Bresea to gain stake in Sangihe gold project

Bresea Resources (ME) can earn a 30% interest in an Indonesian copper-gold project belonging to affiliated company Bre-X Minerals (ASE).

The Sangihe property consists of two blocks of ground; one comprises more than 42,000 hectares in the southern half of Sangihe Island, while the other constitutes 82,000 hectares in the northern half of the neighboring island of Karakelong.

The project area is underlain by a portion of a mature, volcanic arc stretching from Indonesia’s Sulawesi province north through the island chain to the island of Minado in the Philippines.

Previously, several dioritic and tonalitic porphyry intrusives were discovered, having been emplaced in a sequence of metamorphosed andesites at the base of an eroded volcanic system. Generally, deposits associated with the intrusives do not exceed 300 million tonnes, with grades averaging 0.5-0.6% copper and 0.6-0.7 gram gold per tonne.

Advanced porphyry deposits found along the volcanic arc include TVI Pacific’s (ASE) King-King deposit in Minado and Newmont’s (NYSE) discovery on Sumbabwa Island.

An 8-hole, 1,375-metre drill program tested several mineralized zones at Sangihe, revealing that gold and base metal mineralization is related to linear structures. In addition, two porphyry systems, known as the Taware and Red Hills, were intersected. Although the Taware porphyry was too small to be a stand-alone deposit, drilling, mapping and trenching at Red Hills has uncovered encouraging results. Bre-X now believes the previous drilling may have intersected the lower-grade envelope of the porphyry system.

Bresea can earn the 30% interest through a wholly owned subsidiary, which must incur exploration expenditures equal to 60% of the costs incurred by Bre-X on the project to date. The subsidiary can maintain its interest by funding one-third of the exploration and development expenses.