Buenaventura to farm in on Rio Narcea property (January 03, 2005)

A deal between Compania de Minas Buenaventura (BVN-N) and Rio Narcea Gold (RNG-T) will see the Peruvian company earn a 51% interest in Rio Narcea’s Santa Marina property in northwestern Spain.

Santa Marina, 2 km north of Rio Narcea’s El Valle gold mine, has a breccia-hosted gold prospect where earlier drilling intersected significant grades. Buenaventura can earn its interest by driving a ramp to the 300-metre level and by performing 1,100 metres of drilling. The company has two years to complete the work, which is budgeted at 2.2 million euros.

Buenaventura can bump its interest to 70% by spending a further 2.4 million euros on exploration, including underground development.

A drill hole in 2000 intersected multiple zones of mineralization in the breccia, including a 1-metre interval grading 22 grams gold per tonne, a 2.5-metre interval of 16.1 grams, and an 8.2-metre interval of 2 grams.

The agreement is expected to close in late January.