile – make for great exploration targets. They are typically low grade, promise immense tonnages and create your “As Seen on Google Earth”, open-pit mines.
Yale Resources’ La Verde project, a copper-zinc-silver-gold property located 45 km northwest of Hermosillo, Sonora State, Mexico, has at least six deposits, with workings on them dating back to the early 1900’s.
“We now have known mineralization of potentially economic grades. It’s not a grassroots exploration play. These are deposits and we are going to determine how large they are as quickly as we can,” stated Ian Foreman, the Vancouver company’s geologist-president.
La Verde Grande (The Big Green) is the project’s main deposit. Yale’s first program was done there. Land acquisitions adjoining its northeast corner cover the La Sierrita copper-zinc-molybdenum porphyry that was drilled in early 2000’s by Freeport McMoRan. In its amalgamation with Phelps Dodge, that behemoth chose to leave Mexico and the project was dropped. Another Canadian junior had the project in the 1990s, and dropped it too.
“In each case, the company would drop the property for larger economic reasons, not geological reasons,” Foreman said. “Either the metal prices were too low or the Canadian exchange rate was too high or the world markets were weak…but nobody came to a conclusion with regards to the geological potential of the project, and that was really key for us.
“Freeport-McMoRan drilled eight holes, of which seven are on land that Yale controls. Five of those holes intersected a porphyry. Each of those holes has long intervals of anomalous copper, zinc and molybdenum mineralization. We know that over this four-square-kilometer area, that’s a huge exploration target, and we’ve added a large additional target to the property,” Foreman said.
“So we know that there is a large mineralizing system present. The association between the La Sierrita porphyry and the skarn deposits we are concentrating on at the present, is currently unknown. Is it the source for all the mineralization that has bled into the limestones and created the skarns, or maybe that is indicative of additional porphyry present and maybe the additional porphyry is what is feeding these skarn systems and therefore is a genuine porphyry target on its own.”
The La Verde Grande mine has three principal levels – two of which are about 100 metres in length – and recent field work has identified two additional levels vertically higher, which indicate that there is the potential for additional resources to be defined both up and down dip. The northeast extension of the mine, located 30 metres to the north, has additional workings that continue for another 30 metres along strike. The northeast extension has a second level of workings, located 23 metres below, which have visual mineralization. These were not sampled in previous exploration campaigns but have been sampled by Yale personnel. A three-week rehabilitation program was required before sampling could begin.
A total of 175 samples have been taken and all samples have been submitted to ALS Chemex labs in Hermosillo. Samples were taken every five metres as vertical chip channel samples along the walls of the workings. This sampling program also included initial samples from the historic workings that are all within a radius of 150 metres of the La Verde Grande Mine. In each working, skarn mineralization with visible copper mineralization was encountered.
There has been only very limited drilling done at La Verde. Yale’s exploration strategy for the La Verde Project is that it wants to explore all the targets in the concept that there is a larger mineralizing system present. The technical team and sampling crews will now be moving to the El Picacho prospect, located 900 metres along strike from the La Verde Grande Mine, where work in the early 1900's exposed a breccia with strong copper oxide staining over a 15 metre width.
Trails leading up to the La Tescalama prospect, some 250 metres up the hillside, are being cleared so that the crews will have access. The La Tescalama prospect saw significant historical development as the principal working extends in at least 40 metres and exposed strongly copper mineralized skarn throughout.
“It’s our impression that all previous exploration has tackled these small, high-grade deposits individually,” he stated.
“How are they connected? Are they connected, and if so, what is the key that ties them together? Right now, we are trying to get a feeling for how much mineralization there is. In the La Verde Grande area, there is a mine with three levels of workings; there is an extension off to the northeast with two levels of workings that show the strike length is a deposit in the neighborhood of 150 metres. To us, that already is twice as long as what we understood the deposit to be when we first optioned the property. Now, in just simple exploration, we’ve identified six other small pits or workings that the old-timers had found mineralization, back in the day when they found just something interesting.
“That, to us, indicates that there is genuine exploration potential not just in the 150-metre radius surrounding the mine, but in the surrounding land.”
Much of the site is covered by calcrete, a calcium alteration product up to several metres in thickness and more difficult to explore. All will have to be reckoned with before Yale decides where to drill.
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.
The author and ResourcexInvestor.com are not shareholders in the companies herein mentioned, and the author, as an employee of Resourcex Publishing Corp is expressly prohibited for owning any securities about which they may write for a period of 30 days prior to and 30 days after initial publication of the article in which the securities of any company are mentioned.
Junior Company JV with Kinross Gold
Quoted from Article:
"Teryl Resources acquired the Gil claims in 1989, and in 1991 entered into a joint venture with Fairbanks Gold Mining Incorporated (FGMI) and Melba Creek Mining Company
Inc. (MCMI). Fairbanks Gold Corporation was subsequently acquired by Amax Gold, Cyprus Amax, and finally Kinross Gold. FGMI and MCMI are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Kinross Gold. As such, one wonders about the fate of Teryl Resources with a partner such as Kinross so close and so hungry for talent and resources. By way of comparison, consider that Kinross’ nearby True North gold deposit (located two miles north of Teryl’s West Ridge property) was purchased by Kinross in 1999 for $94 million in cash and stock. "
Full Article: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2296
Junior taking on JV with Kinross Gold
Quoted from Article:
"Teryl Resources acquired the Gil claims in 1989, and in 1991 entered into a joint venture with Fairbanks Gold Mining Incorporated (FGMI) and Melba Creek Mining Company
Inc. (MCMI). Fairbanks Gold Corporation was subsequently acquired by Amax Gold, Cyprus Amax, and finally Kinross Gold. FGMI and MCMI are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Kinross Gold. As such, one wonders about the fate of Teryl Resources with a partner such as Kinross so close and so hungry for talent and resources. By way of comparison, consider that Kinross’ nearby True North gold deposit (located two miles north of Teryl’s West Ridge property) was purchased by Kinross in 1999 for $94 million in cash and stock."
