Little light shed on Delgratia salting scandal

Shareholders of Delgratia Mining (DELGF-Q) are finding more questions than answers in a report examining recent work at the company’s Josh property in Nevada.

The audit, performed by consulting engineers Brian Mountford and Morris Beattie, states that no gold was detected from samples assayed by reputable laboratories and that the only time the precious metal was readily detected was when the samples were assayed by Energy International. This unlicensed laboratory, based in Phoenix, Ariz., is owned by Robert Harlan Gunnison, who was convicted of securities fraud in 1978.

The report also raised concerns about the procedures employed by another lab, White Technology of St. George, Utah. Delgratia had not previously disclosed that White Technology or its principal, Merwin White, had assayed samples from the Josh property. Merwin White has, however, carried out assaying work for another junior under fire for misrepresenting assay results, namely Naxos Resources, which has been suspended from trading by the Alberta Stock Exchange.

Three class-Action lawsuits have been launched against Delgratia and certain principals, namely Charles Ager, president. The lawsuits allege that Ager not only handpicked the unlicensed labs to assay samples from the property but that he stood to benefit financially from the fabricated results as his family trust owned the property vended to Delgratia.

A man with many hats, Ager also owned Cactus Mining, the company exploring the Josh property for Delgratia. Cactus had its own assay lab and, in an unusual development, Mountford and Beattie asked Cactus’ principal assayer, David Camacho, to join its audit team after swearing him “to secrecy.” As a consequence, Camacho’s role, and that of Cactus Mining (owned by Ager), was not investigated in the audit.

Ager could not be reached for comment.

Delgratia says it has retained Behre Dolbear to conduct “such additional programs as may be necessary, including a review of existing data,” in order to determine if the property should be retained.

In other news, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) filed a notice of hearing against American Technology Exploration, a junior promoting an unsubstantiated gold deposit in Nevada. While the company is listed on the Bulletin Board in the U.S., its executive offices are in British Columbia.

The company’s president, Philip Lieberman, is subject to outstanding orders, issued by the BCSC in March of 1994, prohibiting him from acting as a director or officer of any reporting issuer for a period of eight years. The order was issued as a result of “false and misleading representations” made by Lieberman concerning a mineral property.