United Mining planning production on Bolivian gold-silver bet

Work has been concentrated on three different geologically favorable areas in close proximity of each other — the Carnavalito, the Tatal Pata and the Toro — all of which are peppered with shallow old workings. Nine major veins and numerous minor veins were encountered in these area, and United Mining said vein widths ranged from 10 ft to a combined 42 ft with the veins open on strike and at depth. The average of all ore-grade intercepts from the recent program is reported to equal 0.078 oz gold and 5.46 oz silver, or a combined 0.16 oz gold equivalent per ton.

The company is considering tunnelling into two closely-spaced veins in the Carnavalito area where estimated true-width intercepts of 11.4 ft and 9 .1 ft of about 0.26 oz gold equivalent per ton was reported. The company also plans to intercept five other narrow veins in this area. A drift is being planned for the Tatal Pata area to explore three major veins and one minor vein. Intercepts from the Toto area are reported to have yielded an average 22.6 oz silver, but with low gold values.

Although the property is said to have open pit, heap leaching potential, United Mining estimates the property has two million tonnes of geologically inferred reserves suitable for underground mining. The company noted that combined underground mining and milling costs in Bolivia range from $19 to $28(US) per ton, with the total costs at Laurani falling in that range.

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