Full Article: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2296
ROCKETInfo: Faster than Google, Deeper than Yahoo, More Specific than a Speeding Bullet
By John Hurst
All of us are hip, on-line and Internet-savvy. But we don’t know the beast.
This is the core message of Bill Ganz, the president and CEO of next-step search engine ROCKETInfo Inc. (OTC:RKTI). It is a search technology company in the spirit of Google and Yahoo!, but with a new approach to the delivery of results, news and business information.
The growth potential for ROCKETInfo is remarkable: Just the business process management (BPM) aspect of this industry, including software, services and maintenance, will grow to $6.3 billion annually by 2011, according to a report by Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company. Analysts project a growth rate for the BPM sector of up to 35 percent annually.
ROCKETInfo does two things very well for businesses of all kinds: It is provides search engine services and is a content server that delivers targeted and relevant content such as news and financial information. The software has been designed to automate the process of defining, collecting, analyzing and delivering relevant, current news from an international pool of reputable news, media and other sources.
It is essentially publishing monolith of potentially gargantuan proportions.
Ganz’ homily: “The nexus of the dot.com era afforded a lot of ideas that were funded and what’s happening right now is that these ideas have worked. Things are now better, faster and cheaper if you understand your media and technology.”
Ganz said that exploring ROCKETInfo’s services is much like waking up in a new world. Internet users who have become used to searching for information with providers like Google and Yahoo, he said, get millions of results per search, much of them segregated into paid-for categories. The problem is, most of this information is neither wanted nor needed. ROCKETInfo’s proprietary software filters the junk, the ads, the spam, and delivers only the desired content.
Read the rest here: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2414
ROCKETInfo: Faster than Google, Deeper than Yahoo, More Specific than a Speeding Bullet
By John Hurst
All of us are hip, on-line and Internet-savvy. But we don’t know the beast.
This is the core message of Bill Ganz, the president and CEO of next-step search engine ROCKETInfo Inc. (OTC:RKTI). It is a search technology company in the spirit of Google and Yahoo!, but with a new approach to the delivery of results, news and business information.
The growth potential for ROCKETInfo is remarkable: Just the business process management (BPM) aspect of this industry, including software, services and maintenance, will grow to $6.3 billion annually by 2011, according to a report by Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company. Analysts project a growth rate for the BPM sector of up to 35 percent annually.
ROCKETInfo does two things very well for businesses of all kinds: It is provides search engine services and is a content server that delivers targeted and relevant content such as news and financial information. The software has been designed to automate the process of defining, collecting, analyzing and delivering relevant, current news from an international pool of reputable news, media and other sources.
The rest of the piece is here: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2414
ValGold’s Mochila Mojo
By Christina de Wit
There’s an old Venezuelan proverb that says “Join with good men and you will be one of them.” ValGold Resources’ (TSX.V:VAL) management team appears to have taken this piece of wisdom to heart as the company embarks on an ambitious drill program at the Chicanan West Complex located approximately 50km northwest of the Kilometre 88 gold camp in Bolivar State, Venezuela.
This latest phase of development represents an expansion of the company’s presence in Venezuela. ValGold has completed the first stage of drilling of its program at the Los Patos gold occurrence within the Lo Increible 3 Concession, also located in Bolivar State, Venezuela. Lo Increible 3 is 20km northeast of the town of El Callao and 4.5km northeast of Crystallex’s La Tomi gold mine. ValGold’s other projects include properties in Guyana and northwestern Ontario.
The Chicanan West Complex consists of 11 mining concessions comprising a sizeable land holding of 522 km2. This area is located within the Guiana Shield, which hosts a greenstone belt that is known to be highly prospective for gold. The Complex is characterized by an island-arc sequence with intermittent periods of volcanism and sedimentation with ancillary quartz-porphyry dikes – an environment considered by many geoscientists to be favorable for mineral discoveries.
The program’s primary target is the Mochila (Spanish for ‘knapsack’) gold occurrence, represented by Proterozoic-age mafic to intermediate intrusive to metavolcanic rocks in an area covering about 10km2. Gold occurs as enrichments along the contacts of specific layers or units with the Mochila Layered Complex and along a north-trending lineament. Proterozoic-age rocks are the major source of mineralization in the world. Well-known examples of major, defined deposits with very similar geology in the area include Crystallex’s Las Cristinas and Gold Reserve’s Brisas discoveries.
Several gold occurrences (as well as base and precious metal occurrences), have been identified on the property, with two types of gold mineralization. The first, hosted by the Mochila Layered Complex, is found along a regional fault. This is an example of axial plane foliation, in which hot waters carrying metal ions are forced into cracks created by folding and faulting. The second type of gold mineralization is found within the sericitized Chicanan Shear Zone.
The major area of interest is the upper contact of the middle gabbro unit of the layered complex. According to the company’s 43-101 report (p.60), the “Mochila Lineament contains numerous artisanal workings covering a surface area of more than 14km by 3km. Within this area, several world-class deposits could be developed. Three target areas have been identified in a selected area of the lineament and are ready for drill testing.” A minimum of 5000m of coring in 15-20 holes is planned at this stage.
