Minefinders options five prospects

Toronto-listed Minefinders has optioned from Equinox Resources (TSE) a 51% interest in each of five gold properties in the western U.S.

Four properties are in north-central Nevada and encompass 3,800 acres. Two of these, the Bluff and the Tact, are found within the Battle Mountain Trend and are being incorporated into an existing joint-venture agreement between Equinox and Minefinders.

The two other Nevada properties, the Dottie and the Clear, are found within the Tuscarora and Getchel trends.

In addition to these four properties, 51 claims have been staked and are included as part of the BRX group of companies.

To earn a 51% interest in the four concessions, Minefinders will pay $80,000 cash, as well as spend $1 million on exploration over a 4-year period. It will also issue 40,000 shares, once regulators approve the transaction. Minefinders has also optioned the Oro Blanco gold property 60 km south of Tucson, Ariz. The company will drill two of the more than 20 mineralized areas in the hope of outlining an open-pit, bulk-minable, heap-leach gold-silver deposit. Previous work outlined an oxidized deposit to a minimum deposit of 150 ft.

Minefinders will pay $200,000 cash and spend $1 million on exploration over five years to earn the 51% stake in Oro Blanco. A 5,000-ft. drill program will be completed in May, to be followed by bulk sampling and metallurgical testing.