MINING IN MEXICO — Orcana explores Sonora prospects

Diamond drilling will be carried out this fall by Orcana Resources (VSE) on a newly acquired copper project in Mexico’s Sonora state.

The junior can acquire the San Carlos project by paying US$500,000 over five years.

The 1.2-sq.-mile property contains an oxide copper blanket which lies flatly at the bottom of a ravine where it was reached by an adit in the early 1950s. About 30,000 tons of 6.5% copper were previously mined from the horizontal blanket zone and shipped to a smelter.

The junior’s objective is to confirm the tonnage and grade of a potential oxide-copper target, with a view to bringing the property to production as quickly as possible. The tonnage potential, as indicated by surface exposure and limited underground workings, is about 30-50 million tons with a grade “visually estimated” at being at least 1% copper.

The drilling will follow exploratory mapping and sampling, both on surface and underground. Orcana said the top of the oxide copper zone seems to be near the level of the present underground workings and may extend vertically to a further depth of 100-200 ft. to where a primary copper sulphide zone should exist. The company is of the view that a porphyry-type, copper-sulphide deposit exists at depth, although this idea has yet to be tested by drilling.

Orcana also has several gold properties in Sonora, next to a land package being explored by Teck Corp. The junior reports that high-grade, gold-bearing prospects were identified along a prospective horizon thought to have similarities to Nevada’s Carlin Trend.

Drilling has been proposed for two properties, El Oro and El Bueno. Although both were mined in the past, they have yet to be drilled or explored in an organized fashion.