El Salvador and San Nicolas results
Western Copper Holdings Limited WTC
Shares issued 13,970,000 Oct 9 close $3.50
Tue 13 Oct 98 News Release
Also Teck Corp (TEK.B)
Mr. Mike Halvorson reports
The following is an update on the El Salvador project in Zacatecas State,
Mexico, a joint venture between Teck Corporation - 55 per cent and Western
- 45 per cent.
El Salvador Joint Venture
Teck and Western have been systematically investigating various targets on
joint venture lands. Approximately 5km northeast of San Nicolas,
jasperoids, anomalous in silver, lead and barium, outcrop discontinuously
over a distance of about 1,000 metres. One vertical diamond drill hole has
been completed with the following assay intervals, which are thought to
represent true thickness.
Inter-
Hole From To val Ag
m m m g/t
TAM-05 3.1 35.7 32.6 230.2
includes 3.1 19.0 15.9 331.3
includes 24.0 35.7 11.7 191.1
Further drilling is to start shortly to determine the extent of this high
grade silver discovery, which has the potential to considerably enhance the
overall project economics by providing cash flow during prestripping at San
Nicolas.
San Nicolas Deposit
Preliminary geotechnical studies on the San Nicolas massive sulphide
deposit suggest that rock characteristics are favourable, and support an
aggressive preliminary pit slope of greater than 50 degrees which is
steeper than the 41 degrees overall pit slope assumed in initial scoping
studies. This has the effect of reducing the life of mine waste to ore
stripping ratio from 7.8:1 to less than 5:1, thereby decreasing the amount
of overburden and waste to be removed by more than 200 million tonnes.
Assay results from geotechnical holes three and four (SAL-90 and SAL-91),
angle holes drilled to the southwest in the south/central part of the
deposit, are shown below.
Inter-
>From To val Cu Zn Ag Au
m m m % % g/t g/t
SAL-90
185.0 190.4 5.4 0.30 2.99 35.2 0.75
233.9 398.8 164.9 0.84 1.55 25.0 0.45
includes
233.9 273.4 39.5 0.81 5.69 75.5 1.53
SAL-91
225.0 292.0 67.0 1.06 2.39 38.5 0.79
includes
225.0 248.0 23.0 0.50 6.34 87.8 1.90
Joint Venture Expenditures
Teck and Western plan to spend almost $1-million (U.S.) during the fourth
quarter in the joint venture area. Western Copper's share of these
expenditures will be financed out of the credit facility available from
Teck. These expenditures will cover costs for metallurgical test work,
geotechnical slope design, groundwater evaluation, engineering, ground
geophysics, diamond drilling and land acquisition. |
