LATIN AMERICA — Opawica finds gold anomalies at Cura Este

Toronto-based Opawica Explorations (OPW-T) has discovered a new area of anomalous gold mineralization on its 16,000-ha Cura Este property in Argentina’s Valle del Cura district.

The discovery, made during an ongoing field program, exists at an elevation of between 4,000 and 4,800 metres. The gold mineralization is hosted by a suite of porphyries, tourmaline-barite breccias, silicified breccias, quartz stockworks, polymetallic veins and surrounding alteration zones in an area exceeding 20 km in diameter.

To date, Opawica has reported results for 200 of 500 samples. Exposed porphyries at surface returned gold values in the range 0.2-0.7 gram per tonne and molybdenum values ranging from 30 to 50 parts per million. Grab samples from silicified breccias, tourmaline-barite breccias, quartz stockworks and pyrite-rich polymetallic veins returned 0.5-5.5 grams gold, with silver content in some narrow polymetallic veins grading as high as 1,320 grams.

Opawica says the system remains open to the north, south and west, and that stream-sediment values of 0.1-0.2 gram gold indicate that mineralization may extend farther.

Final results for the current field season are expected in mid-May, at which time targets will be defined for further drilling, to begin in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, with its Pascua gold project being developed in neighbouring Chile, Barrick Gold (ABX-T) is seeking additional ground in the geological belt straddling the Argentine border.

In February, Barrick bought 1 million Opawica units at $1 each and secured an option to acquire up to a 70% interest in any Opawica property in the Valle del Cura-El Indio region of Argentina, where the junior owns, or has under option, more than 150,000 ha.

To earn a 70% interest, Barrick must make cash and exploration expenditures valued at 250% of all costs incurred by Opawica on a specific property. For its part, Opawica must spend at least US$500,000 on exploration over the next two field seasons at its property holdings.

In the meantime, Opawica and Falconbridge (FL-T) are exploring for base metals near the Kidd Creek mine in Ontario’s Timmins camp. That program is being operated by Falconbridge.