ODDS’N’SODS — The Mexican adventure (1)

Exploration work in Alaska has its problems. Nevertheless, the long days and short nights during the summer, combined with the mineral-rich Triassic volcanics in the Talkeetnas, make prospecting a challenging and rewarding venture.

As winter approaches, however, and the gold dredges at Nome cease operations, one must inevitably search for a warmer clime. Many Alaskans, during winter, prefer to take the belly to the grub than bring the grub to the belly.

Fortunately for me, the son of my Alaskan partner found his way to Mexico, where, in Sonora state, exploration activity was perhaps at its peak during the Alaskan winter. I was invited to join their enterprise, which proved to be a prospecting adventure of unusual merit and excitement.

We first examined numerous long-vacated workings of old gold and silver producers, of which Sonora has a bountiful history. Finally, we were fortunate to explore in a lowland locality where a gossan was exposed over a strike length of 9 km, and numerous outcroppings revealed the presence of malachite, along with other green-stained rocks containing copper. The frequent occurrence of black copper, as well, enhanced the possibilities of exploiting extensive and promising copper deposits.

Then the problems started. We set out to establish the title and to determine the legal requirements. A “solicitation,” to use the Mexican terminology, was necessary in the preliminaries in order to qualify the legalities. Within this application, a legal survey of the ground was first required, to be duly completed and filed with the government agency.

The survey revealed that another, older solicitation had been placed within the same area and, as well, a recent application had been filed by a Mexican mining company.

We contacted the president of this firm, hoping for a possible shared venture. Although the company did not wish to enter into a joint program, it was most co-operative in disclosing its information from previous exploration covering the mineral zone.

In the past decade, several Canadian companies had drilled some of the copper showings and the results of one had been made available to the Mexican company. I gathered the others. We shared and studied the data and started a friendly haggling over a joint venture.

Meantime, the syndicate I had formed acquired an option on the older solicitation, so that we now possessed two holdings on the copper-rich zone. Our negotiations with the Mexican mining company proceeded apace, but foundered when the president of the firm set the price at US$1 million cash. (The company’s requirements were in keeping with the capital expansion needs of a lead-zinc mine which it was operating.) We then attempted to enlist major companies in the joint venture, but without success.

All the while, we actively pursued our exploration program and were encouraged by numerous outcroppings of copper oxides yielding substantial assay values.

We thoroughly enjoyed the field work. The weather was hot by our standards (we were there from October to April), and the campaign was made entirely pleasant by the variety of the landscape. The low hills comprised brush range land, crisscrossed by cattle trails and enclosing substantial ranches. In contrast, the lowest lands were occupied by small holdings with fields of maize and sesame, where the flocks of “palomas” (doves) feasted. A quaint little village occupied a portion of the mineral zone. The local store, which we called “the 7-Eleven,” provided refreshingly cool water from its well, and the smiling lady proprietor stocked the shelves with biscuits, canned goods, candies and, most important, an old-style fridge which contained soft drinks at one peso per bottle. Meantime, our “lady of the well” maintained a small Mexican-style farm with a small fenced-in section for chickens, pigs, a sleepy dog and a parrot.

–The author, a geological engineer in Vancouver, will continue his story next week.