LATIN AMERICA — Ballad assumes reins of TVX’s Peruvian subsidiary — Vancouver junior launches first phase of exploration

Peruvian gold explorer Ballad Enterprises (BDC-V) has acquired TVX Minera del Peru, a unit of TVX Gold (TVX-T).

TVX Peru holds a 100% interest in each of 35 property areas, totalling 31,100 ha throughout Peru.

In early March 1997, Ballad took control of the operations of TVX Peru and, since that time, has been aggressively conducting systematic exploration of its properties. Closing of the final acquisition and payment through the issuance of 300,000 Ballad shares at US$7 per share was delayed as a result of a corporate reorganization of TVX Peru. The reorganization was necessary to ensure that the company was completely free of debt at the time that the deal closed.

The 300,000 shares are not freely tradeable until Feb. 21, 1998, and Ballad holds certain rights of first refusal to acquire those shares.

Exploration and development of TVX Peru’s properties have been conducted through Ballad’s exploration office in Lima and supervised by a team of independent American and Canadian consulting geologists. The 35 TVX Peru properties have been grouped into 17 property areas, 13 of which have undergone reconnaissance geological mapping and sampling designed to identify potentially economic gold and base metal targets.

Ballad has also been looking to identify and explore targets on properties near the TVX Peru holdings, which may be available for acquisition.

Based on the results of the first phase of exploration, Ballad has begun aggressive exploration and development on three property areas: the 2,000-ha Fabiola project; the 2,000-ha Stromboli project; and the 1,000-ha Roberto property.

The Fabiola project is in the Pierina-Paron gold belt, near Huaraz in northern Peru. The property abuts the western boundary of the concessions that host the Pierina deposit of Barrick Gold. Work here is focused on an advanced argillic alteration zone, which measures 1,200 by 350 metres.

Ballad has established a grid and is digging pits. Exploration results point to a zone of acid-leach alteration measuring 1,100 by 350 metres in a dacite porphyry intrusion surrounding Cretaceous sediments and Tertiary volcanics.

The alteration zone corresponds to a silver, lead and arsenic anomaly with local zinc and antimony anomalies. Ballad’s consulting geologists have recommended a 6-hole, 1,000-metre drill program.

.S

Stromboli

The Stromboli project is 50 km northwest of Iluaraz in the Pierina-Yanachocha mineral belt of northern Peru. The first phase of exploration outlined an 850-metre-long-by-300-metre-wide zone of semi-massive to massive lead, zinc and silver skarn mineralization in a window of limestone surrounded by Tertiary volcanics. Initial sampling at the zone has returned numerous values greater than 1% lead (ranging up to 16.91% lead), greater than 1% zinc (ranging up to 13.7% zinc) and greater than 10 grams silver per tonne (ranging up to 75 grams silver).

Follow-up work on the Stromboli project, including trenching and detailed mapping and sampling, has been completed, and results are pending.

Reconnaissance work on the Roberto property, situated 100 km southeast of Lima, has been completed, resulting in the identification of skarn-type base metal and silver mineralization. The Roberto property is underlain by Cretaceous-aged limestones, shales and siltstones. Regional north-south faults and lesser northeast-trending faults cut the property.

Copper, zinc, lead, silver and cadmium skarn mineralization is exposed at a small open-pit mine on the property, where local miners have extracted silver, lead and zinc from a manto-type structure 10 to 15 metres thick.

About 2.5 km north of the open pit, another manto-type lead-zinc-silver skarn zone has been discovered in an outcrop measuring 100 by 40 metres.

Additional follow-up mapping, sampling and trenching will be carried out in an attempt to examine the full extent of the mineralization. The property is underlain by Cretaceous limestone of the Ferrobamba formation, a unit known to host several metasomatic replacement copper deposits and at least two gold-silver prospects. The initial reconnaissance program is expected to be completed in two to three weeks.

Reconnaissance programs are also planned for the remaining four property areas, and Ballad plans to complete these in the coming months.

Ballad intends to change the name of TVX Peru to Balad Minera del Peru.