Vancouver — Having thinned out its portfolio of Argentine properties and put its Tasna bismuth mine, in Bolivia, up for sale,
Situated near the border with Peru, the belt straddles the Zamora River, 340 km south of Quito. London-based
The joint-venture agreement with Billiton requires Corriente to advance any one of the copper belt projects to the feasibility stage, as well as issue shares of Corriente to Billiton in return for a 70% working interest. Billiton retains a back-in-right for a 70% interest for carrying Corriente through to production.
The junior intends to identify sources of high-grade (greater than 1% copper) secondary mineralization, as well as large tonnages of primary copper resources. Currently, Corriente is performing reconnaissance exploration and drilling on at least four targets; next, it will select the best targets for follow-up work. Corriente has enlisted the services of David Lowell, one of the world’s foremost porphyry-copper experts. Lowell will retain a 10% share in Corriente’s interest and is in charge of managing the project over the next few years.
The latest round of reconnaissance holes were drilled at the Chancho project, 3 km west of the recently drilled Mirador project. The 20-hole, 2,000-metre drill program tested a high-grade mineralized zone that trends in a northwest direction over a distance of 4 km. The program outlined a relatively narrow and structurally controlled system of mineralization that is not typical of classic porphyry copper deposits.
About seven of the holes were drilled to the west and angled at minus 60-70; the remaining holes were oriented to the east. Highlights of assays in the 1% copper range are as follows:
Hole CH-1 intersected a 51-metre interval grading 1% copper, starting at 131 metres down-hole;
Hole CH-4 cut 37 metres grading 1% copper, starting at 82 metres down-hole;
Hole CH-6 intersected 9 metres of 1.1% copper, starting at 41 metres down-hole;
Hole CHN-1 hit 12 metres of 1.3% copper, starting at 92 metres down-hole;
Hole CHN-8 cut 25 metres averaging 1.2% copper, starting at 45 metres down-hole.
Drill results would seem to indicate that the high-grade material extends from the northern end of the structure toward the south and remains open at both ends. The mineralization appears to thicken toward the south as the fault structure becomes more defined.
The company is mapping and sampling the southern portion of the fault structure in an attempt to trace the narrow, high-grade zones into an area of larger-tonnage potential that has been dubbed Chancho South. Initial field reports have identified several square kilometres of sericite alteration, which it believes could host a much larger zone of Chancho high-grade mineralization.
Meanwhile, drilling at the Panantza zone, in the central part of the Corriente copper belt, began in early October. The property is 4 km west of the San Carlos project, which has an inferred resource of 400 million tonnes grading 0.7% copper (based on 25 Billiton drill holes totalling 5,900 metres). Panantza will be the third porphyry complex Corriente has drilled this year.
The initial target is a high-grade oxide copper zone that overlies high-grade primary mineralization. Eleven scout drill holes tested a shallow oxide target that yielded near-surface results of 27 metres grading 1.3% copper and 60 metres of 1.15% copper .
Previous drilling by Corriente at Mirador succeeded in identifying further primary copper mineralization. Highlights are as follows:
Hole 20 intersected 111 metres grading 0.75% copper;
Hole 16 cut 59 metres grading 0.86% copper;
Hole 14 cut 69 metres of 0.84% copper;
Hole 31 intersected 123 metres of 0.75% copper;
Hole 33 returned 231 metres grading 0.64% copper;
Hole 35 cut 263 metres of 0.82% copper;
Hole 42 intersected 134 metres grading 0.79% copper.
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