Vancouver — For almost a decade,
“We’re not developers,” says Northair President Fred Hewett. “People who follow our company know we have a generative bent. Our philosophy is to get out in the field and look at things.”
The company has examined more than 500 projects in the past decade, and usually explores 10 or more projects each year with a modest annual budget of about $300,000. Many of these cover old showings in old mining camps.
“We try to bring historic projects into modern times with the use of new technology and exploration methods,” Hewett explains. “We think we have an advantage here because we know the region so well.”
Northair’s generative programs are managed by James Robinson, vice-president, a field geologist with extensive experience in Mexico. Gold and silver projects are the main targets of interest, but the team also keeps an eye out for other deposit types that might attract the interest of a partner or buyer.
Among the company’s more advanced projects is the Sierra Rosario property, optioned to
Three separate zones of gold-silver mineralization — dubbed La Josca, Las Tahunas and San Rafael — have been defined to date on the easily accessible property in Sinaloa state. The main target, San Rafael, contains epithermal mineralization hosted in altered rhyolite porphyry.
The property covers areas of historical production from small underground and open-cut excavations. The mineralization is found in breccia zones, quartz vein systems and skarn.
Earlier this spring, Sparton and Northair reported high-grade gold values and respectable silver values from early-stage sampling programs that have not yet been followed up by drilling. In some cases the gold-silver targets were associated with base metal mineralization.
The initial mapping and sampling program was followed by geophysical and geochemical surveys, which in turn will be followed by a decision on a drilling program.
In the state of Durango, Northair optioned its El Tesoro gold-silver project to a local mining company that operates a nearby milling facility. The private company is leasing the project with a view to carrying out small-scale mining of several mineralized zones identified by Northair.
At the Las Moras project in Durango state, Northair carried out an early-stage program that revealed a large gold-in-soil anomaly, and a separate zone of copper-lead-zinc mineralization.
The company’s main focus, however, is to continue the search for a project of sufficient size and grade to attract not just a partner or buyer, but to generate increased market interest as well.
“That’s what is going to keep this company going,” Hewett says.
Northair believes that Mexico offers the best opportunity for discovery and is now evaluating projects that range geographically as far north as near Hermosillo, west of Acapulco, and east through the Sierra Madres to near Vera Cruz.
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