Hampton Court to develop Anglo's Blu Starr property
Hampton Court Resources Inc HCR
Shares issued 20,513,611 Mar 22 close $1.20
Thu 23 Mar 2000 News Release
Mr. D.M. Rud reports
Hampton Court has entered into a letter of intent to jointly participate
with Anglo Swiss Resources Inc. to develop Anglo's Blu Starr property. This
exciting deposit has produced high-quality star sapphires, iolites and
garnets and has the potential to become a world-class source of these
gemstones. Dr. Robert McPherson, president of Hampton, describes the joint
venture as " ... a tremendous opportunity for HCR to tap into the
multibillion-dollar world gemstone market and is another step in Hampton's
goal to become a major natural resource based company."
Gemstone production will be marketed through a joint venture or agreement
with a major gem wholesaler/distributor with contacts throughout the world.
In addition, HCR believes e-commerce provides an excellent avenue for the
sale of finished gemstones and quality specimen pieces. Anglo has
registered a variety of domain names for a future joint retail division.
Sales will commence once a large volume of gemstones are in inventory.
Mineral potential
Anglo acquired the Blu Starr property in 1995 and since that time has
identified numerous showings including star-sapphire, iolite, garnet and a
variety of other gemstones. The initial minerals scheduled for development
are:
Sapphire -- Anglo has identified three significant outcrops of sapphire
mineralization over a distance of 2,000 metres. High-grade surface samples
have produced crystals up to 250 carats in size and selective hand mining
has averaged 5,000 carats per tonne. The world price per carat for
top-quality sapphire rivals the finest diamonds, and Blu Starr's rough
carats per tonne far exceed any diamond mine in the world. Rough gemstones
have been successfully cabachoned and over 90 per cent of the gems produced
exhibit the highly prized star-sapphire effect
Iolite -- Anglo has identified six outcrops of iolite on the property
covering a total strike distance of 1,500 metres. Rough crystals ranging in
size up to 140 carats have been recovered from two one-tonne bulk samples
taken from two of the outcrops. Over 100,000 rough carats have been
recovered from these samples and have been successfully facetted into
high-quality gems. The largest outcrop, which is open at depth in all
directions, has been estimated by an independent geologist/gemologist to
contain in excess of one billion rough carats. The percentage of gem
quality iolite is hard to estimate due to the extreme effects of
weathering, which has altered these surface exposures, however Hampton
believes a conservative estimate of 1 per cent gem grade is reasonable to
expect (10 million carats). Iolite is a spectacular violet-blue gem
comparable in appearance with the popular tanzanite which currently sells
for up to $500 (U.S.) per carat. Iolite currently sells for $50 (U.S.) to
$150 (U.S.) per carat but is rising in value as its popularity increases.
Garnet -- Anglo has extracted over 250,000 carats of rough garnet from an
outcrop on the Blu Starr property. The garnets frequently exceed 10 carats
in size, display excellent clarity and an intense red colour. A total of 46
per cent of the rough gems sent for faceting has been successfully cut.
High-quality garnet such as those found at Blu Starr sell for $40 (U.S.) to
$60 (U.S.) per carat.
Location and access
The Blu Starr property is located in the Slocan Valley in Southern British
Columbia, and consists of over 15,000 acres of mineral tenure rights plus
1,853 acres of placer mineral rights. The property is easily accessible by
way of a paved highway and is suitable for year-round operations. The
facilities at the adjacent Kenville gold mine, owned by Anglo, will be used
by the joint venture for production.
Terms of participation
Hampton has agreed to spend up to $1-million in a three-phase work program
to be completed over a three-year period, to earn up to 40 per cent in the
Blu Starr property. The funds will facilitate an agreed to work program
designed to complete evaluation of the property and establish commercial
production. Upon completion of the work program, Hampton has the option to
purchase an additional 20-per-cent prorated interest in the property for
$2-million.
Hampton has agreed to acquire, through a private placement, 3,333,333
shares of Anglo Swiss, at a price of 15 cents per share for a total
purchase price of $500,000. The private placement is subject to regulatory
approval. Dr. Robert A. McPherson, PhD, PEng, PGeol and Conrad P. Kathol,
PEng, directors of HCR, have been appointed to the board of Anglo Swiss,
strengthening the technical and financial expertise of Anglo.
Work program
The goal in the development of the Blu Starr property will be to establish
commercial production as quickly as possible. Primary focus of the 2000
work program is to complete evaluation of the iolite potential. This
program will also evaluate the previously documented sapphire and garnet
deposits and provide an initial evaluation of the potential of the other
gemstone showings. Erosion of portions of the Blu Starr mineralization by
the Slocan River have created significant potential for the recovery of
gemstones from the alluvial gravels of Anglo's placer mineral claims.
Alluvial placer mines are responsible for the majority of gem stone
production throughout the world. The work program will include the
preliminary evaluation of these alluvial deposits. The upcoming work
program will include:
mapping, bulk sampling and an extensive evaluation of the iolite deposit in
preparation for the establishment of commercial production;
evaluation and design of gemstone recovery facilities at the Kenville mine
site;
mapping, bulk sampling and reserve evaluation of the sapphire and garnet
deposits;
mapping, geophysical evaluation, and extensive sampling of the alluvial
placer deposits; and
further evaluation of other gemstone deposits located on the balance of the
property.
Anglo and Hampton estimate that full commercial production can be
established for less than $2-million. A comparison of this cost with the
billion dollar start-up costs of large diamond mines makes a very strong
statement toward the viability of this project. Hampton is in complete
agreement with Len Danard, president of Anglo Swiss, who stated, "There are
no existing mining operations similar or comparable to what we are
developing, and the potential value of the project is truly staggering."
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