Venezuela has had a long history of successful gold exploration. Presently, several companies have operating mines in the Venezuela’s Guiana shield: Crystallex, Hecla, Gold Fields (JSE:GFI), Gold Reserve (GRZ), and Rusoro (RML). Chicanan West is located in the same belt as two major deposits: Las Cristinas (Crystallex), and the Brisas (Gold Reserve), which reportedly host a combined estimated gold resource of 31 million ounces. These success stories plus the current run on gold underscore the potential for well-placed junior explorers to achieve a comparable level of growth.
There are several advantages to investing in Venezuela. It should be emphasized that there has never been an expropriation in the country’s history. Labour costs are low, and diesel is only 15¢ a litre. The government also does not demand a royalty on production, instead preferring a streamlined corporate taxation structure.
Despite negative American press coverage of Hugo Chavez’s governance, explorers and operators in Venezuela have largely enjoyed a progressive work environment. The Chavez administration has not deterred serious investors and players from working and profiting in Venezuela. According to Jeff Stuart, ValGold’s head of Investor Relations, the current government has made considerable efforts to create a hospitable mining investment climate. “The government [has] actually been really, really good to us,” he said. Bureaucratic red tape is not an issue, as “we got permits in six days”. They have provided the company with government assistance and who have facilitated its work program, and have helped ValGold to avoid conflicts with artisanal Brazilian miners working in the area.
The company’s management has a lifetime history of dealing with properties of merit. Its chairman, Andrew Milligan, is a former president of Glamis Gold Ltd., Tom Pollock, the company’s vice president of exploration, was the China Country Manager for BHP during his 20-year career with them, and ValGold’s president, Stephen Wilkinson, is past president of Northern Orion (currently trading around $6.50 per share). Pedro “Peter” Tinoco, one of the company’s directors, was the president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Mines for two consecutive terms, as well as the president of the Latin American Mining Organization from 1996-2006. Since 1989, he has been the vice president of the mining division of the Venezuela-based Cisneros Group of Companies, one of the largest privately held media, entertainment, telecommunications and consumer products conglomerates in the world. Through Mr. Tinoco, ValGold has strong ties to some of the most influential people in South American mining – a few good men and women indeed.
ValGold is uniquely well-placed for success in Venezuela, as several key factors make it a wise buy-and-hold investment in this rising gold market: Seasoned management with a stellar Latin American track record, projects at drilling stage, large holdings close to major producers in a still-underexplored region, a solid relationship with a mining-friendly government, and a roaring gold market. This is particularly auspicious timing for investors, as drill results from La Mochila are expected to roll in over the next 8 to 10 weeks.
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.
A Company worth looking into: ValGold
ValGold’s Mochila Mojo
By Christina de Wit
There’s an old Venezuelan proverb that says “Join with good men and you will be one of them.” ValGold Resources’ (TSX.V:VAL) management team appears to have taken this piece of wisdom to heart as the company embarks on an ambitious drill program at the Chicanan West Complex located approximately 50km northwest of the Kilometre 88 gold camp in Bolivar State, Venezuela.
This latest phase of development represents an expansion of the company’s presence in Venezuela. ValGold has completed the first stage of drilling of its program at the Los Patos gold occurrence within the Lo Increible 3 Concession, also located in Bolivar State, Venezuela. Lo Increible 3 is 20km northeast of the town of El Callao and 4.5km northeast of Crystallex’s La Tomi gold mine. ValGold’s other projects include properties in Guyana and northwestern Ontario.
The Chicanan West Complex consists of 11 mining concessions comprising a sizeable land holding of 522 km2. This area is located within the Guiana Shield, which hosts a greenstone belt that is known to be highly prospective for gold. The Complex is characterized by an island-arc sequence with intermittent periods of volcanism and sedimentation with ancillary quartz-porphyry dikes – an environment considered by many geoscientists to be favorable for mineral discoveries.
The program’s primary target is the Mochila (Spanish for ‘knapsack’) gold occurrence, represented by Proterozoic-age mafic to intermediate intrusive to metavolcanic rocks in an area covering about 10km2. Gold occurs as enrichments along the contacts of specific layers or units with the Mochila Layered Complex and along a north-trending lineament. Proterozoic-age rocks are the major source of mineralization in the world. Well-known examples of major, defined deposits with very similar geology in the area include Crystallex’s Las Cristinas and Gold Reserve’s Brisas discoveries.
Several gold occurrences (as well as base and precious metal occurrences), have been identified on the property, with two types of gold mineralization. The first, hosted by the Mochila Layered Complex, is found along a regional fault. This is an example of axial plane foliation, in which hot waters carrying metal ions are forced into cracks created by folding and faulting. The second type of gold mineralization is found within the sericitized Chicanan Shear Zone.
The major area of interest is the upper contact of the middle gabbro unit of the layered complex. According to the company’s 43-101 report (p.60), the “Mochila Lineament contains numerous artisanal workings covering a surface area of more than 14km by 3km. Within this area, several world-class deposits could be developed. Three target areas have been identified in a selected area of the lineament and are ready for drill testing.” A minimum of 5000m of coring in 15-20 holes is planned at this stage.
Venezuela has had a long history of successful gold exploration. Presently, several companies have operating mines in the Venezuela’s Guiana shield: Crystallex, Hecla, Gold Fields (JSE:GFI), Gold Reserve (GRZ), and Rusoro (RML). Chicanan West is located in the same belt as two major deposits: Las Cristinas (Crystallex), and the Brisas (Gold Reserve), which reportedly host a combined estimated gold resource of 31 million ounces. These success stories plus the current run on gold underscore the potential for well-placed junior explorers to achieve a comparable level of growth.
