Mar-West, Curion place gold project on fast track

Mar-West Resources (MSR-V) and partner Curion Ventures (CUV-V) are proceeding with a $2-million work program aimed at advancing the Sinter Dome hot springs gold deposit in central Honduras to the feasibility stage.

A scoping study by Fluor Daniel Wright concludes that the project warrants further development. The deposit lies in the San Martin concession, which is owned 80% by Mar-West and 20% by Curion.

Based on 73 drill holes, Fluor Daniel Wright estimates that the Sinter zone holds a resource of 18.5 million tonnes grading 1 gram gold per tonne, equivalent to 600,000 contained ounces. The stripping ratio is calculated at 0.22-to-1.

During the summer of 1997, Mar-West engaged the services of California-based engineering group Mineral Resources Development Inc. (MRDI) to complete an independent technical audit of the drilling and sampling program. MRDI concluded that the drill results are a fair representation of the deposit’s gold grade.

Mar-West believes there is potential to expand on this Sinter Dome resource by stepout drilling, in light of results from a recent induced-polarization (IP) geophysical survey. The mineralized body is flat-lying and parallels the topographic surface of a dome-shaped hill. The near-surface zone is well-defined by both resistivity and chargeability. Several areas of the dome not previously drill tested are strongly anomalous and at depth, under the blanket mineralization, the IP survey indicates a strong anomaly. Mar-West believes this could represent a keel, or possibly a feeder system.

A 5,000-metre combined diamond and reverse-circulation drilling program is expected to begin before Feb. 1 and will involve a minimum of 100 holes designed to upgrade the resource to the proven and probable category, as well as test some of the outlying target areas.

Comprehensive metallurgical testwork will be conducted on material retrieved from large-diameter core drilling. A variety of feed sizes will be tested, including run-of-mine ore. Early-stage metallurgical studies indicate the mineralization is amenable to heap-leach extraction. Initial results show that commercial gold recoveries in the range of 75-80% can be expected.

Mar-West is negotiating with several environmental engineering consultants to conduct the required baseline environmental and socio-economic impact studies as part of the permitting process.

Donald Poirier, a mining analyst with McDermid St. Lawrence, believes the Sinter Dome deposit has the potential to yield 50,000 to 75,000 oz. per year, with a projected cash cost in the order of US$200 per oz. He pegs the capital cost at about US$25 million.