Sparton set to drill in May

Drilling at the Luxi gold project in southern China is expected to begin shortly, now that a drill has been imported from Canada.

Late in 2003, Sparton Resources (SRI-V) acquired an 80% interest in the property, which has since been enlarged to cover 250 sq. km. Yunnan Sparton Minerals has been formed to work on the project with Yunnan Nuclear Geological Exploration Brigade 201, which holds a 20% interest in the venture. Sparton is the operator.

The road-accessible property is in the western part of Yunnan province, 70 km east of the Myanmar border. The nearest airport is in Mangshi, 40 km to the east.

The Luxi project encompasses the Luxi gold belt, known for its oxide gold deposits which are primarily in fault zones associated with a contact zone between Permian carbonate rocks and Jurassic clastic sediments. More than 7 tonnes of gold have been produced from these deposits since 1989.

A database of results from geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys, conducted between 1994 and 1998, was acquired in February 2004. Since then, the company has increased the number of its exploration licences to seven. Exploration has been focused on the area of the operating Guanlingpo (Luxi) mine, where Sparton has carried out a test induced-polarization survey, geological mapping and sampling.