Colombia Proving Golden For Ventana

VANCOUVER — An intense three-year drilling effort in Colombia keeps returning bonanza gold grades for Ventana Gold (VEN-T).

Ventana signed an option agreement for the La Bodega property in northeastern Colombia in early 2006, immediately started drilling, and before the end of the year hit the La Bodega discovery hole: 7.81 grams gold per tonne over 106 metres, starting just 29 metres down-hole.

The company has now drilled 105 core holes totalling over 25,400 metres at La Bodega, probing a northeast-trending zone that stretches 850 metres along strike, across 30 to 150 metres width, and as deep as 300 metres. The high-sulphidation gold zone is southwest along strike from Greystar Resources’ (GSL-T, GYSLF-O) Angostura gold deposit, which hosts 11.6 million measured and indicated oz. gold.

The first, or northwestern-most, 300 metres of strike is called the La Bodega zone. The next 250 metres is the La Rosa zone, where very steep topography makes drill access difficult. Past La Rosa, the La Mascota zone covers the next 300 metres of strike. A fourth zone, Las Mercedes, sits off-strike some 400 metres south of La Bodega and has to date seen only limited drilling.

Recent drilling at La Bodega has focused on expanding a new high-grade zone that Ventana discovered last year. In June, hole 28 hit 33 metres of 4.96 grams gold and hole 30 returned 5.8 grams gold over 29 metres, both in the footwall of the main mineralized structure. Now, four new intercepts have extended the strike of this high-grade zone to 150 metres, where it appears to merge into the main zone to the northeast. It remains open along strike to the southwest and at depth.

The high-grade zone results are impressive. Hole 76 first cut 25 metres grading 1.82 grams gold from 36 metres depth and then hit 12.8 metres of 34.62 grams gold from 81 metres down-hole. Hole 74 returned 2.88 grams gold over 19.3 metres, from 60 metres below surface; hole 70 cut 19.4 metres of 2.32 grams gold from 61 metres depth, followed by 2.1 metres grading 27.65 grams gold from 130 metres. And hole 72 returned 2.37 grams gold over 28 metres from 45 metres depth, followed by 3.16 grams gold over 61 metres from 94 metres down-hole.

The La Bodega zone is closed off to the northeast by the property boundary but remains open in all other directions. La Mascota is generally narrower but carries higher-grade mineralization.

Recent results from La Mascota follow this trend. Hole 73 returned 7.46 grams gold over 14.6 metres from 85 metres depth and then hit 15.5 metres grading 3.86 grams gold at 107 metres down-hole. And hole 77 cut 2 metres of 26.29 grams gold from 36 metres depth, followed by 21 metres averaging 6.2 grams gold. These infill holes confirm previous high-grade hits in the southwest corner of the zone. A 100-metre stepout hole has since been drilled and results are pending.

In the difficult-to-access La Rosa zone, one of the few holes drilled to date returned several mineralized intercepts, including 7 metres of 4.71 grams gold and 17 metres of 1.13 grams gold. Ventana does not yet know if the mineralization at La Rosa represents a continuation of the main zone at La Bodega or if the zone has been offset by post-mineral faulting.

And at La Mercedes, where artisanal tunnels and crosscuts pattern a 300-metre-long, high-angle fractured zone of sheeted vein structures, hole 68 intercepted 38 metres carrying 2.41 grams gold from 116 metres down-hole, followed by 16 metres grading 6.19 grams gold from 167 metres. Calling the results “encouraging,” Ventana says it has planned further drilling in the area.

Ventana believes true widths are between 60% and 100% of drilled intercepts.

The latest drill results certainly caught investors’ attention; Ventana’s share price gained 25¢ or 45% on the news to close at 80¢. The company has a 52-week trading range of 4¢-$1 and has 69 million shares outstanding, 77 million fully diluted.

La Bodega is in the historic California-Vetas mining district, 400 km north of Bogota and 40 km northeast of Bucaramanga. The property is road accessible and crossed by power lines.

La Bodega and Greystar’s Angostura are part of the Santander massif of the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes. Mineralization at La Bodega occurs principally as a series of north-northwest-dipping, parallel sheeted vein zones, breccias, and mineralized faults situated within an envelope of pervasively phyllic altered and variably silicified gneiss and intrusive rocks.

In mid-January, Ventana moved to secure additional ground in the area, signing an agreement to acquire two adjoining exploration licences comprising 6.2 sq. km. Ventana says the ground allows the company to expand its exploration efforts and provides greater flexibility when the time comes to choose a location for processing facilities. Ventana is buying the licences from a private Colombian company.