Asarco quantifies Camp Caiman gold resource

Asarco (AR-N) announced a resource for its Camp Caiman gold project in French Guiana during the Society of Mining Engineers’ annual convention here.

Asarco geologist Dominique Fournier said preliminary gold resources at Camp Caiman total 1.5 million oz., in what was the company’s first public statement about the 100%-owned project. The gold is contained in 16.9 million tonnes grading 2.7 grams gold; a 1-gram cutoff was used.

Mineralization is hosted within intermediate volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of Precambrian age, and is defined by a gold-in-soil anomaly located in 1991.

To date, Asarco has drilled more than 200 holes, but tested only 15% of the anomaly, Fournier said. Highlights from the drill results used in the resource calculation include 4.88 grams gold per tonne over 42.7 metres, 7.5 grams over 13 metres, 4.7 grams over 20 metres and 6.6 grams over 68 metres.

Camp Caiman is situated 40 km from the capital, Cayenne. The company has begun discussions with local and French authorities to safeguard a nearby area of environmentally sensitive rain forest.

In other news, Asarco has deferred the development of the Minto copper-gold mine in the Yukon. When announcing the decision, Chairman Richard Osborne cited low copper prices and delays in final permitting. The project, which is expected to produce 27 million lbs. copper and 10,000 oz. gold per year, is scheduled for startup in early 2000.