There are several advantages to investing in Venezuela. It should be emphasized that there has never been an expropriation in the country’s history. Labour costs are low, and diesel is only 15¢ a litre. The government also does not demand a royalty on production, instead preferring a streamlined corporate taxation structure.
Despite negative American press coverage of Hugo Chavez’s governance, explorers and operators in Venezuela have largely enjoyed a progressive work environment. The Chavez administration has not deterred serious investors and players from working and profiting in Venezuela. According to Jeff Stuart, ValGold’s head of Investor Relations, the current government has made considerable efforts to create a hospitable mining investment climate. “The government [has] actually been really, really good to us,” he said. Bureaucratic red tape is not an issue, as “we got permits in six days”. They have provided the company with government assistance and who have facilitated its work program, and have helped ValGold to avoid conflicts with artisanal Brazilian miners working in the area.
The company’s management has a lifetime history of dealing with properties of merit. Its chairman, Andrew Milligan, is a former president of Glamis Gold Ltd., Tom Pollock, the company’s vice president of exploration, was the China Country Manager for BHP during his 20-year career with them, and ValGold’s president, Stephen Wilkinson, is past president of Northern Orion (currently trading around $6.50 per share). Pedro “Peter” Tinoco, one of the company’s directors, was the president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Mines for two consecutive terms, as well as the president of the Latin American Mining Organization from 1996-2006. Since 1989, he has been the vice president of the mining division of the Venezuela-based Cisneros Group of Companies, one of the largest privately held media, entertainment, telecommunications and consumer products conglomerates in the world. Through Mr. Tinoco, ValGold has strong ties to some of the most influential people in South American mining – a few good men and women indeed.
ValGold is uniquely well-placed for success in Venezuela, as several key factors make it a wise buy-and-hold investment in this rising gold market: Seasoned management with a stellar Latin American track record, projects at drilling stage, large holdings close to major producers in a still-underexplored region, a solid relationship with a mining-friendly government, and a roaring gold market. This is particularly auspicious timing for investors, as drill results from La Mochila are expected to roll in over the next 8 to 10 weeks.
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.
Montello (TSXV: MEO) Progresses toward Depth at Massive Formation in Tennessee
By Doug Hadfield
As a director of Montello Resources (TSXV: MEO), a financial journalist and seasoned stock speculator, Marc Davis doesn’t get particularly caught up in the excitement of most oil & gas drill projects any more. But there are rare exceptions. And that’s why he agreed to become a director of the feisty oil & gas upstart, Montello Resources. He views it as a company that is drilling an oil and gas formation with the potential to blow Tennessee’s oil and gas industry wide open – literally. I spoke with Davis on the phone briefly and he explained a few of the salient details on the ground at Montello’s John Bowen #2 Test Well.
“We're drilling right now to find the hydrocarbon source of the most over-pressured oil county in all of Tennessee. In layman’s terms, there’s something big down there that was responsible for a gusher that spewed so much oil that the rig was apparently lifted right off the ground and the well had to be plugged for safety reasons,” Marc said, referring to the Howard-White #1 Well, which Pryor Oil drilled in 2002.
The rest is here: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2269
Montello Resources (TSX.V:MEO) - Drilling Down The Devil’s Throat
By Eric Pratt
ResourcexInvestor.com
September 10, 2007
Montello Resources (TSX.V:MEO – www.montello.com), an oil and gas exploration firm based in Calgary, Alberta, potentially has a very big problem on its hands. It’s the kind of problem most junior explorers only wish they had.
The company is in the last leg of drilling on the John Bowen #2 test well in Tennessee, just over a mile from the site of the now notorious Pryor Oil blowout, after a drill penetrated a formation at 2,400 feet that was under an estimated 2200 pounds per square inch of pressure. The resulting explosion of condensates blew the derrick into the air, and by the time the EPA showed up to take control of the scene, the gusher had flowed at rates of up to 12,000 boe a day!
Pryor Oil was all but annihilated by the legal and cleanup costs, and for years afterwards, the Tennessee Oil and Gas Authority banned any further exploration in the region.
That was over 5 years ago, and it has taken that long for Montello president Bill Cawker to get the company’s ducks in a row to take another shot at the monster formation.
When it came to putting a property package together in Tennessee, fractured ownership and obtuse property configurations were enough to alienate all the usual American Big Oil suspects for a well with potential of the John Bowen.
The rest is here: http://www.huliq.com/34222/montello-resources-tsx-v-meo-drilling-down-the-devil-s-throat
Montello (TSXV: MEO) Progresses toward Depth at Massive Formation in Tennessee
By Doug Hadfield
As a director of Montello Resources (TSXV: MEO), a financial journalist and seasoned stock speculator, Marc Davis doesn’t get particularly caught up in the excitement of most oil & gas drill projects any more. But there are rare exceptions. And that’s why he agreed to become a director of the feisty oil & gas upstart, Montello Resources. He views it as a company that is drilling an oil and gas formation with the potential to blow Tennessee’s oil and gas industry wide open – literally. I spoke with Davis on the phone briefly and he explained a few of the salient details on the ground at Montello’s John Bowen #2 Test Well.
“We're drilling right now to find the hydrocarbon source of the most over-pressured oil county in all of Tennessee. In layman’s terms, there’s something big down there that was responsible for a gusher that spewed so much oil that the rig was apparently lifted right off the ground and the well had to be plugged for safety reasons,” Marc said, referring to the Howard-White #1 Well, which Pryor Oil drilled in 2002.
