Takla Star signs deal covering two gold properties in

Under a conditional agreement, Takla Star Resources can acquire two gold properties totaling 27,020 hectares, in Bolivia. The Alberta-listed company also has an option to acquire exploration and development rights for eight other gold properties, with a total area of 6,049 hectares.

The largest property, Ubina, covers 16,000 hectares and is 500 km south of the capital of La Paz de Ayacucho. It encompasses a 40-sq.-km hydrothermal alteration system which has the potential to host Nevada-style epithermal gold mineralization. The system has altered Cretaceous-aged calcareous sediments centred around a dacite intrusive complex.

Exploration has delineated gold geochemical soil anomalies. Limited sampling of outcrop and old workings has yielded values up to 1.59 grams gold per tonne over a 15-metre vertical extent.

The La Joya property, which covers 11,020 hectares, is in Bolivia’s tropical Precambrian Shield, 360 km east of Santa Cruz. It contains gold occurrences along strike and to the southeast of the Don Mario gold deposit which is being developed by Netherlands-based Billiton and by Compania La Rosa. Don Mario reportedly contains 42 million tonnes grading 1.6 grams gold with significant silver and copper values.

The eight additional properties are on the Altiplano, mainly along the Western Cordillera bordering Chile. These properties cover large hydrothermal alteration systems associated with eroded andesite and dacite volcanoes. The properties contain several gold occurrences that were identified during a reconnaissance survey.

This geological setting hosts two major gold deposits: the Kori Kollo mine, owned 85% by Battle Mountain (NYSE), and the past-producing Choquelimpie gold mine in Chile, near the Bolivian border.

Takla’s initial exploration programs will be conducted by Mineria Tecnica Consultores Asociados S.A., a Bolivian-based consulting firm. In other news, Takla’s outstanding common share purchase warrants have been fully exercised, netting the company $950,000. This money will be used to fund exploration projects in Bolivia, Tanzania, Nevada and Alberta.