basserdan
13 years ago
Ahead of the Herd With Kootenay Gold
Richard (Rick) Mills
Ahead of the Herd
As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information
Today I’m speaking with Jim McDonald and Ken Berry of Kootenay Gold Inc. TSX.V;KTN; OTC:KOOYF
Jim McDonald P.Geo, President and CEO. Jim co-founded and successfully developed Black Bull Resources, National Gold (merged w/Alamos Gold) and White Knight Resources.
Ken Berry, Chairman and Director. Ken has over twenty years experience in the financing (raising over $300m) and corporate communications of public companies.
Rick: Ken, could you tell us a little bit about the history of Kootenay Gold?
Ken: Jim and I were the founders of Kootenay Gold. I started the public company, than about eight years ago Jim and I had an opportunity to meet, we discussed our philosophies and looked at the various things that we were doing.
There was a lot of positive energy between Jim’s goals, his beliefs and what I was trying to achieve and that has created a real bond and a good partnership over the years. Jim had secured some mineral properties in British Columbia’s Kootenay region (southeast corner of province – R. Mills) and I had the public company. I was a former investment advisor so it was a good marriage between the geological side and the investment/finance side, and that’s where the relationship originally started back in 2003.
Rick: Jim why the focus on the Kootenay’s and how did the transition happen from there down into Mexico?
Jim: Kootenay Gold was the opportunity to get under one umbrella a group of professional prospectors and geologists that I’d been working with on various deals for 15-20 years. I’d been looking for an opportunity to get that expertise going in one direction, under one company banner. That opportunity came up in 2003.
We incorporated the company privately and then went out with a business plan, let’s generate some new projects in a prospective for discovery area using in-house talent, option the properties out and as we build value doing that we will look for more advanced projects.
The Promontorio silver project in Mexico is the advanced project that we acquired. That was in 2006 and Kootenay embarked on the first drilling program in 2007, we made the discovery at the end of the year.
Rick: Jim could you explain to our readers how you structure one of your joint venture deals?
Jim: Sure, the deals are basically structured on an earn in basis, so the idea behind the property generation side is that because we have this expertise, which is quite uncommon, very few companies have the ability to generate projects internally, so that gives us quite an advantage because we are able to identify targets and find mineral projects from the grassroots stage.
Now, at the grassroots stage a mineral project has a pretty high risk profile as to success in finding a mineral deposit. You have to go through quite a few of these projects before you find one so you want to mitigate that risk as much as you can.
You can keep on raising money through financings, and carrying those projects forward yourself, or you can farm them out to others, and because we are able to generate these things, and we are actively doing that all the time, our model works best, and the dilution factor is the least, when we option these projects out.
The best way for us to mitigate risk is to bring partners in and let them advance these projects. Any mining project typically has gone through several operators before the economic discovery is made, that’s common.
It doesn’t happen 100% of the time, but it probably happens 80 or 90% of the time, where a project has had four or five or more companies take a shot at it before a mine is actually discovered. Our Connor Creek property, has now gone through two partners and we are lining up a third.
It’s got a very good gold anomaly and a copper anomaly on it. Having a very strong structural zone it still has good upside and discovery potential. We’re able to, even when the partner hands these properties back, generate more interest and get another partner to test them further if the project still has very good merit.
Rick: If the first, or even second, model doesn’t work, it doesn’t mean the next one’s not going to work. It seems like there is almost always something new to try based on the flow of new information.
Jim: Well yes there is, because when you first go in, you are dealing with a limited amount of information. You’ve come up with enough encouragement, enough of a positive result to say “okay, here is the target, it needs to be tested, let’s test it”. So you do, and now maybe you haven’t taken it to a mine, but during the process you’ve extended the scope of the target, you have realized that the control on the mineralization is something other than what you thought.
Through the process of exploration, you’ve eliminated some areas, but at the same time, if the property is a good one, its led you into other areas of mineralization that need to be tested, and that process is an ongoing one.
The more you learn, the better able you are to target, and the more work you do, even if the results are not very positive, you’ve eliminated areas to test, so your becoming more focused.
Rick: People asked Edison why he kept trying to invent the light bulb after failing a thousand times, he told them, “I didn’t fail a thousand times, I found out a thousand ways it wouldn’t work.”
Jim: Right, well it’s a good analogy because exploration is exactly like that.
Rick: Yes.
Jim: Every bit of information is valuable to you, in one way or another. We’ll bring a partner in and they’ll typically have the ability to earn a 50% to 60% interest from us, and in exchange for that, they have a commitment to spend “X” number of exploration dollars. It could be one million, two million, or three million dollars over what’s usually a three to five year term.
They make scheduled cash and stock payments to us along the way. As a mining cycle goes, we’re dealing with pretty bad markets right now, but nevertheless, base metals have held up pretty good and precious metals are doing very well, and the ability to generate new projects is a pretty rare one, so those exploration properties become more and more valuable as time goes on.
Rick: In a market downturn, mining is cyclical, the property generator business model (PGBM) that Kootenay follows, it might be the best one to follow, you are using OPM, other people’s money.
Jim: Well it becomes in a way a numbers game, you use the science and your expertise to increase your odds. But you’ll typically have to go through a thousand showings to find a mine, and you can accelerate that process quite a bit through the science and through expertise. So you want to get as many of these projects evaluated and tested as you can and these projects that we have, they all represent potential for new discoveries and of course carry forward their inherent value for future joint ventures.
Rick: Having a 100% owned property is much easier to promote then a joint venture and you decide when and how much to spend. Those are components many others following the PGBM don’t have. Tell us about Kootenay’s 100% owned Promontorio Silver Project in Mexico.
Jim: We’re building up the Promontorio project, it’s a brand new discovery of significant size and could immediately change the value of the company.
We’ve got all this high impact potential with the various joint venture projects that we have. Then, underpinning that value is the Promontorio silver project in Mexico, which is turning out to be quite a big, strong system.
Rick: Promontorio has a significant resource. The AGP resource estimate posted on your website comprises Indicated Mineral Resources of 5.22 million tonnes averaging 52.7 g/t silver, 0.86% lead and 0.96% zinc, containing 8.9 million oz Silver, 99.3 million pounds of lead and 110.8 million pounds of zinc. AGP also estimated that Promontorio contains 0.65 million tonnes averaging 55.7 g/t silver, 0.94% lead and 1.00% zinc in the Inferred category, containing 1.17 million oz Silver,13.4 million pounds of lead and 14.3 million pounds of zinc.
Jim: We’re looking to expand the size of that resource, we started on the largest and most aggressive drill program, with three drills, that has been conducted there to date. We have been in the current phase of drilling since May, with three rigs operating since about the end of June, beginning of July, and we’re generating a lot of very good results on step-out expansion drilling on the Promontorio trend.
Rick: It certainly seems like the numbers are building.
Jim: We can see the continuity is building beyond the resource side. We can see the potential for significant expansion, that resource is real, and we’re possibly half-way through a 25,000 meter program and so we are going to have steady drill news coming for the next three or four months. Then once we wrap the current drill program up we’ll be coming out with a new resource calculation, and taking it to the next stage.
Rick: Jim, can you tell us the location of Promontorio, is there any existing mines, infrastructure in the area?
Jim: Promontorio sits in northern Mexico, so it’s just outbound, west of the high Sierra, that’s in the foothills plains region just about 80 kilometers, in a straight line, from the coast of the Sea of Cortez, Gulf of California.
The access is really simple, it’s a 2-1/2 hour drive from a small international airport at Obregon City, and it sits in that prolific, well, all of Mexico is quite prolific for metal content, but it is just on the western edge of that well-known Sierra Madre mineral belt, where you have numerous silver/gold and gold deposits including Minefinder's Dolores gold silver mine, Alamos Gold's Mulatos gold mine, Agnico Eagle's Pinos Altos gold-silver mine, Gammon Gold's Ocampo gold-silver mine, Cour D'Alene's Palmarejo silver-gold mine, Goldcorp's El Sauzal gold mine and Pan American Silver's Alamo Dorado silver mine.
You know, when we first went into Mexico and starting looking around with Kootenay Gold, our region didn’t have any significant producers and now today, some seven years later, there are seven or eight significant producers within 100-150 km radius.
Rick: Geology?
Jim: The belt we’re in hosts not only gold/silver deposits, but it also has a copper porphyry and up in the northern extent hosts some of the biggest copper porphyries in the world. This is a very rich mineral belt.
The Promontorio system itself is a breccia hosted epithermal silver/lead/zinc system with a significant gold component in it, which we have discounted until we work out the metallurgy on it.