The rest is here: http://www.resourcexinvestor.com/news.php?id=2269
Montello Resources (TSX.V:MEO) - Drilling Down The Devil’s Throat
By Eric Pratt
Montello Resources (TSX.V:MEO – www.montello.com), an oil and gas exploration firm based in Calgary, Alberta, potentially has a very big problem on its hands. It’s the kind of problem most junior explorers only wish they had.
The company is in the last leg of drilling on the John Bowen #2 test well in Tennessee, just over a mile from the site of the now notorious Pryor Oil blowout, after a drill penetrated a formation at 2,400 feet that was under an estimated 2200 pounds per square inch of pressure. The resulting explosion of condensates blew the derrick into the air, and by the time the EPA showed up to take control of the scene, the gusher had flowed at rates of up to 12,000 boe a day!
Pryor Oil was all but annihilated by the legal and cleanup costs, and for years afterwards, the Tennessee Oil and Gas Authority banned any further exploration in the region.
That was over 5 years ago, and it has taken that long for Montello president Bill Cawker to get the company’s ducks in a row to take another shot at the monster formation.
When it came to putting a property package together in Tennessee, fractured ownership and obtuse property configurations were enough to alienate all the usual American Big Oil suspects for a well with potential of the John Bowen.
The rest is here: http://www.huliq.com/34222/montello-resources-tsx-v-meo-drilling-down-the-devil-s-throat
ValGold’s Mochila Mojo
By Christina de Wit
There’s an old Venezuelan proverb that says “Join with good men and you will be one of them.” ValGold Resources’ (TSX.V:VAL) management team appears to have taken this piece of wisdom to heart as the company embarks on an ambitious drill program at the Chicanan West Complex located approximately 50km northwest of the Kilometre 88 gold camp in Bolivar State, Venezuela.
This latest phase of development represents an expansion of the company’s presence in Venezuela. ValGold has completed the first stage of drilling of its program at the Los Patos gold occurrence within the Lo Increible 3 Concession, also located in Bolivar State, Venezuela. Lo Increible 3 is 20km northeast of the town of El Callao and 4.5km northeast of Crystallex’s La Tomi gold mine. ValGold’s other projects include properties in Guyana and northwestern Ontario.
The Chicanan West Complex consists of 11 mining concessions comprising a sizeable land holding of 522 km2. This area is located within the Guiana Shield, which hosts a greenstone belt that is known to be highly prospective for gold. The Complex is characterized by an island-arc sequence with intermittent periods of volcanism and sedimentation with ancillary quartz-porphyry dikes – an environment considered by many geoscientists to be favorable for mineral discoveries.
The program’s primary target is the Mochila (Spanish for ‘knapsack’) gold occurrence, represented by Proterozoic-age mafic to intermediate intrusive to metavolcanic rocks in an area covering about 10km2. Gold occurs as enrichments along the contacts of specific layers or units with the Mochila Layered Complex and along a north-trending lineament. Proterozoic-age rocks are the major source of mineralization in the world. Well-known examples of major, defined deposits with very similar geology in the area include Crystallex’s Las Cristinas and Gold Reserve’s Brisas discoveries.
Several gold occurrences (as well as base and precious metal occurrences), have been identified on the property, with two types of gold mineralization. The first, hosted by the Mochila Layered Complex, is found along a regional fault. This is an example of axial plane foliation, in which hot waters carrying metal ions are forced into cracks created by folding and faulting. The second type of gold mineralization is found within the sericitized Chicanan Shear Zone.
The major area of interest is the upper contact of the middle gabbro unit of the layered complex. According to the company’s 43-101 report (p.60), the “Mochila Lineament contains numerous artisanal workings covering a surface area of more than 14km by 3km. Within this area, several world-class deposits could be developed. Three target areas have been identified in a selected area of the lineament and are ready for drill testing.” A minimum of 5000m of coring in 15-20 holes is planned at this stage.
Venezuela has had a long history of successful gold exploration. Presently, several companies have operating mines in the Venezuela’s Guiana shield: Crystallex, Hecla, Gold Fields (JSE:GFI), Gold Reserve (GRZ), and Rusoro (RML). Chicanan West is located in the same belt as two major deposits: Las Cristinas (Crystallex), and the Brisas (Gold Reserve), which reportedly host a combined estimated gold resource of 31 million ounces. These success stories plus the current run on gold underscore the potential for well-placed junior explorers to achieve a comparable level of growth.
There are several advantages to investing in Venezuela. It should be emphasized that there has never been an expropriation in the country’s history. Labour costs are low, and diesel is only 15¢ a litre. The government also does not demand a royalty on production, instead preferring a streamlined corporate taxation structure.
Despite negative American press coverage of Hugo Chavez’s governance, explorers and operators in Venezuela have largely enjoyed a progressive work environment. The Chavez administration has not deterred serious investors and players from working and profiting in Venezuela. According to Jeff Stuart, ValGold’s head of Investor Relations, the current government has made considerable efforts to create a hospitable mining investment climate. “The government [has] actually been really, really good to us,” he said. Bureaucratic red tape is not an issue, as “we got permits in six days”. They have provided the company with government assistance and who have facilitated its work program, and have helped ValGold to avoid conflicts with artisanal Brazilian miners working in the area.
