AngloGold expands presence in South America

The world’s largest gold producer has set its sights on several prospective areas of South America as part of an ongoing effort to expand beyond its operating base in South Africa.

In the past year, AngloGold (AU-N) has set up exploration offices in Nova Lima and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The company has several projects in the country, including Amapari, which, according to a recently concluded feasibility study, hosts oxide and sulphide resources totalling 2.6 million oz. gold.

AngloGold recently opened offices in Elko, Nev., Denver, Colo., and Perth, Australia, though it is not ignoring opportunities closer to home. Tanzania is still an exploration hot spot at the moment, as is Mali, where the company holds a 38% interest in the producing Sadiola Hill gold mine.

This year, the mega-producer plans to pay particular attention to the Andean region straddling the border between Chile and Argentina, where rival Barrick Gold (ABX-T) has been enjoying considerable exploration success. In Ecuador, AngloGold is funding an exploration initiative managed by partner Iamgold (IMG-T), a Canadian junior that also holds a 38% interest in the Sadiola Hill mine.

Iamgold assembled the Ecuadoran land package in 1997 after identifying a region in the south which hosts major dilational structures deemed favourable for the development of epithermal and porphyry systems. The land package covers known gold anomalies and extensive alteration patterns consistent with epithermal or porphyry systems.

Under the terms of an agreement signed last September, AngloGold will spend US$5.5 million over the next five years to earn a 50% interest in the projects. Once it does so, it has the right to take over as operator of the project and manage any mine that may be developed.

Last summer, AngloGold gained exposure to Peru’s considerable geological potential through a joint venture with Solitario Resources (slr-t). The agreement allows the major to earn a 51% interest in the Sapalache gold property (formerly called Shimbe) by spending US$6 million during the next four years.

The 170-sq.-km property is within Tertiary-aged volcanic rocks that host the nearby Yanacocha (Newmont Mining) and Pierina (Barrick Gold) mines. Surface exploration has focused on two target areas displaying broad areas of silicification and gold mineralization.

Solitario has numerous other properties in Peru, and its exploration success in the country has resulted in four major joint ventures in which partners will be spending more than US$40 million to earn their respective stakes in the properties. Its other partners include: Cominco (CLT-T), at the Bongara zinc project; Placer Dome (PDG-T), in the Yanacocha mining district; and Billiton, at the Soloco project, a Mississippi Valley-type zinc project.

Farther north, in Mexico, AngloGold recently decided to allow junior Standard Mining (SDM-T) to take a closer look at its El Chanate deposit, which hosts a resource of 14 million tonnes grading 1.5 grams gold per tonne.

The junior agreed to make a non-refundable US$50,000 payment for a 90-day evaluation of the project. Once this due diligence is complete, Standard can acquire a 100% interest in the 38-sq.-km property by purchasing the subsidiary of AngloGold that holds the mineral rights.

The cost of the company is an initial cash payment of US$200,000 followed by a US$1.8-million payment before January 2001. Anglogold retains a sliding net-smelter-return royalty ranging from 4% to 2%, depending on production. Standard can elect to reduce the royalty payment by half with a US$1-million payment.

Situated 120 km north of Hermosillo in Sonora state, the property has undergone extensive exploration, including mapping, geochemical surveys, trenching, geophysics, 324 rotary drill holes and nine core drill holes. Previous work also includes metallurgical tests and a mini-prefeasibility study that concluded the ore is amenable to an open-pit, heap-leach operation.

Standard plans to move the project forward through feasibility and into development. The company says it now has the opportunity to become a gold producer in as little as two years.