EXPLORATION 1997 — Sulphide resource adds new dimension to Homestake’s Jeronimo property

By 1999, the Chilean subsidiary of Homestake Mining (HM-N) expects to be producing 45,000 oz. gold per year from the Jeronimo deposit on the Agua de la Falda property.

Situated near Homestake’s producing El Hueso gold mine, some 150 km northwest of Copiapo, the project is held 51% by the San Francisco-based company, with the remainder held by state-owned Codelco,

Homestake began exploring Agua de la Falda in 1994, shortly after acquiring its interest in the property. Later that year, after testing an outcrop of jasperoid, geologists discovered the Jeronimo. Chip samples returned consistently anomalous gold values in the range of 1-30 grams per tonne.

Subsequent drilling of the manto-like body, which is typically 6-10 metres thick, confirmed an oxide resource of 1.3 million tonnes grading 7.4 grams gold, using a 2 gram cutoff.

Homestake began mining the oxide resource in 1996, using the facilities at El Hueso.

The partners expect to produce 27,000 oz. gold this year using standard heap-leach techniques, rising to 45,000 oz. by 1999.

Ongoing exploration programs led to the discovery of a sulphide resource at depth in the same stratigraphic unit. This resource is also contiguous with the oxide deposit, and exhibits similar widths and grades.

By mid-1996, Homestake had outlined sulphide mineralization containing 1 million oz. gold, for a total (oxide and sulphide) resource of 1.3 million oz. at Jeronimo. Infill drilling and metallurgical test work will test the sulphide resource in preparation for a feasibility study.