Ojalali tested for bulk-mining targets

With an eye towards bulk-minable deposits, Antares Mining & Exploration (ANZ-T) has signed a joint-venture agreement with Coleville Resources (CLL-A) and privately owned Kurnia Dwipa Kencana to explore the Ojolali gold property in Sumatra, Indonesia.

The junior recently acquired a 45% interest in the 1,977-ha property by paying US$1.5 million to Kurnia Dwipa and placing 1 million company shares in escrow for Coleville. Antares, which will act as operator, is also committed to funding the first US$500,000 in exploration expenditures. The remaining interests in the joint venture are split between Coleville and Kurnia Dwipa, with 45% and 10% respectively.

The Ojolali property is underlain by gold-bearing, hydrothermally altered and silicified volcanics and breccias within a 36-sq.-km area of intensely altered and bleached, shallow-dipping volcanics. Preliminary surface work on the property has identified 10 separate mineralized showings, which appear to be arranged in a broad rim of resurgent domes surrounding a central caldera measuring about 3 km in diameter. Four of these — C1, Batu Kuning, Kenkur and Jambi — are targeted for immediate follow-up work. Although work on each of these prospects has been preliminary, the company believes each has potential for hosting bulk-tonnage deposits minable by open-pit methods.

“At these four areas, a lot of local mining has been done,” says Jens Touborg, a consultant for Antares. “However, we’re seeing new exploration avenues for these because of stockwork potential. For example, if you have more than three different vein systems in one structure in closely spaced veinlets that are mineralized, that opens up the possibility of bulk-tonnage mining. This is especially true with regard to the Kenkur zone [in the northwestern portion of the property].”

In addition to containing low-grade mineralization, the prospects host potential for higher-grade mineralization. Grab samples taken from the C1 area have assayed as high as 45 grams gold per tonne, while one taken at Kenkur yielded 37 grams.

The initial phase of exploration, budgeted at $1.7 million, will consist of at least 8,000 metres of shallow diamond drilling, surface exploration and airborne geophysical work. Currently, the company is conducting trench work on each of the four prospects.

To fund the joint venture, Antares has issued 3.5 million special warrants at $1 per warrant to institutional and private investors. Each special warrant can be exchanged for one share.