Eldorado active at new Mexican gold project

With one gold mine in Mexico up and running, Eldorado (TSE) is turning its attention to another gold project in that country.

Earlier this year, the company opened La Colorada. Situated in Sonora state, the 70%-owned open-pit, heap-leach mine, is expected to produce 25,000 oz. gold annually. Eldorado’s project partner at La Colorado is Campbell Resources (TSE).

Now, in neighboring Sinaloa state, a feasibility study is under way for La Trinidad, a project with the potential for becoming a low-cost gold producer. By completing the study, Eldorado can earn a 51% interest from Almaden Resources (VSE).

Work is being focused on the Taunas and Colinas zones, which are estimated to contain a minable resource of 2.8 million tons grading 0.062 oz. gold per ton, with a waste-to-ore ratio of 1.5-to-one.

The bulk of this resource is within Taunas, where a recent infill and stepout drill program of 141 holes established 2.3 million tons grading 0.065 oz. The zone is partly exposed at

surface and is described as a shallow-dipping, potentially open-pit, oxide-gold deposit measuring 2,165 ft. long by up to 450 ft. wide. The Colinas anomaly, 1,300 ft. south of Taunas, has been tested by 46 additional holes. The initial minable resource is 460,000 tons grading 0.05 oz., with the zone open to the northeast and southeast.

Detailed mine planning, pit optimization and reserve calculations are in progress and geotechnical drilling was completed in order to evaluate sites for mining and processing facilities. Metallurgical work is continuing, with both cyanide heap leaching and standard crushing and froth flotation being evaluated as methods for gold extraction.

Although exploration drilling on La Trinidad has ceased so that the feasibility study can proceed, the property is viewed as having good potential for more discoveries. Eldorado has outlined several anomalies along the project’s mineralized trend and these remain to be tested. Meanwhile, the company has begun exploring another project in Sinaloa: El Encuentro, a joint venture held 60% by Eldorado and 40% by Almaden. Work is focused on a gold-bearing stockwork zone with localized epithermal breccias. A 6,000-ft. trenching program will test for continuity of mineralization.

Farther afield, Eldorado and partner HRC Development (VSE) have completed a land acquisition project in the provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja and San Juan in Argentina, near the Chilean border.

A total of seven claims blocks covering 144 square miles were acquired, and the 50-50 joint venture comprises some 1,200 square miles. Efforts will now focus on exploration and development of the property, which Eldorado views as being “one of the most prospective areas in the world for discovering multi-million-ounce gold deposits.”