Australian-owned BHP Minerals reports encouraging results from a drill program aimed at testing a large, coincident, copper-gold anomaly in the middle of the Taca-Taca (Lower) porphyry project in Argentina’s Salta province.
Three widely spaced holes penetrated a leached surface cap and intersected low-grade primary mineralization at depths greater than 250 metres.
While only partial assays have been released, the company says hole 1 intersected a 196-metre interval of primary mineralization grading 0.2% copper and 0.06 gram gold per tonne from a depth of 254-450 metres.
The second hole, drilled 700 metres west of hole 1, encountered an enriched zone overlying the primary mineralization and returned 44 metres from a depth of 256-300 metres grading 1.32% copper and 0.07 gram gold. The last 35 metres of the hole, which bottomed in mineralization at a depth of 409 metres, averaged 0.39% copper and 0.14 gram gold.
Assays are pending for the third hole, drilled 700 metres west of hole 1. It was completed to a depth of 520 metres and intersected a 79-metre interval of enriched mineralization at a depth of 300-379 metres.
As operator, BHP can earn an initial 60% interest in the project from Corriente Resources (CTQ-T) by spending US$3.6 million on exploration and paying US$4.8 million by Oct. 31, 2000. It can increase its interest to 65% by completing a feasibility study, and to 70% by financing the project to production.
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