Romarco ties up epithermal gold district in Mexico

Vancouver – Two separate agreements with a Mexican vendor have allowed Romarco Minerals (R-V) to acquire an entire past-producing epithermal gold district in Zacatecas State, Mexico.

The Pinos district covers more than 3,000 hectares of multi-vein gold systems that have historically produced more then 5 million oz. gold with an average grade of 60 grams per tonne, and more than 25 million oz. silver averaging 250 grams per tonne.

The Spaniards discovered the district in 1546 and mined gold and silver until 1810, followed by Cornish miners, who exploited the vein systems from the 1860s to 1910. The last mining took place from 1935 to 1941. Several companies subsequently explored the district in the 1970s through 1990s, notably Bethlehem Steel and Penoles.

The bulk of past production came from three vein systems, Cinco Estrellas, La Paz and San Ramon-Purisima, which have a continuous strike length of more than 5 km. Numerous additional parallel veins were identified, but never mined. Past mining activity was typically above the water table, about 100 metres in depth.

Romarco’s first agreement with Minera Apolo is for a 50-50 joint venture covering the 131-hectare Catanava area, which represents about 4% of the total project. The company will carry out a six-month drilling campaign to test the under-explored ground. If the program is successful, Romarco would then be required to provide financing for up to a 350-tonne-per-day plant. Each party would participate on an equal basis at production.

The second agreement is for the “Old Pinos” district, which covers 96% of the total project. Romarco holds a 100% right to explore and exploit this area, and must submit a scoping study within two years. If the study is positive, the company will have another two years to begin commercial production at a rate of 600 tonnes per day. Mineral Apolo will hold a 3.5% net smelter return royalty, 0.5% of which can be purchased by Romarco for US$500,000.

Romarco is drilling four other projects elsewhere in North and South America this summer. A first-phase drill program is under way at the 50%-held Cori Puncho project in southern Peru, where recent drilling intersected 2.14 grams gold over 26 metres, including 3.6 grams over 12 metres. Drilling is also under way or planned for the Roberts Mountain, Pine Grove and Buckskin-National gold projects, all in Nevada. The Nevada projects are wholly owned, except for 60%-held Pine Grove.