Western Copper, partner drill in Zacatecas

Partners Western Copper Holdings (WTC-T) and Peruvian-based Mauricio Hochschild & Cia have launched a 3,700-metre, 12-hole drill program at their Penasquito silver-lead-zinc-gold property in Mexico’s Zacatecas state.

Hochschild is earning a 68% interest in the property from WC in return for paying US$500,000 in cash and spending US$1.7 million on exploration over three years. WC can elect to reduce its 32% interest to 20% if Hochschild provides all financing through to production.

In March 1998, WC acquired a 100% interest in the property from Kennecott, a subsidiary of London-based Rio Tinto (RTP-N). To date, the junior has spent US$6 million on a combination of geophysical and geochemical work, and 26,000 metres of drilling.

The 3,255-ha property is in the state’s Concepcion del Oro district.

Previous work by WC and Kennecott identified the Chile Colorado zone, which consists of possibly economic quantities of silver, lead and zinc mineralization, as well as two large breccia pipes.

Chile Colorado is the focus of current drilling, which is testing the continuity and extent of high-grade mineralization intersected in WC’s hole 3. That hole returned 51.2 metres averaging 0.56 grams gold, 312 grams silver, 3.57% lead and 4.11% zinc. Drilling will also test a strong geophysical anomaly, 100 metres south of hole 3.

Mineralization at Chile Colorado occurs as vein, stockworks and disseminations in Cretaceous-age sandstones. WC believes that the high-grade, structurally controlled mineralization intersected in hole 3 may be widespread. For this reason, drilling will test the northeast-trending fracture zones.

Another target lies along the northern margin of the Azul breccia. Kennecott’s hole 11 intersected 297 metres averaging 66 grams silver and 2% combined lead and zinc. Recent geophysical analysis indicates that this hole was drilled into the contact zone of an intrusive. The intrusive extends to the northwest for 400-600 metres and is 200 metres wide. Drilling will determine whether or not the intrusive is mineralized.

The holes that intersected the Chile Colorado zone could represent the southern lobe of a much larger system that extends north for 1.2 km through the Azul pipe and into the north Azul area.

Highlights of drilling to date are shown in the accompanying table.