Namiquipa Project
The Namiquipa Project (Figure 1) is located in the Municipality of Namiquipa, Chihuahua State, Northern Mexico, approximately 145 kilometres west-north-west of the city of Chihuahua. The Project is within the Namiquipa Mining District adjacent to the village of El Terrero.
The Project consists of three concessions totalling 4,400 hectares and includes the La Venturosa silver mine, which was the site of underground mining operations for silver, lead and zinc from 1929–1936, 1948–1955 and 1990-2002. Mining was on a very small scale in the 1929-1936 period and no records were examined from this period. More extensive mining took place in the latter two periods when both oxide and sulphide resources were exploited. Mining has taken place over a strike length of just 1,250m and to a depth of only 250m. Mining ceased due to low metal prices and subsequent flooding.
The acquisition has given the Company control over the mineralized trend to north and south of the La Venturosa Mine, where there has only previously been reconnaissance exploration undertaken. Several high priority targets have been identified including areas where mining occurred to depths of only 100m and along strike in both directions from the existing mine workings.
The Namiquipa Project area is hosted by Tertiary age volcanics deposited in the Early to Middle Miocene. Namiquipa is one of a series of deposits hosted in the rocks of Northern Mexico’s Upper Volcanic Series and lies within the Ag-Pb-Zn epithermal belt. The mineral assemblages present and the associated hydrothermal alteration suggest that mineralisation is a low to intermediate sulfidation type. As such and considering the levels of silver at Namiquipa it is strongly analogous to the Fresnillo-style of polymetallic vein systems which are silver rich and gold poor. Fresnillo in Zacatecas State in north central Mexico is the world’s largest primary silver producer and Mexico’s second largest gold producer, with substantial lead and zinc credits.
Figure 2: Titles to the Property
The Namiquipa Silver Project consists of The Tasmania Concession; The America Concession; and The Rolys Concession (Figure 2). The Company owns the Tasmania and Rolys Concessions and has the right to acquire the America Concession from Minera Rio Tinto S.A de C.V, a company incorporated under the laws of Mexico, under an option agreement dated 22 July 2008 and varied by further agreement.
A technical report on the Namiquipa Project has been filed on SEDAR in accordance with Canadian NI 43-101, and on the Company website under Investors - Technical Reports.
The Company commenced an initial 10,000m core drill program on the Namiquipa Project in May 2011.
