BALLAD ISSUES 300,000 SHARES AT $7.00 U.S. PER SHARE TO CLOSE ACQUISITION
OF TVX MINERA DEL PERU S.A.
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION RESULTS
VANCOUVER, Sept. 30 /CNW/ -
Acquisition of TVX Peru
Ballad is pleased to announce that its agreement with TVX Gold Inc. to
acquire all of the assets and operations of TVX Minera del Peru S.A. (``TVX
Peru'') has closed.
TVX Peru was formally TVX's Peruvian subsidiary. It holds 100% interests
in 35 property areas totalling 31,100 hectares in known gold producing areas
throughout Peru.
In early March, 1997, Ballad took over the operations of TVX Peru and has
been aggressively conducting systematic exploration of its properties since
that time.
Closing of the final acquisition and payment through the issuance of
300,000 Ballad treasury shares at a deemed price of US$7.00 per share was
delayed due to delays associated with the corporate re-organization of TVX
Peru which was necessary to ensure that TVX Peru was completely debt free on
closing. Ballad now owns 100% of TVX Peru.
The 300,000 shares are not freely tradeable until February 21, 1998.
Ballad also holds certain rights of first refusal to acquire those shares.
Exploration
The exploration and development of TVX Peru's properties has been
conducted through Ballad's exploration office based in Lima, Peru and
supervised by a team of independent American and Canadian consulting
geologists.
The 35 TVX Peru properties have been grouped into seventeen property
areas. Thirteen of these seventeen property areas have undergone the first
phase of exploration which primarily involved reconnaissance geological
mapping and sampling at 1:25,000 scale. The purpose of this first phase of
exploration is to identify targets with the potential to host economic
deposits of precious and/or base metals on TVX Peru's properties, to identify
and explore targets on properties which may be available for acquisition
adjacent to or near promising TVX Peru properties, and to establish follow-up
exploration and development programs to further advance these targets.
Based on the results of the first phase of exploration, Ballad has begun
aggressive exploration and development on three property areas: the Fabiola
project of two concessions totalling 2,000 hectares, the Stromboli project of
two concessions totalling 2,000 hectares and the Roberto property totalling
1,000 hectares.
Fabiola Project
The Fabiola project is located adjacent to and immediately west of the
concessions hosting the Pierina deposit located in the Pierina-Paron gold belt
near Huaraz in northern Peru. Follow up work focused on an advanced argillic
alteration zone measuring 1,200 by 350 meters which was discovered in the
first phase of exploration. This second phase of exploration involved
establishment of a grid with lines spaced 100 meters and stations at 50 meters
to cover the alteration zone. Pits were dug at each of the stations and 139
rock samples were collected over the grid area.
Results of the program revealed a zone of acid leach alteration measuring
1,100 meters by 350 meters within a dacite porphyry intrusion and surrounding
Cretaceous sediments and Tertiary Calipuy volcanics. The alteration zone
corresponds to a coincident silver, lead and arsenic anomaly with local zinc
and antimony anomalies. A six-hole, 1000 meter drilling program has been
recommended by Ballad's consulting geologists.
Stromboli Project
The Stromboli project is located roughly 50 km northwest of Iluaraz in
the Pierina-Yanachocha mineral belt of northern Peru.
Results from the first phase of exploration outlined a zone 850 meters
long by 300 meters wide of semi-massive to massive lead, zinc, silver skarn
mineralization in a window of limestone surrounded by Tertiary Calipuy
volcanics. Initial sampling within the zone has returned numerous values
greater than 1% lead (ranging up to 16.91% lead), greater than 1% zinc
(ranging up to 13.7% zinc), and greater than 10 gm/tonne silver (ranging up to
75 gm/tonne silver). Additional sampling has returned encouraging values in
mineralized outcrops. As a result, additional property acquisitions in the
area are being pursued. Follow-up work on Ballad's Stromboli project
including trenching and detailed mapping and sampling has recently been
completed and results are pending.
Roberto Property
Reconnaissance work on the Roberto property located approximately 100 km
southeast of Lima has recently been completed resulting in another discovery
of skarn mineralization. The Roberto property is underlain by limestones,
shales and siltstones of the upper Cretaceous Chulee Formation. Regional
north-south and lesser northeast trending faults cut the property. Copper,
zinc, lead, silver and cadmium skarn mineralization is exposed at an open pit
mine on the property where local miners have extracted silver, lead and zinc
from a manto type structure approximately 10 - 15 meters thick. Approximately
2,500 meters north of the open pit another manto-type lead, zinc, silver skarn
zone has been discovered in outcrop measuring 100 meters by 40 meters before
disappearing under cover. Additional detailed follow-up mapping, sampling and
trenching have been planned to examine the full extent of the mineralization
and will be initiated in the coming weeks.
Preliminary exploration has recently begun on the Charapuro project, an
8,000 hectare property area in Apurimac Department. This property is
underlain by Cretaceous limestones of the Ferrobamba formation, a unit known
to host several metosomatic replacement copper deposits and at least two
gold/silver prospects. The initial reconnaissance program is expected to be
completed within two to three weeks.
Reconnaissance programs have also been planned on the remaining four
property areas and will be conducted in the coming months as time permits.
As of June 30, 1997, Ballad held cash and short term investments of
approximately $2,225,000 and had expended more than $600,000 on exploration
and development of the properties held by TVX Peru. Ballad intends to change
the name of TVX Peru to Balad Minera del Peru.
Exploration continues and is funded from working capital on hand. Ballad
will release further results of its aggressive exploration program as they are
received from its consulting geologists.
BALLAD ENTERPRISES LTD.
Per ``Anthony J. Beruschi, President''
Anthony J. Beruschi, President
The Vancouver Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this News
Release.
-30-
For further information: Anthony J. Beruschi, President, (604) 682-7159, fax: (604) 669-5886, toll free
1-888-880-2288
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