Verena dusts off Bonfim (January 05, 2004)

With $1.8 million in hand from a private placement, Verena Minerals (VML-V) is preparing to dewater and refurbish underground workings at the Bonfim gold-tungsten-bismuth project, 120 km west of Natal, Brazil.

The work will precede an underground sampling campaign slated for January. Verena also plans to drill the Bonfim and Bonfim North deposits in an atttempt to confirm historical resources. An updated resource estimate is expected to be announced in the second quarter of 2004.

Earlier this year, Roscoe Postle Associates recommended mapping, underground sampling, and sampling of some 56,000 tonnes of material on old leach pads. The firm also suggested 4,500 metres worth of diamond drilling on 25-metre centres at the former mine site. An additional 1,000 metres of drilling in 10 holes was recommended for Bonfim North, 1 km to the north.

Rio Tinto (RTP-N) dropped an option on the project in early 2000 after a first pass of exploration drilling failed to extend high-grade mineralization on the first and third levels to the lower levels of the mine. Under a 1999 deal, the major was earning a 60% interest in the property by spending US$2 million over three years. Verena originally acquired the property in early 1998 for US$36,000 plus a 1.5% net smelter return royalty.

Bonfim operated as an underground scheelite mine from 1969 until it closed as a result of depressed prices in 1981.