EXPLORATION ’95 — Hecla plans to explore historic mining

With La Choya gold mine in Sonora state up and running, Hecla Mining (NYSE) is turning its attention to a historic gold and silver mining district in southern Zacatecas state, in central Mexico.

The company plans an aggressive exploration program during 1995 to evaluate the potential of the 13,000-acre Herradura Dorada property near the village of Pinos.

Gold and silver were mined in the Pinos region for 350 years, dating back from the discovery of the district in 1556 until its closure in 1910 (because of the Mexican Revolution).

Hecla can acquire the Herradura Dorada property by making certain exploration expenditures by Nov. 30, 1997, and by making monthly payments to the property vendors.

All-North Resources (VSE) has the right to back-in for a 30% interest by advancing all costs incurred by Hecla to that point, and by providing its pro rata share of mine construction costs. If All-North decides not to participate, it will be left with a 15% net profits interest in the project. The Herradura Dorada property is considered prospective for epithermal gold-silver mineralization. Preliminary work has delineated targets below and adjacent to the existing workings. The property also has potential for the discovery of both vein-type and bulk-tonnage reserves throughout the large mining district.

The property is underlain by a gently dipping sequence of Cretaceous sediments overlain by a succession of rhyolite flows, tuffs and associated epiclastic sediments. Hydrothermal activity has produced extensive epithermal gold-silver mineralization in the area, occurring both as classic, narrow veins and as widespread stockworks and disseminations.

The property can be reached by paved road, and plenty of process water is available nearby. The project is 70 miles west of the city of San Luis Potosi.