Arian awaits Julietta feasibility study

While many know the potential of the Pacific Rim of Fire, few companies have tested the prolific belt in its northern reaches, in far eastern Russia.

Among the few is CDN-listed Arian Resources, which began exploring the Julietta property last May. The licence hosts 10 gold showings plus the Julietta epithermal gold-silver vein deposit.

Julietta has undergone 30,000 metres of core drilling on 25-metre centres and 3 km of underground development. Proven, probable and possible reserves stand at 1 million tonnes grading 24 grams gold and 375 grams silver per tonne.

Arian holds a 49% interest in Omusukchansk Mining & Geological Co., the Russian joint stock company that owns the Julietta licence.

The junior expects the final feasibility to be completed by the end of April, with startup projected for the third quarter of 1997. Cut-and-fill stoping will be employed at the rate of 100,000 tonnes per year. Development costs are estimated not to exceed US$35 million.

Metallurgical tests have confirmed direct cyanidation results in gold recoveries of 96%, and silver recoveries of 83%. Total annual production will amount to 100,000 oz. gold-equivalent at an anticipated cash operating cost of US$100 per oz. Payback will be achieved within 12 months of startup.

Reserves, at present, are restricted to a small portion of the Julietta epithermal vein system, which occupies 5% of the 100-sq.-km licence area. Believing the potential to expand reserves to be excellent, the company is testing additional vein structures on the licence with two drill rigs.

Arian has also negotiated letters of agreement on two other Russian licences, east of Julietta.

The 58-sq.-km Butamoye licence is underlain by a 1.1-sq.-km, gold-in-soil, geochemical anomaly with values greater than 0.1 gram gold. Geological mapping, litho-geochemistry, geophysical surveys and trenching have identified extensive, mineralized quartz veins, with free-milling gold hosted in a granitic intrusion.

The company recently started a drill program with the intent of proving up a bulk-minable deposit. The first hole intersected a 12-metre interval grading 2 grams gold and included a vein measuring half a metre wide and grading 25 grams gold at a depth of 60 metres.

The Netchen Khaya licence is analogous to Butamoye in that it, too, is underlain by an area of soil with high gold content. In addition, the deposit contains a swarm of quartz veins hosted in a granitic stock with a quartz-sericite alteration halo. Samples from the halo have returned values ranging from 2 to 10 grams. The licence also contains a coincident geophysical anomaly.

Trenching has traced mineralization up to 2 km and returned values of 12.5 grams gold over 3.6 metres, and 39.7 grams gold over 2 metres. Arian intends to carry out drilling here during the next field season.

The company is also negotiating to acquire several additional properties.