Teck options Argentine ground held by Mansfield

Two Argentine properties of Mansfield Resources (VSE) have attracted the interest of Teck (TSE).

The major will buy 1 million shares of Mansfield at $2 each as part of a deal whereby it can earn a half interest in each of the Taca Taca South and Cerro Samenta properties.

To buy into Taca Taca South, Teck must also pay Mansfield US$900,000 over four years and spend US$5 million on exploration. Its stake in Cerro Samenta can be acquired by paying US$1.6 million over five years and spending US$7.5 million.

Preliminary work on Taca Taca South has identified veins, stockworks and disseminated gold and silver mineralization within Tertiary volcanic rocks.

In one area, four grab samples taken over a strike length of 200 metres and a width of 10 metres returned gold values of 22.39, 5.5, 1.7 and 0.3 grams.

Preliminary work on Cerro Samenta identified copper mineralization in a porphyry setting, with grades of up to 1.4% copper over 75 metres.

Mansfield will continue to operate the Taca Taca South project during the initial phases of exploration, whereas Teck will direct the work at Cerro Samenta.

Trenching is being carried out on Taca Taca South in an effort to determine targets for a drill program scheduled for April. At Cerro Samenta, the immediate focus is on geophysics and soil geochemistry.