The company’s management has a lifetime history of dealing with properties of merit. Its chairman, Andrew Milligan, is a former president of Glamis Gold Ltd., Tom Pollock, the company’s vice president of exploration, was the China Country Manager for BHP during his 20-year career with them, and ValGold’s president, Stephen Wilkinson, is past president of Northern Orion (currently trading around $6.50 per share). Pedro “Peter” Tinoco, one of the company’s directors, was the president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Mines for two consecutive terms, as well as the president of the Latin American Mining Organization from 1996-2006. Since 1989, he has been the vice president of the mining division of the Venezuela-based Cisneros Group of Companies, one of the largest privately held media, entertainment, telecommunications and consumer products conglomerates in the world. Through Mr. Tinoco, ValGold has strong ties to some of the most influential people in South American mining – a few good men and women indeed.
ValGold is uniquely well-placed for success in Venezuela, as several key factors make it a wise buy-and-hold investment in this rising gold market: Seasoned management with a stellar Latin American track record, projects at drilling stage, large holdings close to major producers in a still-underexplored region, a solid relationship with a mining-friendly government, and a roaring gold market. This is particularly auspicious timing for investors, as drill results from La Mochila are expected to roll in over the next 8 to 10 weeks.
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.
PMI Gold Adds Nearly 1Million Ounces to Portfolio
PMI Gold Adds Nearly 1 Million Ounces In Ground to Portfolio
By Doug Hadfield
Junior exploration company PMI Gold Corp. (TSXV: PMV) has added a fourth past producing mine to its portfolio in Ghana’s famous Ashanti Gold Belt. The new concession is located just twenty kilometers away from Anglogold Ashanti’s 55 million ounce Obuasi mine and is within southwest Ghana’s Golden Triangle, which has combined current reserves and historical gold production of over 170 million ounces.
Kubi has seen extensive work to date. Project exploration and development costs total more than US$20 million. In the 1920s, artisans completed numerous adits and provided a foundation for later work by BHP, which included a program of ground geophysics and drilling. BHP later optioned the property to NS Ghana, who completed extensive exploration throughout the 1990s.
The geological picture of mineralization at Kubi is described as a one to 15 metre thick blanket of gold mineralization over a span of 1,800 metres long by up to700 metres deep. The mineralized block is contained within a northeast trending shear zone straddling a major contact between the Birimian and Tarkwaiian. According to a report by The Resource Investor, more than 100 million ounces of gold have been identified within the Birimian Gold Belt. The presence of Tarkwaiian rocks is also closely linked to many large gold deposits found in Ghana.
According to a September 2007 NI43-101 technical report for the Kubi property, “The “Ashanti Trend” is a structural feature that hosts many of the gold deposits in the Obuasi area is interpreted to run through the western part of the Kubi property. Exploration in this area has not been exhaustive and additional potential for Ashanti style deposits is possible.”
Between 1996 and 2006, Ashanti mined 58,696 ounces of gold from two open pits on the property. The total ore milled was 500,230 tonnes grading 3.65 g/t. The recovered grade was 28 per cent higher than expected per Ashanti's mine modeling. Seven mineralized zones have been defined on the property, within three major generative corridors, with 85% of the reserve base currently within a zone known as the Main Garnet Zone.
Significantly, the technical report notes that a “Garnet Zone equivalent has been intersected with associated grade in boreholes drilled at (the nearby) Kubi South.” Any future drill program will make this mineralized zone a primary target. The Kubi Main Zone has been traced for two kilometers along a consistent strike and is open at a depth of 700 metres.
The details of the transaction stipulate that PMI will acquire all the shares of Nevsun Resources (Ghana) – a subsidiary of Nevsun Resources (TSX: NSU) – for nine-million shares in PMI, plus an additional $3-million in cash or stock payments. Nevsun’s holdings may not exceed 20% of the outstanding shares of PMI. Ghanaian tax and royalty considerations will be offset by project expenditures to date. At $0.28 per share of PMV.V, the total cost of the transaction to PMI is approximately US$5.5 million. Following the transaction, Nevsun will hold approximately 9% of PMI on a fully diluted basis.
Prior to announcing its acquisition of the Kubi concessions, PMI hired Golder Associates Africa to prepare a NI43-101 resource estimate on the property. Using data from NS Ghana’s work, which included 212 drill holes – and by subtracting the resource already mined by AngloGold Ashanti – Golder showed that the Kubi deposit has close to 920,000 ounces inferred and indicated.
PMI has noted that a portion of the Kubi mining lease is covered by a forest reserve. The company stated, “[We] will proceed with an underground operation “by shaft or decline from the non-forest reserve area and trucking the material off site for processing, and therefore will not be overly impacted by forest reserve issues.” The main Kubi mining lease covers 19.2 square kilometres and has a renewable 10-year term valid to April 29, 2009.
The qualified person on the project, David Farrow, stated that the Kubi Main trend “contains significant resources drilled to a depth of 700 meters vertical.”
The region in which Obuasi and the Kubi mines are located is rich in gold and historical gold mines. The Obuasi gold mine has been in continuous production for 110 years. Ghana is famous for its Ashanti Gold Belt, which is part of a volcano sedimentary belt and presently includes seven producing mines. In fact, Ghana is Africa’s second largest gold producer, mining about 80t of the yellow metal per year. Ghana is already producing over two million ounces of gold per annum This is an area of majors, too, with companies like Anglogold Ashanti, BHP, Newmont and others operating large both large scale exploration and mining activities in the region.
Over the past few years, PMI Gold has acquired three other former gold producing mines in Ghana: Nkran, Abore and Adubiaso. All were previously operated as the Obotan Gold Mine by Resolute Amansie Limited, a subsidiary of Resolute Mining of Australia.
