Taurus sizes up gold zone

With the objective of establishing a starter pit at its low-grade gold project near Cassiar, B.C., International Taurus Resources (ITS-V) recently completed infill drilling on the central 88 Hill zone.

Consisting of 36 reverse-circulation holes, the program allowed Taurus to recalculate drill-indicated reserves, which now stand at 13.7 million tonnes grading 1.01 grams gold per tonne over an area measuring 500 by 200 metres, based on a 0.5-gram cutoff.

An additional, inferred resource, situated just to the west, is estimated at 25.1 million tonnes grading 0.67 gram gold.

Previously, Taurus had estimated the 88 Hill zone consisted of 45.4 million tonnes grading 1.05 grams, contained within a total geological resource of 118 million tonnes grading 1 gram.

Gold mineralization is hosted in a quartz vein-stockwork system, and metallurgical tests indicate that 75% of the gold can be recovered using cyanide.

The project area consists of two adjoining properties — one held fully by Taurus and one held under an option to earn up to a 70% interest from Cusac Gold Mines (CQC-T).

The properties had previously been held in a joint venture with Cyprus Canada, which spent more than $3 million on exploration.

Cyprus drilled 78 holes in 1995, targeting a low-grade, bulk-tonnage prospect, but withdrew from the project earlier this year after completing follow-up work on the 88 Hill zone.

Cyprus’s goal had been to outline a minable grade of 2 grams in the proposed starter pit area, which was believed to contain a potential 9-10 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, farther afield in Panama, Taurus is earning up to a 75% interest in the Calobre, Sierra del Mar and Ipeti concessions.

The owner of the properties is Aluviales de Panama, a company in which International CanAlaska Resources (ICA-V) can acquire a 100% interest.

Taurus can initially earn a half interest in the concessions by paying CanAlaska US$165,000, issuing 250,000 shares and spending US$3 million on exploration over four years. A further 10% can be earned by issuing an additional 100,000 shares and completing a positive feasibility study for an operation capable of producing at least 100,000 oz. gold-equivalent.

If Taurus provides financing to bring the project to production, it will earn an additional 10% interest, and if these costs exceed US$150 million, it would be entitled to a further 5%.

Last year, preliminary exploration work by CanAlaska on the Ipeti concession revealed a prospective copper-gold geochemical anomaly. Taurus plans to follow up this discovery with a US$250,000 program of mapping, sampling and geophysics.