We’ve done preliminary metallurgy and we’ve got good metallurgical results on recovery of the silver and lead/zinc, in the low 80’s for the silver, and mid 80’s for the lead, and low 90’s for the zinc.
Rick: Have you done any work on the gold at all?
Jim: We’ve done some work on the gold. The gold is refractory, so we need to do additional, what are called department studies, to learn where exactly that gold is sitting, these studies will help us to determine whether we can economically extract it. We’re just negotiating on some contracts to do more metallurgical work in addition to doing detailed studies on what that gold is doing.
Rick: Promontorio has an interesting history, tell us about that and why you initially liked the project so much.
Jim: What attracted us to the project to begin with was it was a former producer, it produced a couple times in the past going back to the 1920s when J.P. Morgan funded a private company to go in there and get it into production.
They were preparing for production when the Yaqui rebellion put a halt to all operations, there were some subsequent efforts of exploration development in the early 1960s. Then in the late 1980s, a private consortium borrowed money from the Mexican government and put Promontorio into production for about three years before it was shut down due to low metal prices.
So what we liked about it when this project was brought to our attention, and was available for acquisition, was the fact that there is established mineral potential, and by the fact that it has been mined a couple of times in the past. And we liked the fact it’s a breccia hosted system. Unlike narrow veins you can have a larger size potential and you can more rapidly build up a resource size of significance with a breccia system.
Also, some of the historic grades that were reported from mining were very high grade, in excess of three to four hundred grams per tonne silver plus the lead/zinc component. So there was good grade potential in it. When we did our due diligence and got on the ground, we saw from the geology that what had been mined in the past was just a small part of a much bigger looking mineral system, and that’s been confirmed by our subsequent work.
Rick: Kootenay is currently running a very large drill program, I consider results to date outstanding, but maybe even more significant is that you are discovering mineralization between the two already discovered zones and on the other sides of these zones.
Jim: What we’re doing is focusing this drill effort, this is the third campaign into it, on a one km long trend. It’s where we have what we call our pit resource containing, in silver equivalent numbers, about 20 million ounces of silver, about half of which is in the silver component and the other half in the lead/zinc component. So, that sits at one end of the one km long trend, and at the other end we’ve got what we call the Northeast Zone, where so far we don’t have a lot of holes, but we’ve got very strong encouragement.
Some of the latest results are 51 meters with 91g/t silver and 3.4% combined lead/zinc with an interior core there of 18 meters, 188 silver and almost 8% lead/zinc, so there’s some really good hits up in the northeast end.
These two zones are 700 or 800 meters apart, but there are scattered holes in between indicating mineralization is continuous between the two and so now we’re stepping off of those zones, and we’re stepping off of the pit resource in the opposite direction as well where we have what we call the Southwest Zone from where we’re getting good results. We’re showing continuity between it and the pit resource. It’s the same zone, so those two zones are connected and in fact one, we see the potential for a doubling of that pit resource, perhaps more, depending on what happens.
Rick: What is the potential upside from here?
Jim: We believe the potential is there for the resource to be in the 50 million ounce silver range plus an equivalent value in the lead/zinc.
If we get up into our target range it’s got the potential to make a very nice mining operation. We’re doing all the steps to first of all determine what the size scope is here, and in the next stages after that, assuming we’ve got the positive results that we’re expecting, we’ll be looking for the scope of mining that you might be able to support here.
If we do get into that 50 million ounce range, plus an equivalent value in the lead/zinc, that’s like having a 100 million ounce silver deposit. Then you’ve got a resource that could support a very significant silver producer for a 10 or 15 year time period. You could be supporting something, on one project, that is doing three to five million ounces of silver a year over a 10 plus year time frame, and when you look at the silver producers in Mexico, particularly on the junior/midsize size, that’s a significant asset.
Rick: One asset producing that much silver is uncommon.
Jim: It typically takes two or three mines for companies to get into that 3-5 million ounce silver production per year. If you’ve got one asset that could support that, that’s a very good asset. So this kind of explains why we’re so excited about the prospects at Promontorio.
Rick: What are some of those midsize producers that produce four to six million ounces per year?
Jim: Endeavour Silver is one, First Majestic another, they are definitely in the senior midsize range now. First Majestic started out as a junior producer several years ago in Mexico. I think they have four mines going now, and they are in that six million ounce per year range, and with projections for much bigger going into next year.
Rick: It seems like Kootenay has something to offer every type of retail investor. You’ve got nine joint ventures and one 100% owned development property.
Jim: Well yes, so we do, we’ve got a lot to offer. We’ve got a really strong team put together, both from the technical side and the financial side. We’re a well-rounded company with a good business plan in place, a real good core asset and then all those generative projects which could lead to brand new exciting discoveries.
Rick: You’ve got strong management, ability to raise money, and quality projects.
Jim: Yes.
Rick: And also very important, a decent share structure.
Jim: We’ve done a good job of maintaining the share structure. We’ve always kept a close eye on that.
Rick: One of the benefits of the project generator model.
Jim: Yes, and it’s also a benefit of having a management team that owns a large part of the stock position, it’s in their interests to keep that dilution down.
Rick: That places them right onside of the retail investor, doesn’t it?
Jim: Yes, it does.
Rick: Ken, anything you want to add?
Ken: No, I think Jim’s done a great job of giving an overview of the company. I’ll just touch on the issue of outstanding shares. That’s 45 million shares, so as mentioned, it’s a great share structure, and the project at Promontorio is more advanced than ever before. There is a constant flow of news coming out with this current 25,000 meter drill program underway, and the initiation of baseline studies as well, bodes well for the future of Promontorio.
Rick: How’s the treasury right now Ken?
Ken: We are fully funded for the current 25,000 meter program, that means fully funded right through to the end of the year, and as you talked about with the joint ventures, our partners are funding those grassroots exploration projects.
Rick: Kootenay has a lot of potentially good news flow over the next while.
Ken: News will flow right through to the end of the year and into the first quarter of 2012.
Rick: It’s been a pleasure talking to you Ken and Jim, thank you.
Richard Mills has previously written two articles regarding Kootenay Gold
Kootenay Gold – The Best of Both Worlds
Mexico's Newest Emerging Silver Resource
Richard (Rick) Mills
http://aheadoftheherd.com/Newsletter/2011/Interviews/AOTH-With-Kootenay-Gold.html
basserdan
13 years ago
Kootenay Gold's Promontorio Drilling Intercepts 47 Meters of 214.2 gpt Silver Equivalent (84.47 gpt Ag, 3.04% Pb+Zn) and 54 meters of 197 gpt Silver Equivalent (91.98 gpt Ag, 2.47% Pb+Zn) in Northeast Zone, 700 Meters Outside of Current 43-101 Resource
High Grade Intervals Include 16 Meters of 492 gpt Silver Eqv (202.7 gpt Ag, 6.8% Pb+Zn) and 11 Meters of 480.6 gpt Silver Eqv (179.4 gpt Ag, 7.0% Pb+Zn)
Monday October 3, 2011, 11:33 am
Shares Outstanding: 45,013,100
VANCOUVER , Oct. 3, 2011 /CNW/ - Kootenay Gold Inc. (TSX VENTURE: KTN.V; OTC:KOOYF) is pleased to announce assay results from its ongoing 25,000 meter, multi-phase drilling program on its Promontorio Silver project in Sonora, Mexico . At present, three diamond drill rigs are operating on site.
States Kootenay President and CEO James McDonald "We are extremely pleased with current drill results. Step out drilling returned multiple intercepts of high-grade silver mineralization in the Northeast Zone, which sits 700 meters outside of and on strike to the Company's established 43-101 Pit Resource. Equally critical to the current resource expansion program, hole DH 68 drilled in the Southwest expansion zone of the Pit Resource, returned widespread zones of medium to high-grade silver, showing excellent continuity of silver mineralization with the Pit Resource on strike and to depth, extending more than 50 meters outside the Pit Resource."
Highlights are as follows:
DH 68 Southwest Zone
* Two composited intervals within 225 meters of mineralization as follows:
* 149 meters of 145.7 gpt Silver Equivalent (59.93 gpt Ag, 2.0% Pb+Zn) and 50 meters of 111 gpt Silver Equivalent (44.39 gpt Ag, 1.55% Pb+Zn). Includes Higher Grade interval of 50 meters of 226.9 gpt Silver Equivalent (93.92 gpt Ag, 3.1% Pb+Zn).
