Chesapeake gains Mexican properties

Vancouver-based Chesapeake Gold (CKG-V) has assembled a portfolio of 10 gold projects in Mexico, including ones in a new epithermal gold district.

Through staking and options, the company acquired the La Gitana gold-silver project, which comprises three mineral concessions in southern Oaxaca state.

La Gitana covers 70 sq. km, of which 50 sq. km were acquired by staking. One privately held concession is being acquired outright in return for 140,000 shares (issued over three years), whereas another concession was optioned from Luismin, a subsidiary of Wheaton River Minerals (wrm-t). Chesapeake can earn 75% of the latter concession by spending US$2 million on exploration.

La Gitana is a low-sulphidation, gold-silver epithermal system with multiple bulk-tonnage targets. Several areas of precious metal mineralization have been identified, including a disseminated oxide prospect, a high-grade vein-breccia structure, and numerous structurally controlled peripheral targets.

Mapping and sampling programs are under way, and will be followed by trenching and ground geophysical surveys to define drill targets. La Gitana is expected to be the company’s first drilling campaign in Mexico.

Chesapeake President Randy Reifel says the company evaluated 150 gold projects in Mexico before acquiring the La Gitana concessions, and numerous other bulk-tonnage gold prospects in six Mexican states.

The junior is also negotiating to acquire a newly discovered, precious metal skarn district in southern Mexico.

Chesapeake started as a spinoff company, as a result of the merger between Francisco Gold and Reno, Nev.-based Glamis Gold (). Most of the Francisco management left to form Chesapeake. The company was trading at $4.49 at presstime in a 52-week range of $5.10 and $2.50.