Odyssey funds Turkish projects (November 24, 2003)

Following in the footsteps of its peers, Odyssey Resources (ODX-V) is attempting to raise $2 million via a private placement.

Pacific International Securities shall try to place 6.7 million units of the junior at 30 apiece. A unit consists of a share and half a warrant, with a full warrant entitling the holder to buy an additional share at 45 for a year after the deal closes. Should Odyssey’s shares trade higher than 65 for four consecutive months, the warrants expire one month later.

Odyssey will pay an agent’s fee of $15,000 and a commission equal to 7% of the gross proceeds raised, as well as issue up to 670,000 options. The options expire one year after the deal closes and are exercisable at 30 each.

Proceeds are to be spent in Turkey, where the company is exploring its Altintepe and Tavsan gold properties. At the former, Odyssey recently intersected a gold-bearing oxide prospect close to where a deposit of 4.3 million tonnes grading 1.62 grams gold per tonne had been outlined using a 0.4-gram cutoff grade.

Final results for holes ATD-10 and 11 have been announced; both were drilled in the new Karakis target. The final 3.5 metres of the former averaged 1.54 grams gold and 0.42% copper, where it was stopped. As reported earlier, that hole also cut 20 metres of oxides grading 2.2 grams, but the underlying sulphides suggests that the mineralizing system extends deeper than had been thought.

Hole 11, collared 100 metres to the northwest, yielded 19.5 metres of oxides grading 0.43 gram gold. The mineralized interval began 8 metres below surface, and hypogene oxidation continued for another 3.9 metres down.

The different depths to which the zone of oxidation extends in holes 10 and 11 suggest that the latter was collared in a distal environment. The Karakais prospect is believed to have formed at the same level as the main deposit.

A sampling program is currently covering the entire Karakis ridge, which extends for 1 km. Drilling will follow.

Meanwhile, trenching at Tavsan has begun, specifically on near-surface sediment-hosted gold targets. In the 1990s, Teck Cominco (TEK-T) outlined five such targets, one of which was expanded to a resource of 7.9 million tonnes grading 1.15 grams.

Preliminary exploration has mapped a steeply dipping shear zone cutting through and connecting all the zones near the main one. One of Teck’s trenches at the main zone cut the shear obliquely and returned an average of 1 gram gold over 140 metres, suggesting a true width of 50 metres.

No more than 10 trenches will be dug, each 200-250 metres apart to cover 2 km of strike length. The length of the trenches will vary from 400 to 1,000 metres, perpendicular to the trend of the shear structure.

Drilling will follow the trenching.

Odyssey has an option from Teck to earn 100% interests in both properties. At Altintepe, it must spend US$550,000 by May 2004 and US$1.35 million over the following two years, plus issue 150,000 shares; at Tavsan, it is required to spend US$1.3 million, as well as issue 75,000 shares and 125,000 warrants (exercisable at 35 apiece). Teck retains back-in rights for 51% stakes in both properties and can increase these to 65% by funding feasiblity studies; otherwise, it retains net smelter return royalties.