* DH 68 shows excellent grade and width increase 30 meters down dip on section with previously announced DH 67
* DH 68 demonstrates continuance of mineralization into the Southwest Zone and is over 50 meters (from center point of mineralization) along strike and outside of the Pit Resource
DH 71 Southwest Zone
* About 90 meters southwest of and beyond Pit Resource
* 6 different mineralized composites within 225 meters of mineralization
* 19 meters of 108.1 gpt Silver Equivalent (50 gpt Ag, 1.35% Pb+Zn)
* 14 meters of 79.21 gpt Silver Equivalent (36.21 Ag gpt, 1.0% Pb+Zn)
* 4 meters of 172.6 gpt Silver Equivalent (78.5 gpt Ag, 2.17% Pb+Zn)
* 20 meters of 64.87 gpt Silver Equivalent (27.5 gpt Ag, 0.87% Pb+Zn)
* 45 meters of 56.2 gpt Silver Equivalent (22.46 gpt Ag, 0.79%Pb+Zn)
* 21 meters of 44.85 gpt Silver Equivalent(21.62 gpt Ag, 0.54% Pb+Zn)
DH 63 Southwest Zone
* Intercepts mineralization 100 meters west of Pit Resource boundary
* Down dip extension of DH 62 that returned 92 meters of 147 gpt Silver Equivalent (56 gpt Ag, 2.11% Pb+Zn)
* Two composited intervals within a 100 meter long mineralized intercept that grades 36 meters of 36 gpt Silver Equivalent (13 gpt Ag, 0.52% Pb+Zn) and 27 meters of 48 gpt Silver Equivalent (16 gpt Ag, 0.76% Pb+Zn)
* Remains open to depth
DH 70 Northeast Zone
* 47 meters of 214 gpt Silver Equivalent (84 gpt Ag, 3.05% Pb+Zn) including 11 meters of 481 gpt Silver Equivalent (179 gpt Ag, 7.06% Pb+Zn) and 54 meters of 197 gpt Silver Equivalent (92 gpt Ag, 2.47% Pb+Zn) including 16 meters of 492 gpt Silver Equivalent (203 gpt Ag, 6,81% Pb+Zn)
* Both composite intervals of 47 and 54 meters occur within 115 meter mineralized interval.
* 25 meters along strike and to southwest of PC 28 and DH 66 both high grade holes
* Shallow intercept on minus 45 degree hole
* On section and up dip of DH 69 released September 15, 2011
DH 66 Northeast Zone
* Twin hole offset from PC 28 with 51 meters of 91 gpt Silver, 3.44% Pb+Zn
* Extends mineralization 70 meters beyond the bottom of PC 28 and hits second 67 meter interval deeper in hole
* Total of 6 composited mineralized zones totaling 137 meters within a 224 meter hole length
Upper interval intercepts 39 meters of 309 gpt Silver Equivalent (128 gpt Ag, 4.25% Pb+Zn) including 3 different 6 meters intervals of 667 gpt Silver Equivalent (357 gpt Ag, 7.25% Pb+Zn) and 6 meters of 430 gpt Silver Equivalent (76 gpt Ag, 8.44% Pb+Zn) and 6 meters of 655 gpt Silver Equivalent (277 gpt Ag, 8.9% Pb+Zn)
*See 25,000 meter highlights below - visit http://www.kootenaygold.ca/s/DrillResults.asp for complete Drill Results and Map
The following table shows the full results:
___________________________________________________________________________
| | | From | To |Interval| *AgEq | Ag | Pb | Zn |Pb+Zn|
| Hole ID | Target | | | |(Ag,Pb,Zn)| | | | |
| | |______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
| | | (m) | (m) | (m) | (g/t) |(g/t)|(%) |(%) | (%) |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-063-11|Pit SW |359.00|395.00| 36 | 35 | 13 |0.25|0.27|0.52 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-063-11|Pit SW |423.00|450.00| 27 | 48 | 16 |0.20|0.56|0.76 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
| | | | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-066-11|NE Zone |131.00|170.00| 39 | 309 | 128 |1.27|2.98|4.25 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|including|NE Zone |132.00|138.00| 6 | 667 | 357 |2.98|4.27|7.25 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|including|NE Zone |143.00|149.00| 6 | 430 | 76 |0.99|7.45|8.44 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|including|NE Zone |157.00|163.00| 6 | 655 | 277 |2.99|5.91|8.90 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-066-11|NE Zone |179.00|195.00| 16 | 59 | 48 |0.11|0.14|0.25 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-066-11|NE Zone |204.00|209.00| 5 | 46 | 32 |0.10|0.21|0.31 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-066-11|NE Zone |228.00|233.00| 5 | 215 | 116 |1.06|1.25|2.31 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-066-11|NE Zone |240.00|245.00| 5 | 180 | 86 |1.09|1.11|2.20 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-066-11|NE Zone |288.00|355.00| 67 | 56 | 25 |0.33|0.40|0.72 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
| | | | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-068-11|Pit SW |137.00|286.00| 149 | 146 | 60 |0.93|1.07|2.00 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|including|Pit SW |172.00|222.00| 50 | 227 | 94 |1.44|1.67|3.10 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-068-11|Pit SW |297.00|347.00| 50 | 111 | 44 |0.80|0.75|1.55 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
| | | | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-070-11|NE Zone |125.00|179.00| 54 | 197 | 92 |0.89|1.58|2.47 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|including|NE Zone |145.00|161.00| 16 | 492 | 203 |2.23|4.58|6.81 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-070-11|NE Zone |191.00|238.00| 47 | 214 | 84 |1.10|1.95|3.05 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|including|NE Zone |223.00|234.00| 11 | 481 | 179 |2.74|4.33|7.06 |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
| | | | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-071-11|Pit SW |106.00|151.00| 45 | 56 | 22 |0.34|0.45|0.79 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-071-11|Pit SW |162.00|166.00| 4 | 173 | 79 |1.10|1.09|2.19 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-071-11|Pit SW |177.00|196.00| 19 | 108 | 50 |0.63|0.72|1.35 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-071-11|Pit SW |203.00|223.00| 20 | 65 | 28 |0.44|0.43|0.87 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-071-11|Pit SW |247.00|261.00| 14 | 79 | 36 |0.44|0.56|1.01 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
|DH-071-11|Pit SW |302.00|323.00| 21 | 45 | 22 |0.26|0.28|0.54 |
| |Extension| | | | | | | | |
|_________|_________|______|______|________|__________|_____|____|____|_____|
*Assuming 100% Metallurgical Recovery
*Prices used in Silver Equivalent (AgEq) Calculations:
Ag dollars/oz $15.00
Zn dollars/lb $0.91
Pb dollars/lb $0.97
Three diamond drill rigs are currently operating on Promontorio with two stepping out in a systematic manner outside of the Pit Resource to the Southwest and Northeast. The third rig is working on stepping out from PC 28 in the Northeast Zone, which measures 300 meters in strike length and sits 700 meters outside of and on strike to the Company's current established 43-101 Pit Resource.
The current 25,000 meter in-fill drilling and resource definition program represents the single largest and most expansive drilling campaigns conducted by Kootenay on the Promontorio Silver project to date.
Upcoming drilling will continue to concentrate on step out and in-fill drilling off setting the numerous medium to high grade silver intercepts concentrated along a 1.0 kilometer long mineralized corridor that includes the Pit Resource, Pit NE zone, Northeast zone and Southwest zone.
QA/QC
All holes reported here were drilled with HQ sized diamond drill core with some sections reduced down to NQ sized core. Core samples were cut using a core saw with 1 to 2 meter long sample intervals. All mineralized intercepts are drill core length drilled across a vertically inclined breccia system at angles of 45 to 70 degrees. Dimensions of the breccia system are being determined. The current resource sits approximately along 140 meters of strike by 60 meters of horizontal width in a range of 20 to 90 meters and to a 400 meter depth. Further Quality Assurance and Control procedures are posted on the Kootenay Gold Inc. website.
The foregoing geological disclosure has also been reviewed by James McDonald, P. Geo (a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. McDonald is the President and CEO and a director of Kootenay.
ABOUT KOOTENAY
Kootenay Gold is actively developing mineral projects in the Sierra Madre Region of Mexico and in British Columbia, Canada . The Company's flagship property is the former producing Promontorio Silver mine in Sonora State, Mexico . The Company's objective is to develop near term discoveries and long term sustainable growth. Kootenay's management and technical team are proven professionals with extensive international experience in all aspects of mineral exploration, operations and venture capital markets. Multiple, ongoing J/V partnerships in Mexico and Canada maximize potential for additional, new discoveries while maintaining minimal share dilution.
