BASE METALS — Spokane junior picks up Chilean silver property

Spokane-based junior Mines Management (MNMM-O) has signed a letter-of-intent with a Chilean company for a chance to acquire the Chanarcillo silver property in an area also known for its copper potential.

The agreement would enable the company to buy mineral rights over 34 sq.

km in the Andean foothills, south of Copiapo in the north-central portion of Chile.

Mines Management must spend US$200,000 on exploration and pay an annual fee to Compania Minera Calcia, which also retains a 2% net smelter return royalty on production.

The Chanarcillo district was the country’s primary silver producer in the mid-19th century. Its output from 1832 to 1912 reportedly exceeded 100 million oz. silver. The area has been explored since that time, but for copper, the mainstay of the Chilean mining industry. Even now, Australian-based North Ltd. is drilling south of Mines Management’s property.

The district consists of Cretaceous sedimentary and volcanic rocks that have been intruded by granitic rocks. The silver deposits exist in epithermal veins and replacement breccias in limestone. At least 27 separate veins have been mined on the 34-sq.-km property. The company plans to begin mapping and sampling at Chanarcillo before August.

Mines Management has been essentially inactive since the early 1990s. Its other major asset is a 5% net profits return royalty on 11 claims at the Montanore silver-copper project in northwestern Montana, operated by Noranda (NOR-T). The project has yet to receive patents.