Ocean Park and Minaurum hit promising copper intercepts in Sonora state

VANCOUVER — Ocean Park Ventures (OCP-V) and Minaurum Gold (MGG-V) have released the first drill results from the Adelita project in Mexico since teaming up on it last year, with results showing some encouraging copper hits.

Of the two holes just released hole 9 was clearly the stand-out, hitting 105.2 metres grading 1.03% copper, 0.43 gram gold per tonne and 36.3 grams silver per tonne from less than 6 metres depth. The companies note that from 35 to 111 metres mineralization is particularly consistent, returning between 0.07% and 5.11% copper over three-metre intervals and defining a main mineralized zone with a drill-indicated width of 76 metres.

Making the hole more intriguing is that it was lost in mineralization at 111 metres downhole and while three holes have since been drilled to follow-up, the results are not yet out.

Hole 10, meanwhile, cut across the mineralized zone at a greater depth than hole 9, hitting 33.7 metres carrying 0.91% copper, 0.34 gram gold, and 46.4 grams silver from 98 metres downhole.

The companies report that the Cerro Grande target now has a mapped strike of over 800 metres and has been drill-confirmed over a 120-metre strike length and to a depth of 300 metres from surface. The target is still open in all directions.

Ocean Park, which can earn up to 75% of the project from Minaurum, also re-analyzed drill core from 2010 and found a higher than originally reported grade of copper. Hole 4, reported as hitting 11.2 metres carrying 0.33% copper, 0.59 gram gold, and 39.9 grams silver, actually hit 11.2 metres of 1.11% copper, with the other values the same. 

Minaurum’s 2010 drill results also included hole 1 that hit 16.2 metres grading 1.97% copper, 0.84 gram gold, and 73 grams silver from 36 metres downhole, and hole 2 that returned 47.6 metres averaging 0.98% copper, 0.46 gram gold and 46 grams silver from 36 metres downhole. Drill hole 9 was designed to test the projection to surface of mineralization intersected in the two holes.

The companies report that mineralization in the Cerro Grande copper-gold-silver skarn consists primarily of chalcocite, with some native copper, chalcopyrite, bornite, covellite and copper oxides, hosted by garnet exoskarn. Lithologies vary from hornfelsed marbles and granodiorite to a variety of intermediate to felsic dikes, plus various garnet skarns. Copper mineralization with associated gold and silver occurs as disseminated to semi-massive sulphide with disseminated to coarse bleddy native copper.

Along with Cerro Grande, the Adelita project also hosts the Mezquital copper-gold-silver-molybdenum porphyry target sitting roughly 1.5 km west that is being drill tested in a phase 1 drill program. Mezquital has a 3.5-sq.-km soil anomaly sourced by a multiple intrusive body, with associated geophysical signatures. The 114-sq.-km Adelita property sits 6 km east of Pan American Silver’s open pit Alamo Dorado silver mine.

The February 2011 earn-in agreement on the project has Ocean Park earning 51% by spending $1.4-million on exploration, issuing 950,000 shares and paying $375,000 cash. Ocean Park can earn 14% more by spending $2.4-million more on exploration, issuing 450,000 shares and paying $150,000 cash, and then an additional 10% by completing a feasibility study and issuing 500,000 shares.

Ocean Park is led by Paul Matysek as President and Chairman, who as CEO of Potash One oversaw its takeover by K+S Canada for $454 million and as CEO and founder of Energy Metals led it from a $10-million market capitalization to a $1.8-billion takeover.

Minaurum has a number of other projects throughout Mexico, while Ocean Park also has projects in British Columbia and Alaska. 

On news of the latest drill results, Ocean Park’s share price climbed 7¢ or 44% to 23¢ with 2.3 million shares traded. Minaurum closed unchanged at 29¢ on 60,000 shares traded.