Website: http://www.kootenaygold.ca
For additional information, please contact:
James McDonald, CEO and President at 403-238-6986
Ken Berry, Chairman at 604-601-5652; 1-888-601-5650
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Promontorio-Drilling-cnw-4242258606.html?x=0&.v=1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This page has a video of surrounding mines - district is producing record silver and gold:
http://www.kootenaygold.ca/i/video/KTNvideo.html
Drill intercept interactive map: http://www.kootenaygold.ca/i/projects/Promontorio/cs/Promontorio_cross-section_Sep15,2011.pdf
basserdan
14 years ago
Kootenay Gold Has A Lot More Silver Than Its Name Might Suggest
By Charles Wyatt
April 12, 2011
TSXV:KTN; OTC:KOOYF - Shares Outstanding: 44,373,100
Judging by the share price, investors reckon that Kootenay Gold has a bright future ahead. Since last October the shares have risen steadily from just below C50 cents. But in the last week they have suddenly taken off, and risen in an almost straight line from C90 cents to C1.27. A quick look at recent news items shows that Dick Whittington, a mining graduate from the Royal School of Mines, joined the company as a director towards the end of March. That appointment underlines that Kootenay is now starting to build its team for the development of the Promontorio silver project in Mexico. Dick took Farallon Mining right through from discovery to production in four years as chief executive, and only left the company when it was taken over by Nyrstar. So he comes to Kootenay still in his prime.
The latest news from Promontorio will also have done nothing but good for the share price either, as the company has disclosed some excellent grades from a further 10 holes in its ongoing 10,000 metre drill programme there. One hole intersected 237 grams per tonne silver equivalent over 51 metres, including 562.2 grams per tonne over 18 metres. The other metals, as so often, were lead and zinc. The prices used to calculate the silver equivalents were more than conservative, though, with silver taken at US$15 per ounce, compared with the current stellar U$40 silver price. The lead and zinc prices used were pretty advantageous too, at US97 cents per pound for lead, compared with the current US$1.25 per pound, and US91 cents per pound for zinc, compared with the current US$1.08 per pound. Just as important, the drill holes encountered consistent, widespread silver mineralisation and multiple high-grade silver intercepts in the newly extended Northeast and Southwest Zones at Promontorio, which sit outside of the current 43-101 pit resource.
Kootenay chief executive Jim McDonald focused on this theme when he said: “we are consistently hitting high and medium grade silver mineralization to the north east of our pit resource, which has expanded the North East Zone to over 300 metres, double the strike length of our resource. Moreover, widely spaced step out holes have encountered multiple, high grade silver intercepts confirming the exciting upside potential of the entire 1.0 kilometre long mineralized corridor at Promontorio". This RC drilling programme is nearing completion, but a diamond drill has now been brought on site to test the deposit at depth as it still seems to be open. At the same time a programme of closely spaced infill drilling is being planned, to tie in all the various zones of silver mineralisation with a view to updating the resource estimate.
Promontorio is very important to Kootenay Gold, but it is not the be all and end all, as the company is also developing projects in Mexico and in British Columbia to the point where a joint venture partner can be brought in to share the risk. Back in November, for instance, Kootenay acquired 100 per cent ownership of the Silver Fox silver-copper property in the south east of British Columbia. Silver Fox lies on trend with the Western Montana copper sulphide belt, which currently contains the largest silver resource in the USA. The geological characteristics of the two are very similar, as both consist of Revett type silver-copper sediment hosted deposits. If the major discoveries in northwest Montana, such as Montanore and Rock Creek, are anything to go by Silver Fox could prove to be an exciting new exploration discovery in an underexplored area with potential to deliver very large silver-copper deposits. In due course Jim should not find it too difficult to bring in a partner, but until he signs on the dotted line Silver Fox remains wholly owned, and it can only add value.
Virtually at the same time as it announced the acquisition of Silver Fox, Kootenay also announced that a joint venture had been agreed with Northern Vertex, under the terms of which Northern Vertex can earn a 60 per cent interest in the Copley gold property on the Nechako Plateau in central British Columbia. Before this right can be exercised it has to hand over shares to Kootenay and carry out C$2.2 million worth of exploration work within four years. And one more joint venture was announced before Christmas - with Fjordland on seven properties in British Columbia. Kootenay then finished off the year by raising C$6 million from a non-brokered private placement.
But hardly had the team managed to draw breath over the holiday than they were back with a succession of announcements about further joint ventures in both Mexico and British Columbia. It was also interesting to see how quickly the partners got stuck into drilling at Copley and confirmed a number of large gold-bearing structures. The results were said to indicate that the geological characteristics at Copley are very similar to those at Richfield’s Blackwater discovery 40 kilometres to the south. This has to be seen as very encouraging, particularly as Richfield has just been bid for by New Gold, with Blackwater as the main attraction.
In spite of all this, Jim McDonald leaves no doubt that Promontorio is the flagship project. He would now like to follow up on the step out results and the extended one kilometre mineralised corridor to produce two upgraded resource estimates this year. To that end he is seeking more drill rigs at the moment. And he makes no bones about the fact that his aim is to get up to 100 million ounces of silver. A scoping study on Promontorio should follow in 2012, and if the silver price is performing at that time as Minews expects, the study could be a doddle. Jim is going to be in London before Easter for the Master Investor Show, so there will be an opportunity for UK-based investors to learn more about the fascinating portfolio of projects he has built for Kootenay. He remains convinced, however, that it is the excellent drilling results from Promontorio which is pushing the share price along.
Website: http://www.kootenaygold.ca
http://www.minesite.com/mobile/single_news_story/article/kootenay-gold-has-a-lot-more-silver-than-its-name-might-suggest/1185.html
basserdan
14 years ago
Kootenay and Fjordland Enter Into Option Agreement On Seven Properties In Southeastern British Columbia
Wednesday December 22, 2010, 10:57 am
Shares Outstanding: 37,276,600
VANCOUVER, Dec. 22 /CNW/ - Kootenay Gold Inc. (TSX.V:KTN; OTC:KOOYF) ("Kootenay") and Fjordland Exploration Inc. (TSX.V:FEX) ("Fjordland") have entered into an option agreement whereby Fjordland has the right to earn an undivided 60% interest in seven individual claim groups (Big Kahuna, Slocanny Granny, Red Lobster, Moly Pritchard, Big Smoke, MS Peg and GCP) (collectively known as the "Kootenay Gold Claims") located in Southeastern British Columbia in exchange for issuing an aggregate total of 7 million common shares of Fjordland to Kootenay; and financing $7 million of exploration expenditures on the properties within a four-year period. All terms of this agreement are subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.
The Slocanny Granny, Red Lobster, Moly Pritchard and Big Kahuna properties host similar mineralization and geology to the recent Eagle Plains and Providence Capital discovery. They lie along the same Iron Mountain structural zone where Eagle Plains and Providence Capital drill discovery found two intervals of gold-bearing massive sulphide mineralization. Selected intervals from Hole 10 include:
* 14.0 m @ 5.1g/t Au, 1.86% Pb, 2.1% Zn, 75.3g/t Ag (upper sulphide interval)
* 56.5 m @ 1.9g/t Au, 0.44% Pb, 0.59% Zn, 21.5g/t Ag; elevated Cd,Sb,Sn,Bi,Cu (intensely altered, including lower sulphide interval at Sullivan-time horizon)
The other three projects, GCP, MS Peg and Big Smoke all lie within the Kimberly Gold Trend. GCP contains extensive anomalous gold mineralization in breccias not unlike the Iron Mountain Fault discovery while MS Peg has potential for high grade gold and the Big Smoke has massive sulfide Sullivan type potential.
A location map of the optioned properties may be viewed at: www.kootenaygold.ca/i/pdf/news/KTN_IronRange_dec2210.pdf
The optioned properties total 21,222 hectares, in the Belt-Purcell ranges, located adjacent to the Iron Range Project and within the 90-km long northeasterly-trending Kimberley Gold Trend. This Trend is defined by placer gold in streams, high angle, intersecting oblique-slip faults, Fe-oxide, Fe-carbonate, sericite/quartz/pyrite/albite/tourmaline alteration assemblages, numerous Au-Cu-Pb-Zn occurrences and IOCG (iron oxide copper gold) affinities. Four of the claim groups in the Option Agreement have had limited drilling activities and have new drill targets currently permitted for work.
Terms of agreement
To fulfill the terms of the option agreement, Fjordland must spend an aggregate total of $7 million on exploration over four years commencing December 20, 2010 the effective date of the option agreement. Fjordland must issue up to 7 million shares with 700,000 shares due on regulatory approval of the option agreement. The balance of 6.3 million shares will be issued to Kootenay in various increments at each anniversary date thereafter. Subsequent to exercise of the earn-in, Fjordland and Kootenay will form a 60/40 joint venture. Financing of further work on the properties will be on a proportional basis under the direction of a management committee with voting rights proportional to ownership percentage. Either party may be diluted on the basis of a standard formula if they do not contribute to the planned programs.
