It has been a long time coming, but Canadian junior Oro Blanco Resources (ORBL-C) has managed to acquire a sizable land package in the Oro Blanco gold district of southwestern Arizona.
Although gold exploration in the area dates to the 1860s, many landowners have traditionally discouraged prospecting.
Situated between the Mexican border and the town of Arivaca, the Oro Blanco mining district was once divided among as many as seven different landowners.
And although some mining companies managed to struck deals with individual owners to explore parcels of land, none was able to secure the entire region.
On a recent trip to the area, The Northern Miner was able to conclude that Oro Blanco Resources had succeeded where others had failed.
“Call it ignorance or perseverance, but we naively approached some people about their claims and always tried to give negotiations just one more shot,” explained David Salari, vice-president of the Oakville, Ont.-based junior.
Oro Blanco acquired its first property in the area in 1986, and proposed a small underground mine there. As time passed, however, many of the region’s parcels became available, allowing the company to acquire more ground.
The company now controls 58 patented and unpatented claims in the district, and recently contracted Watts Griffis & McOuat (WGM) to conduct preliminary testwork.
The data compiled by WGM included results of limited drilling and a host of chip and soil samples taken by various parties. The consulting firm also investigated a soil survey conducted in 1982 for Rayrock Resources. The assays were completed after Rayrock allowed the property rights to lapse and, consequently, were never compiled. Upon studying these results, WGM was able to point to the presence of a large anomaly.
“I thought someone had slipped a decimal point on the data,” said Greg Fernette, WGM’s senior geologist. “The numbers looked too high.” The assays returned values greater than 1,000 parts per billion (ppb) gold, or 1 gram per tonne. The highest assay returned 9,300 ppb, or 9.3 grams per tonne.
The results were confirmed by soil surveys which outlined two anomalies measuring 800 metres long and 100 metres wide, and subsequent sampling extended the length of the anomalies by 400 metres.
As a result of these findings, John Carter, Oro Blanco’s president, realized the property had the potential to host a large deposit amenable to bulk-mining methods, as opposed to small-scale underground mining.
Five targets
Towards that end, the company plans to test the soil anomalies by drilling 17 holes in a program spanning 3,300 metres. Permitting is under way and, beginning in March, drilling is scheduled to begin on the following five targets:
* the Tres Amigos, which contains two veins which carry gold values exceeding 3.5 grams;
* the Gold Case, which contains mineralization grading 8 grams gold; * the Parallel Ridge, where mineralization is believed to be continuous with that of the Tres Amigos veins;
* the Oro Blanco, where a previous drill hole intercepted 61 metres grading 1.2 grams; and
* the Grubstake, where WGM has recommended mapping and sampling be carried out.
The underlying geology of the Oro Blanco district is characterized by Jurassic-to-Cretaceous, andesitic-to-dacitic volcanics, breccias and intrusives. The district is generally low in sulphides, and mineralization is associated with northwest-trending structures.
Other companies exploring for gold in the area include Minefinders (MFL-V) and La Teko Resources (LAO-V), which, respectively, operate the Bolsa property in Mexico and the Margarita property in Arizona.
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