Da Capo identifies Amayapampa tonnage

The proven and probable mineral resource for the Amayapampa mine in Bolivia is now estimated at 4.3 million tonnes grading 2.82 grams gold per tonne.

Da Capo Resources (VSE), which is working to outline a bulk-minable reserve, can earn a 70% interest by spending $6 million over two years. Small-scale underground mining is currently being carried out at a rate of about 120 tonnes per day from a series of high-grade quartz veins within a mineralized shear zone.

Kilborn Engineering Pacific arrived at the resource estimate based on assay data from 5-metre channel samples collected from 116 crosscuts within existing underground workings; they were collected over a 500-metre strike length and a 214-metre vertical extent. The average crosscut width is 18.65 metres, which, in many cases, does not cover the entire width of the mineralized zone, leaving it open to the 40-metre width of the shear zone. The zone remains open on strike and to depth. Ross Beaty, president of Da Capo, says the company is working to determine the deposit’s ultimate size through stepout drilling.

Assays are pending on the first 100-metre stepout hole, which intersected visible gold in several areas over 100 metres of the 300-metre core length. Kilborn’s resource estimate is based on a cutoff grade of 0.7 grams and all assay values are uncut. If high-grade assays are cut to 10 grams, the estimate drops to 4.3 million tonnes grading 1.54 grams.

Increasing the cutoff to 1 gram lowers the cut tonnage to 3.2 million tonnes grading 1.76 grams.

Da Capo has $9 million in working capital, no debt and about 10 million shares outstanding.