Ursa Major expands interests in Kazakstan

Junior Ursa Major International (URSA-C) has added a fourth gold property to its portfolio of mineral assets in Kazakstan.

The Hamilton, Ont.-based company can acquire a 60% interest in the Nirinsk licence area from Centrgeolsyemka, a Kazakstani company, by spending US$500,000 on exploration over the next five years. The option is subject to due diligence, which is expected to be completed by June.

Situated 210 km northeast of Karaganda and comprising 68 sq. km, the property contains the Kenjarik deposit, which, according to a previous estimate by Soviet geologists, hosts 2.9 million tonnes grading 8.7 grams gold per tonne to a depth of 200 metres. The estimate was based on results from trenching and drilling.

The deposit consists of several zones of mineralization associated with quartz-vein stockworks and with alteration hosted in sediments and intrusive rocks. Alteration zones are up to 800 metres long and 80 metres wide, whereas the contained stockworks are 4-6 metres thick. The deposit is open both at depth and along strike.

Ursa believes the deposit has the potential to be developed into a large, bulk-tonnage, open-pit mine. As soon as weather permits, the junior will begin preliminary geological evaluations.

Also contained in the Nirinsk licence is the Koktasjal deposit, which hosts an inferred resource of 57 million tonnes of sulphide mineralization grading 0.62% copper and 0.71 gram gold, plus an inferred oxide resource of 8 million tonnes grading 0.54% copper and 0.69 gram gold.

Meanwhile, the company has raised $1.4 million in a rights offering, and received conditional approval for listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.