AMERICAS — Latin America to Canyon’s liking

The search for minerals in South and Central America is by no means restricted to Canadian companies.

Colorado-based Canyon Resources (NASDAQ) has exploration offices and staff in Argentina, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. It also has, or is evaluating, properties in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Panama.

Earlier this year, Canyon hired Dorian Nicol to direct its exploration efforts south of the border. Nicol has more than 20 years’ experience in international exploration, including several Latin American countries. In addition, the company has formed a Venezuelan subsidiary in association with Henry Briceno, who previously worked for Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana, the state-owned entity that controls most of the precious metal rights in the Guiana Shield.

According to William Walker, vice-president of exploration, Canyon will spend about US$1 million in Central and South America this year.

Details on the junior’s southern properties have not been released, although Walker did say that the most advanced of these is El Higo in the Dominican Republic. The property is 60% owned by Battle Mountain Gold (NYSE), with Canyon retaining operatorship. Canyon recently completed a drilling program on the property, though results have yet to be released.

In North America, Canyon operates the Kendall open-pit heap-leach mine near Lewistown, Mont. The mine produced 9,225 oz. gold and 5,942 oz. silver in the first quarter at a cost of US$247 per oz. Kendall ore will be exhausted in the fall of this year and the company plans to replace the production with its Briggs gold project in southeastern California.

A final feasibility study is being conducted on Briggs, which contains an estimated minable reserve of 21.5 million tons grading 0.030 oz. gold per ton available at a stripping ratio of 1.2-to-1.

The proposed open-pit, heap-leach project would produce about 75,000 oz. gold per year at an average cash cost of US$233 per oz. The capital cost is estimated at US$18.3 million plus US$8.3 million for preproduction stripping and working capital.

The company hopes to receive the required permits to begin construction at Briggs during the fall.