Lateegra increases El Picacho drill program to 3,000 m
2007-02-23 11:01 ET - News Release
Mr. Chris Verrico reports
LATEEGRA UPDATES WORK AT EL PICACHO, MEXICO
Lateegra Gold Corp. and Tara Gold Resources Corp. are providing an update to the activities and fieldwork being carried out on the El Picacho project in Sonora, Mexico.
The phase 1 drill exploration program has been increased to 3,000 metres. A total of 1,000 m is confirmation drilling aimed at verifying historical resource estimates, confirming mine head grades and mining widths, while allowing the correlation of data provided from 22 historic drill holes within the El Picacho structure. A further 2,000 m is designated for exploration of additional targets defined on the El Picacho 3,236-hectare mineral claim block. The El Picacho structure was drilled by previous operators along a strike length of 1,250 m.
The company has contracted Layne De Mexico SA de CV to drill a minimum 2,000 metres with an option for additional metreage. Layne is using a CS-1500 truck-mounted long-stroke rig that arrived on the project last week. A second locally supplied rig and crew is augmenting this activity with a Longyear 38 drill rig. The first three holes have been drilled and logged with holes No. 4 and 5 presently under way (please refer to the company's website for a map of hole locations in the phase 1 drill program).
In addition to drilling, approximately 1,700 m of existing development drifts are being rehabilitated for an aggressive confirmation sampling program aimed at verifying extensive historic channel sampling that blocked out five-metre average mining widths grading seven grams per tonne gold equivalent (gold and silica byproduct combined value) modelling a 230,000-tonne compiled non-NI 43101-compliant historic resource, as reported within the mine development plans of previous owners.
Recent mapping and rock sampling have extended the mineralized structure of El Picacho another 500 m to the northwest. The structure remains open along strike both to the northwest, southeast and to depth. Dos Amigos, the three-kilometre-long gold-bearing structure lying parallel to El Picacho, continues to be extensively mapped and sampled with trenching under way to delineate drill targets.
Work also continues on a third parallel mineralized structure where recent four and eight g/t gold grab samples, previously reported in Stockwatch, were taken 0.5 kilometre apart and on strike with an existing 76-metre four-by-four-metre cribbed shaft, also planned for rehabilitation. The company has no recorded data associated with the massive effort required in the sinking of this shaft.
The existing crushing plant is in operation providing silica from existing stockpiles to local smelters serving to both supplement operational overheads and maintain this key market for future process tailings.
Robert Findlay, chief operating officer, states: "We are particularly excited about drill hole MPDH-07-04, for which assays are pending, which intercepted approximately seven metres of strongly silicified rock downdip from existing underground workings. With completion of this program the company will be very close to defining one of several underground targets suitable for immediate mining. Previously mined-out areas demonstrate a very competent hangingwall dipping from 65 to 70 degrees with minimum mining widths of four to five metres. Considering this, mining at El Picacho looks to be very well suited to a low-cost mine plan via more productive longhole stoping methods. In addition, the three-kilometre-long gold-bearing Dos Amigos structure, identified in the fall of 2006, will be the focus of additional work with the aim of developing a potential near-surface resource that would offer reduced mining cost with which to complement the mill feed from underground. As such, the company is working to optimize mine plan scenarios to supply mill feed for a proposed 600-to-1,000-metric-tonne-per-day operation."
Lateegra is earning a 65-per-cent acquisition option from vendor, Tara Gold Corp., by spending $3-million (U.S.) and has an option to acquire an additional 5 per cent by achieving certain production level milestones by a sliding scale payment. Both Lateegra and Tara have chosen to jointly develop the El Picacho mine by taking advantage of each company's complementary abilities of extensive in-country operational experience with modern geosciences and professionals with successful records in exploration, discovery, project development/finance and mining operations. The companies operate the project through a jointly owned subsidiary, Compania Minera La Escuadra, SA de CV.
Jeffrey Reeder, PGeo, and director, is the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 who has read and approved the contents of this release.
We seek Safe Harbor.
