Bill,
John Kaiser mentioned in one of his articles that Steve Ristorcelli is an ultra conservative reserve calculator. Two regions within Las Catalinas appear to have potential of 100,000 to 1,000,000 oz.Au. The numerous vein structures and only hand trenching done to date-how does he come up with these values at this early stage. It was earlier said that no deposit sizes can be stated at the moment. Like ARP, maybe the resource is implied by a resistivity anomaly coupled with limited surface sampling done so far.
I am also interested whether any insider buying has occurred after Sept.28 hand trenching results were released. In the week of Oct.19-23 620,500 share were traded. Such a significant number especially after a favorable news release may bid well.
Of interest were the earlier workings done by local people over the years. I suppose we should thank them for exposing veins, etc. and if all goes well give them full time jobs in the future. They were taking leftover samples to the smelter as late as 1997. If such potential existed, I wonder why the property was not staked out earlier by others. Prospect pits exist on the property, one is 60 metres in depth. I wonder if this area will be suitable for an open pit operation. It will certainly result in lower production costs. There are numerous vein structures however, and this may require a different method of extraction. I will this technical stuff to the experts.
As for economic viability, the grade and stripping ratio will come into play, both too early to access at this time. I believe gold prices will rebound. Out of interest, other have mentioned a $1000/oz value, I will try to find the article. Hopefully the industry will ride well on the next up leg of the commodity cycle, whenever this will occur. Still must look for deposits now irregardless of price. So congratulations to Miranda for seeking new properties in this difficult commodity price environment.
So now we wait for the drill results to see what exists in the bedrock. I have not contacted the firm, thus do not know the time frame for drilling in the new year. However, I am encouraged by the early market letter writers' vote of confidence in Miranda. Fagan and Kaiser. With such experience between them, they should have a good feeling about Las Catalinas at this early stage.
LVL
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