General Minerals eyes prospects

Denver — General Minerals (gnm-t) is scouring Bolivia for tantalum prospects, having already amassed 244 km northeast of Santa Cruz.

To date, most of the work has concentrated on tantalite-bearing pegmatite bodies in the 99-km Agua Dulce block, in the La Bella district. Geochemical sampling is currently under way.

Early results indicate consistently anomalous tantalum values around the Caracore pegmatite, from which alluvial deposits were mined in the 1970s. The anomalous values occur within weathered pegmatite and colluvium, ranging up to 200 grams of tantalum oxide per tonne. The area of interest measures 300 by 200 metres.

Following geological mapping of the historically mined pegmatites, General Minerals expects to take bulk samples of bedrock and alluvial material to ascertain the grade of the deposit and the quality of the concentrate.

General Minerals is also evaluating potential for byproducts, including mica, kaolin, alkali feldspar, rutile and ilmenite. As well, it has commenced a more widely spaced sampling program over the entire Agua Dulce property.