Eaglecrest Explorations Ltd. - Drill contract awarded; $1.0 million financing arranged
VANCOUVER, July 12 /CNW/ - Eaglecrest Explorations Ltd. (EEL.V) announced
today that a drill contract for an initial 2500 metres of diamond drilling at
its San Simon gold project in Bolivia has been awarded to Falcon Drilling of
Prince George, B.C. The company also reported it has negotiated a private
placement of 3.4 million units at a price of $0.30 per unit.
In addition to drill testing the potential open-pit Paititi stockwork
system, Eaglecrest said it is proceeding with plans to collect two bulk
samples of up to two tonnes each for processing at a one-tonne-per-hour
gravity test mill that recently has been installed on the site. Built by a
Swiss-German consortium in conjunction with the Bolivian government, the test
mill is primarily intended to demonstrate to artisanal miners that gravity
recovery is an attractive economic and environmental alternative to the use of
mercury.
Since February, Eaglecrest Explorations crews have concentrated efforts
on two principal areas of gold mineralization: the Paititi pit and its
extensions, as well as a recently acquired 14,000 hectare area that includes a
zone of auriferous conglomerates.
The Paititi pit contains a minimum of two flat-lying, auriferous, sheeted
quartz stockwork systems exposed over 650m by 150m in a pit recently exploited
by artisanal miners. The potential of these flat-lying veins to host an
open-pit gold deposit does not appear to have been previously recognized as
earlier exploration concentrated instead on the concept of a vertical quartz
veining system. The company is planning to drill the Paititi pit in the next
3-4 weeks, after some repairs have been completed on a road that connects the
San Simon property with Santa Cruz. Diamond drilling will test the two
stockwork systems in the Paititi pit as well as its projected extensions some
three kilometers to the west. Core will be diamond sawed on site with a sample
remaining in the core boxes for future review, in contrast to past workers who
shipped the entire core out for testing.
Exploration since February has concentrated on defining the extension of
the mineralization to the west of the Paititi pit. Work has consisted of
re-evaluation of the previously completed Geoterrex IP survey, a VLF-EM survey
and detailed test pit sampling which is designed to test both the 1-3 meter
thick laterite horizon as well as the underlying saprolite horizon. Samples
will be sent to the Bondar-Clegg (ITS) lab in Oruro, Bolivia with final
analysis being completed in Vancouver. An additional sample of both the
laterite and the saprolite is being panned in the field. Any visible gold
grains are recorded; however, it is not known, at this time, if the underlying
bedrock contains gold values. This method is not intended to replace
conventional geochemical analysis. A complete understanding of the
significance of the visible gold grain count technique cannot be determined
until all the analytical results of the soil samples have been received and
correlations carried out.
To date, this crude field evaluation technique has been successful in
outlining a gold grain anomaly that extends westward from the Paititi pit for
over three kilometres. This anomaly coincides with a VLF-EM anomaly and an IP
anomaly and lies in area of favorable geology. The company plans to test this
area with several drill holes.
The company has recently acquired a number of new claims that cover an
auriferous conglomerate horizon. Work to date has included regional mapping
and reconnaissance rock sampling. A number of the samples that have been
crushed and panned show visible gold in both the quartz pebbles and the
matrix. Further work will include more detailed geological mapping, rock
sampling and the panning of crushed rock samples.
The current private placement of 3.4 million units comprises one common
share and one share purchase warrant. Two warrants can be exercised to
purchase one additional share at CDN $0.35 for one year. Finders fees will be
payable. The placing is subject to regulatory approval.
Eaglecrest also reported today that two large gold producing companies
have visited the project in early July. |
