Amarc misses mark at Inde

Vancouver — A 14-hole diamond drill program by Amarc Resources (AHR-V) has returned sporadic gold values below the historical oxide workings at the Inde property in Mexico’s Durango state.

The Hunter Dickinson-led company drill-tested a 600-metre section of the 3-km-long area of oxide mineralization for gold-bearing, massive sulphides. Despite hitting significant widths of sulphides in all of the holes, only five returned values greater than 4 grams gold per tonne.

Holes 2, 3, 4, and 14 were collared in the Guadalupe area. The best results were found in hole 14: 0.35 gram gold and 214 grams silver per tonne, plus 5.4% zinc and 3% lead, over 3 metres starting at 195 metres down-hole.

Moving 200 metres east, hole 1 cut 4.76 grams gold and 59 grams silver over 0.5 metre at 302 metres down-hole.

The other holes were drilled in a cluster 250 metres to the east. The highest values there were found in hole 9: 10.3 grams gold and 6.5 grams silver over 2 metres.

Situated 235 km west-northwest of Torreon, the property has a long history of oxide gold mining activity. Beginning in 1532, the Spanish carried out production, which lasted, off and on, until the onset of the Mexican revolution in 1813. Small-scale miners took over in 1921, and by 1927, U.S.-led companies had established a 150-ton-per-day mill capable of treating the oxide material. Activity stopped in 1935 when sulphide material was encountered at depths of about 150 metres. It is estimated that 1-1.5 million oz. gold were recovered during this period.

In 2001, the Hunter-Dickinson group consolidated the 2.75 sq. km of ground by purchasing two claims, staking a third and optioning a fourth. In November, the group vended the property into Amarc. Under the deal, the junior explorer can acquire the property outright by reimbursing Hunter-Dicenson’s cost of US$475,000 and paying the vendor US$3.75 million by March 13, 2005. The vendor retains a 4% net smelter return royalty, which is capped at US$2 million.

The main mineralized zone runs for more than 3.3 km along strike to vertical depths in excess of 150 metres. Most of the oxide mineralization has been mined along a 1.3-km strike length of the favourable contact zone known as the Cieneguillas area. Situated in the northern portion of the property, Cieneguillas covers three main workings, including Guadalupe. The other two, Libertad and Terrible, remain untested, as do the Matracal and Buena Vista targets, to the southeast.