Centurion hopes to develop placer deposit

Being able to deal successfully with environmental issues can put your services in very high esteem these days, especially in states like California where the environmentalist lobby is very strong.

A Vancouver company, Centurion Minerals, formerly called Questmont Mines, is banking on the fact that it can do just that with a pool of engineers and geologists who are also employed by another Vancouver gold company with experience in the field.

Centurion has raised $1.8 million (by selling 300,000 shares to Canarim Investment Corp. at $6 a share) which it intends to use to develop a placer gold property located 70 miles northeast of Sacramento, Calif.

Some $9 million has already been spent on the property which has been licensed by property vendors San Juan Gold (a private company) to St. Joe Minerals and Coastal Mining, a wholly-owned subsidiary of M.A. Hanna.

St. Joe has optioned its 50% interest in the ground to Centurion and a letter of intent has been signed with Hanna for a further 40% interest. Centurion can earn a total interest then of 90% in the property and Coastal would retain 10% and be the operator.

The placer gold deposit occurs in two zones — one containing drill indicated reserves of 8.4 million cu yd grading 0.039 oz gold per cu yd and another lower grade zone with an indicated volume of about 9 million cu yd.

A preliminary feasibility study suggests cash operating costs would be $190(US) per oz using gravity separation techniques.

Centurion is now using its resources, together with those of Hanna, to have environmental permits amended so that the project can go ahead. Some 25-30 drill holes will be needed to upgrade reserves and a milling flowsheet will be developed for a detailed feasibility study to be completed probably within nine months.