According to PMI documents, between 1997 and 2002, “the Nkran pit at Obotan produced an average of 146,000 ounces of gold per year for a total of 590,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 2.2 g/t. The Abore and Adubiaso pits located 12.5 km and 4.0 km northwest respectively of Nkran, together produced a further 140,000 ounces at similar grades.”
The mine was mothballed in 2002 after Resolute struggled for five consecutive years of low gold prices, averaging approximately US$300 per ounce. The price of gold on September 24th remained over $730 per ounce. Many gold bulls continue to argue that gold is undervalued and that demand for bullion (and therefore it’s price tag) will increase with the declining US dollar and diminishing production.
In 1997, a bankable feasibility study (BFS) reported 38 million tonnes grading 1.96 g/t for 2.823 million ounces at for the Obotan Gold Mine. In total, Resolute mined over 730,000 ounces of gold before closing the mine. PMI Gold believes there is an exploration target below the Nkran pit of one to two million ounces of gold grading from 3 to 6 g/t Au.
PMI Gold (TSXV: PMV) has 77 million shares outstanding including the 9 million for the Kubi acquisition (105 million fully diluted). Its 12-month high-low is $0.47 – $0.14. On September 24, 2007 the company opened at $0.27 per share.
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.
Tribune Uranium’s (TSX.V:TCB) Athabasca Power Play
By Eric Pratt
Canada’s Athabasca Basin is home to the world’s largest uranium mine, McArthur River. The mine, 30% owned by AREVA Resources and 70% by Cameco (NYSE:CCJ, TSX:CCO), produces approximately 18.7 million pounds of uranium per annum.
The McArthur River deposit contains a resource of 367 million pounds of uranium, and production grades average 20.5%; making it not only the biggest uranium mine in the world, but also the highest grade. Cameco and its partners have amassed a total of 673 million pounds of Uranium in 5 deposits throughout the Athabasca basin.
The grade and frequency of large deposits in the Athabasca Basin has resulted in the basin being widely perceived as the best place in the world to discover additional world class deposits. Currently the basin supplies approximately 30% of the world’s uranium at grades 20 times higher than those mined throughout the rest of the world.
Over the past several years there has been a rush of exploration companies acquiring land in the basin, with the hopes of discovering the next world class deposit. The stage is now set for Canada’s next big uranium discovery. Picking an explorer with a realistic chance at making a discovery is no easy task. We’ve found the key is to find companies that have completed the required prospecting, geophysics and mapping and are now actively drilling their properties. It can take up to two years before a company can properly define drill targets; most companies in the basin are still at this early stage.
Tribune Uranium (TSX.V: TCB) recently announced two separate drill programs in the basin.
According to the company’s Sept 18/07 news release, Tribune recently mobilized its exploration program, on its 60% owned 100,000 hectare North Shore Property, located immediately north of Lake Athabasca and 10 kilometers west of the Maurice Bay uranium deposit owned by Cameco. The Maurice Bay deposit, discovered in 1977, hosts 1.3 million pounds of Uranium.
Previous exploration at the North Shore Property, which included extensive ground and airborne geophysics, prospecting, geologic mapping, and drill testing, identified over 200 uranium occurrences and showings. One characteristic which sets the North Shore property apart from others in the basin is the relatively shallow depth of the basin on the west side. Exploration costs are significantly lower when holes only have to be drilled 100 feet in order to hit their targets.
This morning, Tribune announced that they had initiation a second drill program at their Botham Lake property. The Company has identified 19 preliminary drill targets at Botham Lake which have been prioritized by focusing on the projected intersection of conductors with cross-cutting structures, and then comparing the geophysical signatures to those of known deposits.
Also in the today’s release, Tribune announced that exploration on its highly prospective Dufferin Lake property has also begun. Dufferin Lake is immediately adjacent to the Cameco/UEM's Virgin River project and their recently discovered Centennial zone. Discovery holes at the Centennial zone intersected 18.3% over 5.3 metres and 6.72 per cent U3O8 over 5.2 metres. Significant uranium showings have already been reported by Cameco within 1 km of the Dufferin Lake properties and conductors follow portions of the Virgin River shear zone and the Dufferin Lake fault through the Dufferin Lake property.
Currently Tribune has 13,000,000 shares outstanding and a discovery on any of these properties would add significant upside to the share price.
While the price for Uranium has come off of its peak of $125 per pound earlier this year, it is still trading strongly in the $75-85 range, and speculation is likely to resume in the wake of market softness brought on by global money market issues.
According to a story September 6th in the Economist, “America's nuclear industry is about to embark on its biggest expansion in more than a generation.”
The reason for nuclear power’s resurgence as mankind’s best hope for the anticipated demand for increased power generation lies in the fact that it is so clean.
Every year, emission of more than 2 billion tonnes of CO2 world wide is avoided by nuclear power plants fuelled by uranium. In fact Dr Kupcis, Chair of the Canadian Nuclear Association, stated that “Without present-day nuclear capacity, Canada’s greenhouse gas levels would be between 15 and 20 percent higher.”
Existing nuclear plants in Canada avoid the emission of 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, emissions that would occur if fossil fuelled plants had produced the same electricity. Eighteen nuclear power plants provide about 15 percent of Canada’s electricity and make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas and other emissions.
Electricity generation fuelled by uranium produces no carbon dioxide or other emissions that contribute to smog and acid rain. A number of independent studies have shown that life-cycle emissions for nuclear power plants – including construction, operations, fuel production, decommissioning and waste disposal – are comparable to other non-emitting generation systems such as hydro and wind.
