VANCOUVER — Shares of Bolivian-focused junior Apogee Minerals (APE-V, AGEEF-O) jumped as much as 67% on strong volume in recent trading, on the results of a pair of drill holes that returned wide, high-grade silver values from its Pulacayo- Paca project.
Hole PUD-045cut 61 metres grading 262.5 grams silver per tonne, 2.9% zinc and 0.8% lead (from 254 metres down-hole), including a 31- metre interval of 472.9 grams silver, 4.2% zinc and 0.9% lead.
Another hole, PUD-043, intersected 31 metres (from 371 metres) averaging 146.9 grams silver and 1% zinc, along with a higher-grade section of 483.7 grams silver over 6 metres.
Core lengths are estimated at about 80% of true thickness of the mineralized zone. The results are the initial assays from a 14-hole drill program totalling 3,745 metres completed late last year.
Apogee is testing a near-surface, silver-rich portion of the Upper Tajo Vein system that extends laterally for at least 1 km and to a depth of more than 700 metres. It has also identified other subparallel mineralized systems on the project.
The Tajo system is a roughly 200- metre-thick, east-west-trending sequence of epithermal veins, stock-work and disseminated sulphides — associated with a large dacitic intrusive. It has a higher-grade core (the Main zone) up to 60 metres thick. Mineralization is comprised of a vertically zoned sequence of sphalerite, galena and tetrahedrite in massive sulphide veins (ranging from a few centimetres to more than a metre thick) and as strongly disseminated sphalerite, galena and tetrahedrite between the veins.
The company planned to resume drilling in mid-January and anticipates generating a resource estimate by mid-2008.
The historic Pulacayo mine, which exploited the Tajo Vein system from 1883-1958, produced about 678 million oz. silver, 400 million lbs. lead and 400 million lbs. zinc over its life — making it Bolivia’s second-largest silver mine after Cerro Rico de Potosi.
In 2005, Apogee entered into an agreement to earn a 60% interest in Pulacayo-Paca from Apex Silver Mines (SIL-X) by spending US$1 million and completing a bankable feasibility study within three years. Once Apogee vests its interest, Apex holds a back-in right for 60% of the property, which it can exercise by taking it to production.
Apogee also operates the La Solucion zinc-lead-silver mine, in western Bolivia. An expansion program is under way to boost milling capacity to 200 tonnes per day from 120, and to add further flotation cells to the zinc circuit to increase recoveries.
Shares of Apogee closed up a dime on the drill results at 36 apiece on trading volume of over 2.6 million. Based on its 53.3 million shares outstanding, the company posts a $19-million market capitalization with a 52-week trading range of 21-69.
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