Vancouver – Recently spun-off Oro Silver Resources (OSR-V) is consolidating a strong presence in Zacatecas, Mexico, having signed on to acquire a producing mine and six exploration properties in a significant historic silver district in under eight months.
Spun off from Oro Gold Resources (OGR-V) in early February, by mid-March Oro Silver had signed a letter of intent to purchase the producing El Compas silver mine and a 100% interest in three nearby exploration properties totaling 100 hectares. The agreement, which was finalized in June, also granted Oro Silver first right of refusal in the acquisition of 31 mining concessions in the Zacatecas district, covering 852 hectares.
By making staged payments totaling US$2.7 million over two years, Oro Silver can acquire the El Orito, La Virgen, and Ampliacion El Compas concessions as well as the exploitation rights on the El Compas mining concession.
El Compas currently processes 50 to 60 tonnes a day from an east-west trending double vein system averaging 7.99 grams gold per tonne and 96.6 grams silver per tonne. According to a 43-101-compliant report filed this summer, the property hosts at least four low sulphidation epithermal veins, two of which are currently under exploitation. The report suggests that future exploration should focus on establishing the down-dip extension of the currently exploited mineralized chute and testing cross-strike and north-south potential via surface and underground drilling.
A summer underground sampling program consisting of 370 one-metre samples taken from all seven levels of the production ramp returned an average grade of 4.6 grams gold and 29.5 grams silver. The highest silver grade over one metre was 475.8 grams silver; for gold, the best result was 125.1 grams gold.
In September, Oro Silver picked up three more properties. The middle of the month saw the company sign an option-to-purchase agreement for the Ana Camila property, also in Zacatecas, which consists of five concessions in two separate blocks totaling 320 hectares. The US$300,000 Ana Camila acquisition extends Oro Silvers control over the El Compas silver-gold vein system by 500 metres.
At the end of the month the company spent US$167,000 for two adjacent concessions located 17 km north of El Compas, called Santa Cecilia and Santa Lucia. The properties cover a 28-hectare area. Santa Cecilia is one of the 31 properties for which Oro Silver held right of first refusal: the company had an option to match any offer made by a competing company for a one-year period, and the acquisition was prompted by such an offer.
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