The interest in the Kootenay Gold Claims is subject to the terms of the Kennedy Grubstake agreement, which includes an underlying 2% net smelter royalty (which includes a buy out option on 1.5% of the net smelter royalty for a $1.5 million payment).
The foregoing geological disclosure has been reviewed and verified by Kootenay's CEO, James McDonald, P.Geo (a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. McDonald is a director of Kootenay.
ABOUT KOOTENAY
Kootenay Gold is actively developing mineral projects in the Sierra Madre Region of Mexico and in British Columbia, Canada. The Company's flagship property is the former producing Promontorio Silver mine in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company's objective is to develop near term discoveries and long term sustainable growth. Kootenay's management and technical team are proven professionals with extensive international experience in all aspects of mineral exploration, operations and venture capital markets. Multiple, ongoing J/V partnerships in Mexico and Canada maximize potential for additional, new discoveries while maintaining minimal share dilution.
Website: http://www.kootenaygold.ca
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/KOOTENAY-AND-FJORDLAND-ENTER-cnw-2357954521.html?x=0&.v=1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim McDonald, CEO of Kootenay Gold, Discusses Major Silver Discovery and More (12-20-10)
Tekoa Da Silva speaks with Jim on Kootenay Gold's discoveries (KTN.V~KOOYF), additionally, Sprott Asset Management recently established a MAJOR position in Kootenay (audio 18:46)
http://www.contraryinvestorscafe.com/metals-and-mining/
Luker
14 years ago
Vancouver, Canada-Kootenay Gold Inc. (TSX VENTURE: KTN.V) is pleased to announce assay results from the holes PC 003 & PC 004 as part of a 10,000 meter, multi-phase drilling program underway (see enclosed Map) on its Promontorio Silver Project in Sonora, Mexico.
Highlights Include:
Hole PC 003:
•Expands mineralization southward 50+ meters from 43-101 Pit Resource
•12 meters of 80.38 g/t Ag, 2.36% Pb+Zn at the top of an 82 meter intercept
•82 meter intercept of 34.45 g/t Ag and 1.1% Pb+Zn with 10.5 meters of 56.86 g/t Ag and 2.3% Pb+Zn near the bottom of the interval with the hole ending in mineralization.
•Second interval of 38.55 g/t Ag and 0.37% Pb+Zn over 16.5 meters higher in hole
Hole PC 004:
•Expands mineralization southward up to 100 meters from 43-101 Pit Resource
•Shallow intercept of 262.4 g/t Ag and 1.1 % Pb+Zn over 13.5 meters including 819 g/t Ag and 2.57% Pb+Zn over 3 meters.
•Interval is extension of High grade zone in Zone 1 of Pit Resource extending it about 40 meters to southwest increasing strike extent by 65% •Deeper intercept possible extension of Pit Resource graded 31.6 g/t Ag and 1.82% Pb+Zn over 7.5 meters within 15 meters of 25.6 g/t Ag and 1.08% Pb + Zn.
•Hole bottomed in mineralization.
States Kootenay President and CEO James McDonald," We are pleased and excited with results from holes P 003 and 004 of our Promontorio drill program. We continue to encounter widespread silver/lead/zinc mineralization that includes multiple, high-grade intercepts. As the current drill program continues, we have now established mineralization extending 50 to 100 meters outside the current 43-101 resource including the high grade in PC 004".
This 10,000-meter Drill Phase is part of a strategic program to substantially expand the known 43-101mineral resource at Promontorio. The first four holes have been drilled along a single fence across the western side of the Pit Zone. This fence of holes is testing from 200 meters outside of the resource drilling into it on its western most edge to further delineate the mineralized contacts and expand the known mineralized area to the south.AGP Mining Consultants 43-101 Highlights of Promontorio Pit Resource include (See Aug 18, 2010 Release):
•Contained Silver 8,900,000 oz Indicated and 1,170,000 oz Inferred
•Contained Lead 99,300,000 lbs. Indicated and 13,400,000 lbs. Inferred
•Contained Zinc 110,800,000 lbs. Indicated and 14,300,000 lbs. Inferred
*Metal recoveries used for the above calculations: Ag-82%; Pb- 85%; Zn-91%
The 43-101 AGP Mining Consultants Resource Calculation was based on only 27 of 54 drill holes conducted on the project to date. Several extensively mineralized holes at the time of the report were absent from the resource calculation based on the spacing of the drill holes.
Kootenay further reports the significant gold component reported to date has yet to be included in published resource calculations. Additional metallurgy testing will be conducted on these holes in the near future to determine the gold's' leachabilty and recovery and extraction methods required.
Kootenay additionally reports, a second labor shift has been added to further accelerate drilling production and development on Promontorio.
QA/QC
All holes were drilled using reverse circulation. Samples were split using riffle or rotory splitters to make representative composites. All samples are over 1.5 meter intervals. All mineralized intercepts are drill hole length drilled across a vertically inclined breccias system at 60 degree angles. Quality Assurance and Quality Control procedures are posted on the Kootenay Gold website.
The foregoing geological disclosure has also been reviewed and verified by Kootenay's CEO, James McDonald, P.Geo (a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. McDonald is a director of Kootenay.
ABOUT KOOTENAY
Kootenay is actively developing mineral projects in the Sierra Madre Region of Mexico and in British Columbia, Canada. The Company flagship property is the former producing Promontorio Silver Mine in Sonora State, Mexico (see enclosed Map).
-30-
For additional information, please contact:
James McDonald, CEO and President at 403-238-6986
Ken Berry, Chairman at 604-601-5652; 1-888-601-5650
www.kootenaygold.ca
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note to US Investors: This news release may contain information about adjacent properties on which we have no right to explore or mine. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. 2010 number 28
You can view the Previous News Releases item: Thu Nov 18, 2010, Kootenay Acquires Drill Ready Silver/Copper Property in South Eastern, B. C. Silver Fox Property is Located Within a "Revett Type " Geological Formation Which is Host to Over 680 Million Oz Silver & 5,600 Million lbs Copper
basserdan
14 years ago
Kootenay Gold – The Best of Both Worlds (KTN.V ~ KOOYF)
Richard (Rick) Mills
Ahead of the Herd
As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information
Without internally generated positive cash flow our juniors are money-eating machines constantly having to go to the market to raise capital through equity offerings.
However there are companies doing things a little different than the mainstream junior - they’re called “Project Generators.” Project generators, after finding and securing a property, do the initial mapping, sampling and maybe a small drill program. Upon making a discovery, basically finding something of interest, they turn it over to a joint venture partner who puts up the money and or its own shares to earn into the property while investigating the discovery.
A property ownership dilution business model is not as well liked as the much more common share dilution (through equity offerings known as private placements) model. Yes the project generator shareholder’s eventual ownership of a discovery is diluted, BUT, their ownership in the prospect generating company is not diluted because there is very little dilution of the project generators outstanding shares. This is because the exploration/development expenses are paid by the partner, not the generator.
The Best of Both Worlds
Kootenay Gold’s strategy has been to build a company incorporating both the property ownership dilution business model and share dilution model. They have several projects joint ventured with other junior explorers who pay costs for exploration and issue KTN shares in their company while Kootenay has retained 100% ownership of their flag ship Mexican property - the advanced stage Promontorio silver project.
Northern Mexico is Kootenay Gold’s major focus. Kootenay hired Dr. Tony Starling of Telluris Consulting Ltd. to conduct satellite imagery and interpretation of geological structures over a huge area - Dr Starling has developed a process that allows him to identify mineral systems from satellite imagery. Starlings technology works by measuring the various wavelengths of reflected light to identify mineral systems. The technology has about a 90% accuracy rate.
Kootenay was able to identify numerous mineralized systems over a 180,000 square km area which allowed them to cheaply, and very quickly, tie up a lot of prospective ground.
In December 2006, Kootenay announced an agreement to acquire 100% interest in the former producing Promontorio Mine and the surrounding properties and mineral rights known as the Promontorio Concession. The claims cover approximately 79,000 hectares and are located in the historic, prolific silver and gold producing Sierra Madre Region of northwest Mexico.
Historical data from Promontorio shows individual holes with 1 kg of silver over 5 m, 10 m, 15 m and an average silver grade of 367 g/t. Historic reports also cite widths of 20 meters on average.
The project had seen some sporadic exploration and limited production over the years but Kootenay Gold’s exploration efforts represent the first thorough exploration program using highly advanced modern techniques.
