Bear Creek scores Anglo’s Peruvian data

Vancouver – Bear Creek Mining (BCM-V) has inked a deal with AngloGold Ashanti (AU-N) that will give the junior a jump start on grassroots exploration in southern Peru. The deal involves AngloGold’s regional geochemical-geologic exploration data covering some 180,000 square km within the epithermal gold-silver belt where Bear Creek already has several early stage projects on the go.

Bear Creek can get 100% interest in any prospects it acquires within the area by issuing 200,000 common shares of its stock to AngloGold, plus two million warrants at $1.50 and $2.20. AngloGold can back-in for a 65% interest in any such prospect by funding a feasibility study.

AngloGold estimates it spent some US$4 million compiling the data that comprises results for more than 9,000 stream sediment and rock samples and includes remote sensing imagery that it processed to pin point hydrothermal alteration, and structural geologic interpretations.

The major collected the data in an effort to identify large altered areas which may contain high-sulphidation gold targets above its minimum size threshold. Now Bear Creek wants to focus on exploration in areas that may have been below the major’s size threshold — and has earmarked over 200 alteration and/or geochemical anomalies for follow-up from its initial review of the data.

The junior already has two agreements with AngloGold including one on the Pichacani Norte gold and silver property within the same Tertiary volcanic belt.

Bear Creek can earn up to 100% interest in Pichacani Norte from Anglo. The junior has found gold and silver grades of up to 4.7 grams and 90 grams, respectively, on surface. Bear Creek plans to spend $100,000 by this July to earn a 60% interest. Anglo can back in for 70% by funding a feasibility study if resources are found to exceed 2.5 million oz. of gold-equivalent.

Bear Creek’s wholly-owned Santa Ana property in the region contains a grassroots stage bulk-tonnage silver-lead-zinc with barite target within an alteration/mineralization zone that measures 2.8 by 0.6 km on surface and is about 80 metre thick. The geochemistry runs high in silver, lead and zinc.

The junior also has an agreement with Rio Tinto (RTP-N) to aquire a 70% interest in the 2,300 hectare Corani property in southeastern Peru. Corani is a bulk tonnage gold-silver target with underlying copper porphyry potential.

Bear Creek is readying all the projects for drilling in the second quarter this year.