A newly consummated “strategic alliance” with a unit of
The major recently purchased 1.6 million shares of Uruguay Goldfields, which intends to use the proceeds of US$1 million to explore its land package. Among the defined gold targets are Minas de Corrales, Presidente Terra and Valentines. The land package also covers the Texas gold-copper target and the Retamosa zinc-silver-lead target.
Under the terms of the alliance, Rio Tinto will have the right to earn a 55% interest in the Minas de Corrales project by spending US$2.5 million over five years. It also holds the right to earn a 55% interest in any other project by spending US$5 million within five years.
The major can acquire a further 15% stake in any specific project by spending an additional US$8 million on that project over five years, or by producing a positive feasibility study. An additional 10% interest can be earned by financing mine development costs, thereby bringing to 80% the major’s total interest in any specific project.
Minas de Corrales, situated near the town of the same name in north-central Uruguay, is described as being contained in a package of rocks and structures analogous to those hosting the nearby, producing San Gregorio mine, which at last report had a published reserve of 5.3 million tonnes grading 2.6 grams gold per tonne.
Gold mineralization at Presidente Terres, about 240 km northeast of Montevideo, is associated with shear-hosted quartz veins, as well as an underlying gold-mineralized, silicified unit. Known mineralization at the Valentines project is largely associated with narrow shears, though silicified, altered zones in the intervening areas are also of interest.
The Texas project covers a sequence of stacked, shallow-
dipping quartz veins with gold-copper mineralization. Exploration is focused on testing these structures at depth. Retamosa is about 7 km west of the Presidente Terra gold project. Previous work has outlined a surface zone of high-grade, silver-lead-zinc mineralization hosted in a sequence of Lower Proterozoic brecciated dolomites and limestones.
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