Yamana gains ground in Chile’s El Indio belt

Yamana Resources (TSE) has signed option agreements covering 13,200 hectares in the Chilean mineral belt known as El Indio.

The company can acquire four gold exploration properties for US$235,000, payable over four years. In addition, Yamana must make royalty payments equivalent to 5% of the capital investment required to develop a mine, up to a maximum of US$5 million per concession. Yamana has also acquired two other concessions, totalling 7,300 hectares, in the same area. All six concessions are south of Barrick Gold’s (TSE) El Indio mine.

The Manila, Guayacan and Arrieros option properties are more than 4,200 metres above sea level, in an area underlain by a sequence of volcanic rocks with hydrothermal alteration typical of the Indio-Tambo district. Veins previously worked at Guayacan averaged 7 grams gold and 3,000 grams silver per tonne, while breccia bodies found at Arrieros have been found to yield up to 4 grams gold.

The Coipa option and Yamana’s Diablo and Azul properties lie farther west, at lower elevations and in more eroded terrain. They are thought to have potential to host deep-rooted copper-molybdenum systems.

Reconnaissance mapping and sampling at Azul have unearthed anomalous concentrations of copper, molybdenum and arsenic in tourmaline-rich, extensively brecciated host rocks. Work is continuing on the 6,000-hectare Azul concession, and programs on the other properties will begin shortly.