General Minerals signs new deal in China

Newly listed General Minerals (TSE) has recovered from an aborted joint venture by signing its name to a new deal.

Shortly after its initial public offering, the company found itself out in the cold after joint-venture partner Inmet Mining (TSE) decided to back out of an agreement to acquire an interest in two properties in Chile.

Now, General Minerals has signed a deal with Sichuan Non-Ferrous Metals Ore Resource Exploration Development (SREDCO) for the Huang Shui Gou copper-gold massive sulphide deposit.

The 10-sq.-km property, situated in China’s Sichuan province, is in the advanced stage of exploration. Assays from surface trenches and underground workings indicate an average grade of 2% copper, plus 6 grams of gold per tonne. A gold-bearing gossan has been identified several hundred metres above the known sulphide horizon.

General Minerals can earn a 51% interest by spending US$4 million.

In addition, the company has acquired three new properties in Chile: Vizcachitas, Pajaritos and San Antonio.

The Vizcachitas is a 988-hectare property with a breccia-style, copper-molybdenum porphyry prospect similar to Codelco’s Rio Blanco deposit. The company has optioned the property for US$4 million over a 5-year period.

The Pajaritos is a copper-gold target on a 3,019-hectare property in northern Chile.

General Minerals optioned the property rights to the 2,220-hectare San Antonio skarn target for a 5-year period for US$650,000. About 700,000 tonnes of copper ore were mined from previous operations.

Meanwhile, drilling on the company’s Azurita project in Bolivia has encountered significant copper values. Seven holes have been drilled into this advanced-stage copper project, and mineralization has been found to occur in several manto deposits, two of which produced copper at grades of 3% to 4%.

Drilling encountered 2.5 metres grading 3.9% copper from Manto 2 in hole AP-1. Hole AP-5 hit Manto 2, which showed 2.8 metres at 1.7%, and Manto 0, which showed 3.1 metres at 1%.