Early on Kootenay Gold recognized the potential of the Promontorio Pit zone. And drill results confirmed their confidence by showing strong precious and base metal mineralization over considerable lengths:
* Hole 23 - drilled from the northwest corner of the zone - returned 437.5 meters grading 28.2 grams silver per tonne, 0.44 gram gold, 0.53% lead and 0.63% zinc from surface. Using today’s metal prices of $1378.80 an oz gold, $24.65 silver, $1.08lb lead and $1.08lb zinc that’s 437m of US$69.47 rock in an open pit mining scenario
* From the centre of the Promontorio Pit zone Hole 25 returned 386.6 meters of 46.15 grams silver, 0.44 gram gold, 0.78% lead and 0.76% zinc - also from surface. Using today’s metal prices that’s 386m of US$92.75 rock in an open pit mining scenario.
Kootenay’s drill programs defined a 300 by 300 meter silver, gold and polymetallic mineralized area up to 400 meters deep open to the east, west and north.
Kootenay then drilled five step out holes:
* Three holes were drilled 1.6 km northwest into the Dorotea zone. Mineralization encountered was very similar to the Pit zone. From near surface Hole 55 cut 13.5 meters grading 77.39 grams silver, 2.78 grams gold, and 1.08% combined lead and zinc. Hole 56 returned 34.5 meters at 74.83 grams silver, 1.73 grams gold and 2.42% lead and zinc. Hole 58 hit 17 meters grading 86.1 grams silver, 0.52 gram gold and 3.79% lead and zinc, starting 123 meters down-hole.
* Two step out holes drilled 1 km to the northeast hit grades of silver, gold, lead and zinc, again similar to the style of mineralization found in the Pit zone. Hole 53 assayed out at 59 meters averaging 32.24 grams silver, 0.27 gram gold and 1.25% combined lead and zinc, starting at a depth of 135 meters. Hole 54 returned 101 meters of 26.21 grams silver, 0.37 gram gold and 0.74% lead and zinc.
A total of 835 grab samples assayed indicate strong mineralization throughout the entire area explored to date – assay results contain variously, anomalous to highly anomalous levels of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc along with anomalous levels of tungsten, molybdenum and the rare earth lanthanum.
"Sampling Results and Airborne data define a belt of gold/silver and polymetallic mineralization which can be inferred to extend from the Promontorio Pit area in the south for some 25 km to the northwest. The Promontorio with its demonstrated potential for multiple open pit scenarios remains a top priority for the company. Step-out drilling has identified areas with similar characteristics to the past producing Pit Zone which contain grades of 950 g/t Silver over 18.4 m. Continuous high IP chargeability between the mineralized Pit Zone and the Northeast Zone underlines the projects large-scale potential. Moreover, multiple untested priority drill targets suggest strong potential for a host of new discoveries within the property." Jim McDonald, CEO of Kootenay Gold
Kootenay is conducting a systematic exploration program that is prioritizing targets from the Promontorio pit area in the south for approximately 25 kilometers to the northwest. Presently there are over 30 High-Priority EM Targets undergoing exploration at Promontorio.
The following early results (from the more than 30 targets), from surface sampling, outline the presence of three areas of anomalous mineralization with similarities to the Promontorio Pit and Northeast Zones:
Vineteria Zone
* Gold 8.06 g/t; 3.40 g/t; 2.27 g/t; 2.08 g/t
* Copper 10.95%; 12.8%; 3.5%
Gringo Zone
* Gold 8.80 g/t; 3.2 g/t; 3.0 g/t; 2.53 g/t
* Copper 11.2%; 3.4%; 1.1%
Rico Zone
* Silver 895 g/t
* Copper 8.0%
The mineralization in these three areas appears to be controlled by a regional structural setting that also controls the mineralization of the Pit Zone.
Kootenay Gold recently announced an independent mineral resource estimate from AGP Mining Consultants (AGP) for just the Pit Discovery Zone. A Multi-Phase drill program is now planned to expand the Pit Zone resource and test a 700 meter mineralized corridor trending to the North East Zone.
The AGP resource estimate comprises Indicated Mineral Resources of 5.22 million tonnes averaging 52.7 g/t silver, 0.86% lead and 0.96% zinc, containing 8.9 million oz Silver, 99.3 million pounds of lead and 110.8 million pounds of zinc. AGP also estimated that Promontorio contains 0.65 million tonnes averaging 55.7 g/t silver, 0.94% lead and 1.00% zinc in the Inferred category, containing 1.17 million oz Silver,13.4 million pounds of lead and 14.3 million pounds of zinc.
5.22 million tonnes averaging 52.7 g/t silver, 0.86% lead and 0.96% zinc = US$85.10 rock for an in situ gross metal value of US$444,222,000.00
"The resource estimate is further validation that Promontorio is a maturing project displaying all the earmarks to develop into a substantial mineral entity. The resource identified to date, coupled with existing data and upcoming concurrent exploration and drill programs on multiple prospective targets, within known areas of widespread mineralization, bode extremely well for the projects' future development." Jim McDonald, Kootenay CEO
With the large drill program currently underway there will be a lot of news flow from Promontorio until well into the new year.
News Release, dated September 27th 2010 - KOOTENAY COMMENCES 10,000 METER MULTI-PHASE DRILL PROGRAM AIMED AT EXPANSION OF CURRENT RESOURCE AND PREMIER PROMONTORIO TARGETS
Kootenay Gold Inc. has commenced the 10,000-metre drill program at its Promontorio silver project. The multiphase drill program will seek to expand the Pit zone resource, which is open in three directions (northeast, northwest and at depth), and test an 800-metre mineralized corridor trending to the northeast.
Highlights of the Promontorio pit resource (indicated and inferred, based on 27 drill holes):
Contained silver: 10.07 million ounces
Contained lead: 112.7 million pounds
Contained zinc: 125.1 million pounds
Metal recoveries used for the above calculations were silver at 82 per cent, lead at 85 per cent and zinc at 91 per cent.
Joint Venture Projects- Kootenay's experienced exploration team has developed an impressive portfolio with multiple exploration discoveries in the Rossland Republic Trend of British Columbia, Canada and the Sierra Madre Trend of Mexico.
Rosetta Stone- 11,588 hectares located in southeastern BC, Canada. JV partner can earn 60 percent by spending C$1,000,000 and issuing KTN 400,000 (THH.v) shares. The 11,588 hectares is located in southeastern BC, Canada. The drill program will test two newly discovered gold showings named the “Road” and “Rosetta Stone” showings. The road showing is 94 m long and 4 to 6 m wide and can be projected for another 450 meters along strike; and the Rosetta Stone showing is exposed for 40 m of strike over 2 to 4 m wide before disappearing into overburden on both ends. Grab samples from the Rosetta Stone showing up to 21.1 grams g/t gold. Grab samples from the Road showing ranged from background to a high of 17.0 g/t. gold.
Espiritu- JV partner can earn 50 percent by spending US$1,000,000 and issuing KTN 500,000 (KS.v) shares. Gold - Copper porphyry system located in Sonora, Mexico. Mineralization and alteration is traceable in a northeasterly trend for approximately 4 km and up to 800m in width. Greater than 0.100 g/t Gold was contained in 30 of the 150 grab samples including values of 1.078, 1.359, 1.781, 2.39 and 3.6 g/t. The average copper values from surface grab samples returned 0.27% (2700 ppm), including background levels. Lead returned values to 9.6% and zinc to 9.8%. The current phase of drilling intends to establish the thickness of the enriched Supergene layer and the grade of mineralization.
Connor Creek- JV partner can earn a 60% interest by spending US$1,000,000 and issuing KTN 750,000 (ORS.v) shares. The property is located in south eastern British Columbia. Exploration conducted over the past few years has identified several clear gold and gold-copper-lead-zinc enriched zones as defined by geophysics, geologic mapping, rock and soil anomalies and ~1,850 meters of drilling. Two main types of mineralization found are; semi-massive sulfide vein with characteristics similar to the Rossland veins in nearby Rossland that produced nearly 3.0 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 0.4 ounces per tonnes and disseminated sulfides hosted in zones of shearing.
Deer Creek- JV partner can earn 60% by spending C$1,000,000 and issuing KTN 400,000 (NEE.v) shares. Deer Creek covers 10, 573 hectares in 24 claims. It covers four types of mineralization in veins and shears which are; copper bearing sulfide veins, lead-zinc silver sulfide veins and gold bearing quartz veins and shears. Mapping and geophysics shows mineralization occurs along north south trending dyke swarms and structures up to 2 kilometers in length.
Jumping Josephine- JV partner can earn 60% by spending C$2,000,000 and issuing KTN 400,000 (AA.v) shares. The 18,429.5 hectare gold project is located in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia within a mining district boasting historical production in excess of 9 million ounces of high-grade gold. Jumping Josephine drilling (6,000 meters) has defined a gold bearing structure 900 m long by 12m width by 225m depth. The structure is open at both ends and at depth, with strong indications that parallel structures are present.