Other studies have found that nuclear compares favorably with all other large scale sources of electricity in life-cycle cost analyses.
With world electricity demand expected to double by 2030, nuclear is an increasingly attractive option to help meet growing demand and many countries are turning to nuclear. This trend will support strong markets for Saskatchewan uranium into the future.
Tribune Uranium is a well structured exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of advanced stage, drill ready uranium projects. The company has an experienced management team with two joint venture exploration projects in the highly prospective Athabasca basin.
Tribune is actively evaluating additional properties that meet these criteria and expect to add high quality projects to their portfolio on an ongoing basis.
Tribune Uranium’s (TSX.V:TCB) Athabasca Power Play
By Eric Pratt
Canada’s Athabasca Basin is home to the world’s largest uranium mine, McArthur River. The mine, 30% owned by AREVA Resources and 70% by Cameco (NYSE:CCJ, TSX:CCO), produces approximately 18.7 million pounds of uranium per annum.
The McArthur River deposit contains a resource of 367 million pounds of uranium, and production grades average 20.5%; making it not only the biggest uranium mine in the world, but also the highest grade. Cameco and its partners have amassed a total of 673 million pounds of Uranium in 5 deposits throughout the Athabasca basin.
The grade and frequency of large deposits in the Athabasca Basin has resulted in the basin being widely perceived as the best place in the world to discover additional world class deposits. Currently the basin supplies approximately 30% of the world’s uranium at grades 20 times higher than those mined throughout the rest of the world.
Over the past several years there has been a rush of exploration companies acquiring land in the basin, with the hopes of discovering the next world class deposit. The stage is now set for Canada’s next big uranium discovery. Picking an explorer with a realistic chance at making a discovery is no easy task. We’ve found the key is to find companies that have completed the required prospecting, geophysics and mapping and are now actively drilling their properties. It can take up to two years before a company can properly define drill targets; most companies in the basin are still at this early stage.
Tribune Uranium (TSX.V: TCB) recently announced two separate drill programs in the basin.
According to the company’s Sept 18/07 news release, Tribune recently mobilized its exploration program, on its 60% owned 100,000 hectare North Shore Property, located immediately north of Lake Athabasca and 10 kilometers west of the Maurice Bay uranium deposit owned by Cameco. The Maurice Bay deposit, discovered in 1977, hosts 1.3 million pounds of Uranium.
Previous exploration at the North Shore Property, which included extensive ground and airborne geophysics, prospecting, geologic mapping, and drill testing, identified over 200 uranium occurrences and showings. One characteristic which sets the North Shore property apart from others in the basin is the relatively shallow depth of the basin on the west side. Exploration costs are significantly lower when holes only have to be drilled 100 feet in order to hit their targets.
This morning, Tribune announced that they had initiation a second drill program at their Botham Lake property. The Company has identified 19 preliminary drill targets at Botham Lake which have been prioritized by focusing on the projected intersection of conductors with cross-cutting structures, and then comparing the geophysical signatures to those of known deposits.
Also in the today’s release, Tribune announced that exploration on its highly prospective Dufferin Lake property has also begun. Dufferin Lake is immediately adjacent to the Cameco/UEM's Virgin River project and their recently discovered Centennial zone. Discovery holes at the Centennial zone intersected 18.3% over 5.3 metres and 6.72 per cent U3O8 over 5.2 metres. Significant uranium showings have already been reported by Cameco within 1 km of the Dufferin Lake properties and conductors follow portions of the Virgin River shear zone and the Dufferin Lake fault through the Dufferin Lake property.
Currently Tribune has 13,000,000 shares outstanding and a discovery on any of these properties would add significant upside to the share price.
While the price for Uranium has come off of its peak of $125 per pound earlier this year, it is still trading strongly in the $75-85 range, and speculation is likely to resume in the wake of market softness brought on by global money market issues.
According to a story September 6th in the Economist, “America's nuclear industry is about to embark on its biggest expansion in more than a generation.”
The reason for nuclear power’s resurgence as mankind’s best hope for the anticipated demand for increased power generation lies in the fact that it is so clean.
Every year, emission of more than 2 billion tonnes of CO2 world wide is avoided by nuclear power plants fuelled by uranium. In fact Dr Kupcis, Chair of the Canadian Nuclear Association, stated that “Without present-day nuclear capacity, Canada’s greenhouse gas levels would be between 15 and 20 percent higher.”
Existing nuclear plants in Canada avoid the emission of 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, emissions that would occur if fossil fuelled plants had produced the same electricity. Eighteen nuclear power plants provide about 15 percent of Canada’s electricity and make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas and other emissions.
Electricity generation fuelled by uranium produces no carbon dioxide or other emissions that contribute to smog and acid rain. A number of independent studies have shown that life-cycle emissions for nuclear power plants – including construction, operations, fuel production, decommissioning and waste disposal – are comparable to other non-emitting generation systems such as hydro and wind.
Other studies have found that nuclear compares favorably with all other large scale sources of electricity in life-cycle cost analyses.
With world electricity demand expected to double by 2030, nuclear is an increasingly attractive option to help meet growing demand and many countries are turning to nuclear. This trend will support strong markets for Saskatchewan uranium into the future.
Tribune Uranium is a well structured exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of advanced stage, drill ready uranium projects. The company has an experienced management team with two joint venture exploration projects in the highly prospective Athabasca basin.
Tribune is actively evaluating additional properties that meet these criteria and expect to add high quality projects to their portfolio on an ongoing basis.