Maybe these guys would want to make us an offer:
General Minerals Corporation Highly Encouraging Drilling Results from the Productora Property, Central Chile
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 3, 1998--General Minerals Corporation (TSE:GNM. - news) General Minerals Corporation is pleased to announce highly encouraging, reverse circulation drilling results from the Productora copper-gold prospect, located in the central Chilean ''iron belt'', 625 kilometers north of Santiago and 15 kilometers south of the regional center of Vallenar. In addition, the Company announces, following a four year-long negotiation, the acquisition of mineral rights to lands surrounding the original Productora property, which will allow for exploration of extensions to the mineralization described in this press release.
The drill holes were collared over a 1.6 kilometer N-S strike length. The better mineralized intervals in the drill holes grade from 0.5 percent to over 1.0 percent copper over intervals exceeding 70 meters, beginning close to, or at the surface, and open down-dip towards the west, away from historically-mined surface copper showings. For example, the most northerly cluster of holes, in the vicinity of the historically-worked oxide copper Productora Mine, gave the following results:
1. Productora Mine area - testing the down-dip (to the west)
potential near historic copper oxide workings:
Hole and From To Length Copper Gold
location (m) (m) (m) (Percent) (gpt)
--------- ------ ----- ----- -------- -------
S1-7 27.5 48 20.5 1.01 N/A (x)
S1-11 31.5 44.5 13 1.13 N/A (x)
PR-2 68 140 72 0.60 0.09
including 68 92 24 0.93 0.09
PR-3 74 86 12 1.0 0.11
including 74 78 4 2.27 0.06
(x) These gold assays were not made available to GMC.
The results of the complete initial phase program of drilling, in eight, widely-spaced holes completed by GMC (PR series holes), combined with the results of an earlier program of reverse circulation drilling carried out in 1985 by the Chilean Nuclear Commission (S series holes), spaced over a strike length of the mineralization totaling 1.6 kilometers, indicate that the property has the potential to host a significant tonnage of copper and associated molybdenum, gold, cobalt, uranium and rare earth-element mineralization. The drill holes were collared in outcrops located along the eastern edge of a 4 km by 1 km north-trending, alluvial-filled valley. The mineralization, which is associated with hydrothermally-altered, Cretaceous-aged volcanic tuffs and porphyritic intrusions, has characteristics of both porphyry-style, as well as Candelaria-style deposits. The mineralized body dips to the west beneath the alluvium, and copper mineralization is noted in outcrops on the western side of the basin, approximately one kilometer west of the line of drill holes.
Although the drill holes have tested the mineralized strata over a 1.6 kilometer strike length, the tested zone occurs within a much larger hydrothermal system. The overall system hosts numerous, historic, small-scale surface workings mined for copper oxides and gold, including placer gold workings, over a north-south strike length of over 3 kilometers.
The most significant copper mineralization intersected in additional holes are as follows:
2. 600 meters south of the Productora Mine:
Hole and From To Length Copper Gold
location (m) (m) (m) (Percent) (gpt)
--------- ------ ----- ----- -------- -------
PR-5 52 96 44 0.72 0.10
Including 84 96 12 1.23 0.14
3. 800-900 meters south of the Productora Mine testing the
down-dip potential of historic Santa Ines Mine workings:
PR-7 96 140 44 0.41 0.07
and 180 214 34 0.49 0.14
PR-4 56 64 8 0.58 0.07
4. 1100 meters south of the Productora Mine:
PR-1 66 82 16 0.41 0.07
5. 1.6 kilometers south of the Productora Mine:
Hole and From To Length Copper Gold
location (m) (m) (m) (Percent) (gpt)
--------- ------ ----- ----- -------- -------
S8-4 0 25 25 0.75 0.27
including 6 11 5 1.39 0.31
S8-5 0 7 7 0.14 N/A (x)
and 7 40 33 0.97 N/A (x)
including 21 36.5 15.5 1.44 N/A (x)
(x) These gold assays were not made available to GMC.
Drilling indicates the potential for a significant strike length and continuity to the mineralization. For example, hole PR-2 intersected 24 meters grading 0.93 percent copper beginning at 68 meters depth while, 1.6 kilometers to the south, hole S8-5 returned 0.97 percent copper over a 33 meter interval, including 15 meters grading 1.44 percent copper, beginning at just 7 meters below the surface. Approximately mid-way between these two holes, hole PR-5 intersected 44 meters grading 0.72 percent copper, including a 12 meter interval grading 1.23 percent copper and 0.14 grams per tonne gold. Associated molybdenum, cobalt, uranium and rare earth element values enhance the potential commercial viability of the copper-gold mineralization.
Each of these additional ore elements can be present, locally, in concentrations which could potentially represent an important commercial credit to the copper mineralization. In the PR-1 interval tabulated above, for example, the cobalt concentration averages 0.031 percent, with similar concentrations found in other holes. Molybdenum values are typically in the range of 0.01 percent to 0.03 percent, with highs in the range of 0.04 percent to 0.06 percent, typical of the range of concentrations found in Chilean porphyry copper-molybdenum deposits. Highly anomalous rare earth element concentrations (analyses performed at ACME Analytical Labs, Vancouver) are also noted. For example, a two meter sample from hole PR-7 returned values of 0.31 percent Cerium and 0.144 percent Lanthanum, concentrated primarily in the mineral allanite, a favorable host for metallurgical recovery. Uranium appears to be spatially associated with molybdenum and cobalt in the drill holes, and is present in quantities which indicate a potentially valuable commercial byproduct to the copper mineralization. Examples of the most significant uranium concentrations from the drilling to date include:
Hole From To Length U3O8 (lbs per
(m) (m) (m) metric tonne)
----- ------ ------ ------ --------------
PR-1 66 74 8 0.86
PR-2 14 28 14 0.37
PR-3 86 102 16 0.36
PR-5 14 24 10 0.56
PR-6 30 56 26 0.24
and 218 226 8 0.81
Mineralogical characteristics and ore element associations (particularly the associated molybdenum, cobalt, uranium and rare earth elements) exhibit similarities to both Chilean porphyry copper deposits and to a relatively newly-recognized class of magnetite-bearing deposits such as Olympic Dam in Australia and Candelaria in Chile, the latter major deposit having formed in a similar geological environment, 100 kilometers north of Productora.
After four years of negotiations, the Company is pleased to announce the successful completion of agreements on strategic mineral rights which consolidate GMC's control of the Productora hydrothermal system, including potential on-strike extensions to the mineralization described in this press release.
The Company is planning an aggressive exploration program at Productora, including drilling, to complement the currently ongoing surface mapping, geophysics, and bulldozer trenching. Given the highly favorable infrastructure, and the near-sea level altitude of the property, low-cost, year-round exploration can be carried out.
General Minerals Corporation is an international exploration company formed for the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resources, primarily copper and gold. The Company is currently exploring thirteen properties in South America (Chile, Peru, Bolivia), China and the U.S. |