Share Structure
Shares Outstanding: 37,226,600
Warrants: 5,621,250
Options: 3,679,250
Fully Diluted: 46,527,100
Insider Share Ownership: 25%
Institutional Share Ownership: 30%
Retail Share Ownership: 45%
Cash: *C$7,000,000.00
Debt: nil
*As of June 30, 2010
Management
James M. McDonald, PGeo - President & CEO. Jim co-founded and successfully developed Black Bull Resources, National Gold (merged w/Alamos Gold) and White Knight Resources. Mr. McDonald continues to serve on the board of Alamos Gold Inc.
Kenneth E. Berry, B.Comm - Chairman & Director. Ken served as an investment adviser, advertising executive and managing director of corporate communications for public companies which have raised in excess of $275 million.
Dr. Tom Richards, BSc, PhD - Vice President of Exploration. Dr. Richards is an accomplished author and co-author of numerous publications involved in the science of Geology through central British Columbia.
Brian Groves, BSc Geophysics - Director. Brian has worked in the mining and exploration industries for more than 29 years. A graduate of The University of Sydney, Australia, Brian began his career in exploration as a geophysicist in Australia and North America. He has been involved in exploration for coal, gold, base metals and diamonds with junior, mid-tier and major companies such as AMAX Minerals, Noranda and Placer Dome where he served for 12 years ending as a Manager of Corporate Development, Canada.
Dr. Tony Starling, BSc, PhD - Regional Target Generation. Dr. Starling has been instrumental in the discovery of several new ore bodies throughout Mexico. Specifically, he has applied his distinguished mesothermal /orogenic gold systems studies to discoveries in districts such as Charcas, San Martin and Taxco.
Rajwant Kang, CMA - Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Secretary. Mr Kang has over 18 years financial experience and has held various senior financial positions within public and private companies including Salares Lithium, Gryphon Gold, Star Shipping and Steppe Gold. He brings an extensive knowledge of finance, accounting and public markets. Mr Kang holds a CMA designation obtained in Canada and a HND in Business and Finance, obtained in the UK.
Conclusion
Kootenay has everything going for it that I look for in a junior resource company:
* People
* Properties
* Share structure
* Ability to access capital markets
The more projects found and partnered off, the more likely project generator shareholders are to participate in a big discovery while their company successfully preserves the treasury and keeps share dilution down to a minimum. This is the power of, and how, the joint venture model is supposed to work, exploration and hopefully future development of project after project is funded using OPM - other people's money.
And when a company has an exceptionally high quality 100% owned property such as Kootenay’s Promontorio Project things look especially promising for investors to perhaps participate in a major discovery and possibly even travelling down the development path towards the building of a mine.
Is British Columbia’s West Kootenay region, northern Mexico and Kootenay Gold - with its experienced high quality management team, excellent mix of business models and an exceptional 100% owned project on your radar screen?
If not, maybe it should be!
View Promontorio IP 3D model:
http://www.kootenaygold.ca/i/video/KTNvideo.html
Richard (Rick) Mills
http://www.aheadoftheherd.com/Newsletter/2010/kootenay_gold_the_best_of_both_worlds.htm
kiwisteve
15 years ago
Kootenay Gold Joins Alberta Star's Bid to Acquire One of the Worlds Largest Producers of Silver-the Sterling Mining Company & the Sunshine Silver Mine
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Kootenay-Gold-Joins-
Alberta-Stars-Bid-Acquire-One-Worlds-Largest-Producers-Silver-Sterling-TSX-VENTURE-ASX-1128281.htm
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 8, 2010) - Alberta Star Development Corp. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:ASX)(OTCBB:ASXSF)(FRANKFURT:QLD) is pleased to announce that has entered into a letter agreement with Kootenay Gold Inc. ("Kootenay"), whereby the Company and Kootenay have agreed to cooperate in a joint bid to acquire a 100% interest in Sterling Mining Company ("Sterling") and its assets, and provide for financing of Sterling's continuing operations and development. The Company is a "qualified bidder" under the Sterling plan of reorganization.
STERLING MINING COMPANY-THE SUNSHINE MINE
Sterling's "Sunshine Mine" located near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, USA, has been one of the world's largest producers of silver, having recorded production of over 360 million ounces of silver since 1904. A 2007 Canadian "National Instrument 43-101- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" report (the "Report") by Behre Dolbear & Company estimated remaining resources as follows:
* Measured and Indicated resources of 31.51 million ounces of silver in 1.43 million tonnes at 21.8 ounces of silver per tonne
* Inferred resources of 231.5 million ounces of silver in 2.28 million tons at 101.6 ounces of silver per tonne.
A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources, the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources and the historical estimate should not be relied upon. The Report can be found under Sterling's profile with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available in Canada at www.sedar.com.
Sterling is currently a debtor-in-possession in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the District of Idaho, U.S.A. Sterling is engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring, developing and mining mineral properties primarily those containing silver and associated base and precious metals. Sterling operates the Sunshine Silver Mine in Idaho and has exploration projects in Idaho, U.S.A. Sterling was incorporated under the laws of the State of Idaho on February 3, 1903 and its common shares are currently listed on the (OTCBB:SRLMQ).
THE GROUP-ALBERTA STAR & KOOTENAY GOLD
Alberta Star and Kootenay both maintain strong balance sheets, maintain seasoned and qualified management in both exploration & underground mining. Both companies are seeking to fulfill their stated mandates of creating long term shareholder value through the discovery of base and precious metals and by acquiring additional world class, advanced stage exploration and production projects.
TERMS OF ACQUISITION OF STERLING AND CHAPTER 11 PLAN
As previously announced by the Company (refer to the Company's press release of June 10, 2009), the Company filed a "Notice of Appearance and Request for Special Notice" with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho, U.S.A. (the "Court") regarding Sterling and subsequently executed a Binding Term Sheet which is superseded by the acquisition agreement (the "Agreement") dated November 17, 2009 between the Company and Sterling. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company has agreed to acquire up to 100% interest in Sterling and its assets and provide for financing of Sterling's ongoing operations. The Agreement contains a number of conditions precedent to the obligations of the parties. Unless all of such conditions are satisfied or waived by the party for whose benefit such conditions exist, to the extent that they may be capable of waiver, the proposed transaction will not proceed. There is no assurance that the conditions will be satisfied or waived on a timely basis, or at all. Such conditions include: an order ("Order") of the Court approving a Plan of Reorganization of Sterling (the "Plan of Reorganization"); all claims of all the creditors of Sterling are paid, satisfied, settled or compromised under the Plan of Reorganization and that all other consents and approvals, including regulatory approvals, are obtained. The proposed transaction has not been approved by the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") and remains subject to Exchange approval.
There can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. The proposed transaction is an "arms length transaction" as defined in Exchange Policy 1.1.
Sterling has filed its Second Amended Disclosure Statement ("Disclosure Statement") in the bankruptcy proceedings. The Disclosure Statement has been approved by the Court and contains a Plan of Reorganization for Sterling. The Sterling Plan of Reorganization proposes a bidding process for 100% of the issued and outstanding common stock of Sterling entitling the purchaser to all assets of Sterling.
The key dates for the sale process are as follows:
February 15, 2010 Due date for deposits and qualification of bidders
March 31, 2010, 5:00pm Due date for bids
April 5, 2010, 8:00am Auction
April 6, 2010, 9:30am Plan confirmation hearing and sale approval hearing
April 15, 2010 Sale closing date
The Sterling Plan of Reorganization sets forth specific bidding procedures and processes which must be followed. The Sterling Plan of Reorganization and the Disclosure Statement are available at (a) the Clerk's Office of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho, located at 6450 N. Mineral Dr., Couer d'Alene, ID 83815; or (b) online at https://ecf.idb.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl (a fee-based registration is required to access the information on this website).
The Company is a "qualified bidder" under the Sterling Plan of Reorganization and the Company intends, subject to Court and Exchange approval, and being the highest bidder to acquire not less than 100% of the outstanding Sterling shares, and for Sterling to exit the Chapter 11 process with the following assets in place: its interest in the Sunshine Silver Mine, facilities, Sunshine Silver Mine lease, and exploration interest in the Sterling exploration projects in Idaho.
In addition, the Company upon meeting of the above referenced conditions, including the confirmation of a Plan of Reorganization, will reconstitute the Sterling Board of Directors and make additions to senior management of Sterling.
The Company believes that the proposed acquisition of Sterling represents a significant opportunity for the Company to become a near-term, mid-tier silver producer.
