Western Copper expands Mexican land position

In north-central Mexico, Western Copper Holdings (WTC-T) has entered into a preliminary agreement to option seven properties comprising 180,000 ha.

Situated in Zacatecas state, the properties are held by Kennecott and cover prospective massive sulphide, gold and silver mineralization. Two of them have been sufficiently advanced to warrant immediate drilling.

Western Copper can earn a 100% interest in the properties by spending US$3 million over three years and paying US$250,000.

Kennecott will have a back-in right to buy 51% of any project advanced to prefeasibility by paying a portion of the expenditures incurred by Western Copper.

In the meantime, drilling at the joint-ventured El Salvador project has been suspended while Teck (TEK-T) awaits results from an airborne geophysical survey.

The 40,000-ha project lies 65 km southeast of the city of Zacatecas.

Ownership is split 55-45 between Teck and Western Copper, respectively.

Recent drilling intersected the thickest interval of massive sulphides to date: Hole 12 pulled 13.3 metres grading 5.99% zinc, 1.04% copper and 1.06% lead, plus 1.98 grams gold and 196.1 grams silver per tonne, at a depth of 73.4-86.7 metres.

Included in the interval were 8.2 metres grading 8.73% zinc, 1.42% copper and 1.53% lead, plus 2.94 grams gold and 276.2 grams silver.

The hole was collared 100 metres west of previously reported hole 8 (1.3 metres grading 5.71% zinc, 0.9% copper, 2.53% lead, plus 1.21 grams gold and 134.3 grams silver) and 50 metres north of hole 7 (1.9 metres grading 2.23% zinc, 0.22% copper and 0.32% lead, plus 0.34 gram gold and 79.1 grams silver).

To date, drilling has intersected the volcanogenic massive sulphide horizon over a distance of 275 metres west of discovery hole 5 (1.6-metre true width grading 16.57% zinc, 2.07% copper and 1.53% lead, plus 3.68 grams gold and 213 grams silver).

The horizon, which remains open to the northwest, is flat-lying to gently domed. The massive sulphides and associated stringer sulphides lie near the top of an intercalated andesite-rhyolite volcanic stratum that is capped by porphyritic andesite.

Assay results are pending for hole 13, which intersected a 1.3-metre interval of massive sulphides north of hole 12. To the northeast, hole 14 encountered sedimentary rocks similar to those intersected by hole 9.

The sedimentary rocks are believed to lie stratigraphically above the massive sulphide horizon.

Teck has proposed an initial 1997 exploration budget of $1 million. Upon completion of further ground geophysics, diamond and reverse-circulation drilling will resume on the massive sulphide and oxide targets.