The Company maintains a strong balance sheet and has no long term debt. The Company continues to maintain seasoned and qualified management and seeks to fulfill its stated mandate of acquiring a world class advanced stage exploration and production projects.
ALBERTA STAR DEVELOPMENT CORP.
The Company is a Canadian mineral exploration company that identifies, acquires and finances advanced stage mineral exploration projects in North America. The Company is committed to creating long term shareholder value through the discovery of base and precious metals.
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Investors are welcomed to contact Benjamin Curry of Progressive I.R. Consultants Corp. at (604) 689-2881, the Company's Investor Relations specialists for all corporate updates, and investor inquiries, or Morgan Brewster, Corporate Development of the Company at (778) 989-2739 or mbrewster@alberta-star.com.
The in house qualified person is Michael Bersch PhD, LPG., CPG., who is the Chief geologist of the Company and who has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release.
Forward-Looking Statements
In the interest of providing the Company's shareholders and potential investors with information regarding the Company, including managements' assessment of the future plans and operations of the Company, certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements or information (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "may", "will", "project", "could", "plan", "intend", "should", "believe", "outlook", "potential", "target" and similar words suggesting future events or future performance. In addition, statements relating to "resources" are deemed to be forward-looking statements as they involve the implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions, that the resources described exist in the quantities predicted or estimated and can be profitably produced in the future. In particular, this document contains, without limitation, forward-looking statements pertaining to the following: expectations of management regarding the proposed acquisition of Sterling, including the timing of completion of the acquisition; operating and financial metrics of the acquisition; potential synergies resulting from the acquisition and the effect of the acquisition on the Company's operations.
With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this document, we have made assumptions regarding, among other things: future capital expenditure levels; future silver and base and precious metals prices and future silver and base and precious metal production levels; future exchange rates and interest rates; our ability to obtain equipment other resources in a timely manner to carry out development activities; our ability to market our silver and base and precious metals successfully to current and new customers; the impact of increasing competition; our ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms; our ability to attract new senior management and board members; and our ability to add production and resources through our development and exploitation activities. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this document, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this document, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause the Company's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the following: that the proposed transaction may not close when planned or at all or on the terms and conditions set forth herein; the failure of the Company to obtain the necessary Court, Exchange, regulatory and other third party approvals required in order to proceed with the proposed transaction; volatility in market prices for silver and other base and precious metals; incorrect assessment of the value of the acquisition; failure to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the acquisition; general economic conditions in Canada, the U.S. and globally; and the other factors described under "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual reports and Form 20-F available in Canada at www.sedar.com, as well as on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.
The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date of this document. Except as expressly required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Statements contained in this news release relating to future results, events, and expectations are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, scheduling, re-scheduling, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, estimates, projections, resource potential, interpretations, prognoses, schedules, or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others, those described in the Company' annual reports on Form 20-F on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available in Canada at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
scroogemcdick
17 years ago
Kootenay Gold and the Promintorio Discovery
By James West
Last week, Kootenay Gold (TSX.V:KTN) released the initial results from the Phase 2 drill program now underway at the company’s 100% owned Promintorio project. Hole KP 25-08 assayed 386.64 meters grading 70.8 grams per tonne ("g/t") Ag equivalent and 1.54% combined lead-zinc, including 270.95 meters grading 94.4 g/t and 2.10% combined lead-zinc, and 97.67 meters grading 144 g/t Ag equivalent and 3.24% combined lead-zinc, and also including 7.85 meters grading 473.9 g/t Ag equivalent and 10.13% combined lead-zinc.
Hole KP 23-08 assayed 437.45 meters grading 53 g/t Ag equivalent and 1.16% combined lead-zinc , including189.92 meters grading 88.5 g/t Ag equivalent and 2.00% combined lead-zinc, and also including11.65 meters grading 207.7 g/t Ag equivalent and 4.92% combined lead-zinc.
According to Kootenay Gold President Ken Berry, “The results we’re seeing are even better than the results we released in December, with much longer intersections of higher grades of mineralization. The mineralized zones conform closely with the 3D IP survey signature, which outlines an anomaly of 1.6 km by 900 m, which is “L” shaped with widths ranging between 250 and 600 metres.”
CEO Jim McDonald agrees. “Its silver 40- 50% value, 25% gold and the rest lead zinc. Comparable deposits include Bear Creek Mining’s (TSX.V:BCM) Corani Project in southeastern Peru, and Goldcorp’s Peñasquito Project in Zacatecas, Mexico. The intercepts we’re seeing have a metal content value of $60 per tonne and up to $150 per tonne.”
To date, the 3D IP chargeability anomaly at Promontorio has proven to be an exceptionally accurate predictive tool for identifying mineralization and drill targeting.
Given the large extent of this anomaly and corresponding alteration at surface the pace of exploration will be stepped up. A second drill rig will be sourced and added to the program to assist in drilling an expanded program in the order of an additional 35,000 meters or approximately 100 holes.
Also detailed mapping and sampling of the new mineralized zones discussed in the May 14th, 2008 news release is under way. This will be followed by trenching and likely further geophysical surveys, additional targets will be drill-tested where warranted. Kootenay will also initiate a regional exploration program on the 90,000 hectare Promontorio property where a third drill rig will be added to drill test these targets based on results of the preliminary work.
Kootenay is in a strong financial position to underwrite the stepped up exploration. The company has CA$8 million on hand and has just announced an $11 million private placement at $2.20 share.
Phase I drilling at Promontorio consisted of 22-holes which confirmed widespread, high-grade mineralization. Highlights included 18.4 meters grading 950 g/t and 151 meters grading 162 g/t silver-equivalent.
Drilling encountered wide to moderate intervals of high-grade silver-gold polymetallic breccias in a porphyry breccia setting. Results received to date report twenty of the twenty-two holes intersected significant precious and base metal mineralization starting from surface and extending to depth.
These results indicate that the individual Breccias drilled in the first phase are part of a single, large mineralized system with distinct characteristics indicative of a porphyry system. Accordingly, drill data suggests the Promontorio may contain a deposit of a larger scale and scope than previously conceived.
“Less than 10% of the IP-indicated anomaly has now been tested, “ said Jim McDonald. “We will be stepping out on the next set of holes to 100 and 150 metres. So if we encounter strong mineralization as we step out, the value and tonnage of the deposit will increase accordingly.”
While Promintorio remains the company’s flagship project, its joint venture arm continues to attract other junior mining companies.
On May 6th, the 2008 exploration program on the Jumping Josephine (JJ) Gold Project in southeast British Columbia has commenced with diamond drilling and a 40km line kilometer 3D Induced Polarization survey. Line cutting is currently underway to facilitate the geophysics.
The project is a Joint Venture between Kootenay and Astral Mining Corp (TSX.V:AST).
Early in 2008 Astral completed its obligations under the option agreement with to earn a 60% undivided interest in the JJ Gold Project (see April 12, 2006 news release for agreement details). The companies are now completing a formal Joint Venture (JV) agreement and have formed a Management Committee which will direct all future exploration work on the project.
Initial drilling will be focussed on infilling and expanding the auriferous structurally-controlled quartz stockwork zone at JJ Main. Subsequently other gold targets currently defined on the property will be drilled in addition to geochemical targets and targets identified by the 3D IP survey. The drill program is anticipated to comprise up to 10,000m to be carried out in two phases. Further geochemical surveys, geological mapping and trenching will also be carried out as part of the 2008 exploration program.
In March, Kootenay announced the completion of six option agreements with Klondike Silver Corp. (TSXV: KS) on six of Kootenay's 100% owned mineral concessions in the Sierra Madre Region of Northwest Mexico. Kootenay acquired the six properties through mineral concession staking and a payment of 150,000 shares as a finder's fee.
Under the terms of each option agreement, Klondike can earn a 50% undivided interest in the mineral concession by incurring or funding a minimum of US$1,000,000 in exploration expenditures in stages over three years and issuing 500,000 shares to Kootenay in stages over two years. In order for Klondike to earn an undivided interest in all six mineral concessions, Klondike must incur or fund minimum exploration expenditures totaling in the aggregate $6,000,000 (US$1,000,000 on each mineral concession) and issue to Kootenay an aggregate of 3,000,000 shares (500,000 shares per mineral concession). The options are subject to Klondike obtaining regulatory approval.
Kootenay will continue drilling this year on Promintorio as its joint venture partners continue to make progress on the various programs underway on those properties, so there will never be a shortage of news for investors.
News
Market Data
Register for Free to get streaming real-time quotes, interactive charts, live options flow, and more.
Ask ADVFN Intelligence (AI)
Alexulf
2 years ago
MWM
14 years ago
