Inco/Teck/BrasilcaThe following article was the cover story of "Latin American Mining Record".
By Kevin Moe,
Canadian Journalist
BRAZIL - Led by Chile and its high profile copper mines, South America has long been the focus of internatinal mining companies seeking to discover the large-tonnage copper deposits the continent has become synonymous for.
It wasn't until the 1990's that a new type of copper deposit began to emerge to rival Chile's renowned porphyry-type deposits. Labeled IOCG, Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold deposits exhibit similar tonnages of contained copper nad even larger amounts of contained gold than typical porphyries.
IOCG deposits first came into prominence with the discovery of the Olympic Dam mine in Australia by Western Mining Corporation Ltd. Currently in production with combined reserves and resources of 2.3 billion tonnes gradinng1.3% copper, 0.5 g/t gold and 2.9 g/t silver, Olympic Dam represents the largest IOCG discovery to date with an in-situ 30 million tonnes of copper and 35 million ounces of gold.
In the last few years, Brazil has replaced Australia and Chile as the most prospective country for copper exploration, following a series of world-class IOCG discoveries in the prolific Carajas Mineral Province.
To date, six major IOCG deposits have been identified in Brazil and are at an advanced stage of development, including the Salobo (784 million tonnes grading 0.96% Cu, 0.52 g/t Au), the Crystalino (500 million tonnes grading 1.3% Cu, 0.3g/t Au), the Sossego (355 million tonnes grading 1.1% Cu, 0.28g/t Au) and the Alemao (170 million tonnes grading 1.5% Cu, 0.8g/t Au.)
The potential of this newly discovered copper region to contain many more large discoveries has resulted in a flurry of exploration activity by mining companies of all sizes. One Canadian junior that is taking a prominent role in the quest to discover Brazil's next IOCG deposit is Brasilca Mining Corporation.
Brasilca has assembled a prime land position totalling 22,758 hectares in the heart of Carajas province proximate to the major discoveries. In a major recent development, the company signed a joint-venture agreement with Teck Corporation and Inco Limited to explore Brasilca's Tucuma concession in Brazil.
"The Tucuma project is a high priority for our corporation," says Fred Daley, Vice President of Exploration for Teck Corp., which acts as the operator of the project.
According to Daley, Teck will mobilize an aggressive multi-phase exploration program on the project commencing at the end of May, which will include mapping, sampling and ground geophysics to follow-up the results of an airborne survey recently completed by Teck. A major drill program is slated to commence before the end of the year.
Under the agreement with Brasilca, Teck and Inco, acting as 50-50 joint venture partners, have the option to earn an undivided 51% interest in the Tucuma project by incurring 3.5 million in exploration expenditures and making cash payments of $500,000 to Brasilca over 3 years.
Teck and Inco can earn an additional 24% interest in the Project by making staged cash payments totaling USD$6 million and by completing a bankable feasibility study on the property.
Established to explore for copper in Brazil, the Teck-Inco joint-venture owns extensive mineral claims covering approximately 15000 hectares to the immediate east and northeast of Brasilca's Tucuma project.
According to Daley, Teck considers the Carajas region the world's most prospective for copper exploration, and the company has six active projects in the area with Inco.
Although it remains at an early stage of exploration, the combined Brasilca, Teck-Inco Tucuma project is considered one of the most promising exploration targets in the region with all earmarks of a major IOCG discovery. Brasilca's project is more advanced than the Teck/Inco claims with a drill program recently completed.
"exploration underatken by Brasilca revealed tha the Brasilca claims contain the same types of rocks and alteration as we're seeing on our property," Dalely notes. "we discovered the geology on our property is a lot more widespread and extends onto Brasilca's ground to the west."
Earlier this year, Brasilca reported highly encouragin drill intercepts at the '512' zone, with one drill hole intersecting 16 meters grading 1.3% copper and 7.1 g/t silver. All exploration conducted by Brasilca at Tucuma, including mapping, geochemistry and geophysics indicate striking similarities exist between the geological setting of its '512' zone and the Carajas IOCG deposits.
"When the majors started coming in and looking around, Teck and Inco were ahead of the pack. They recognized the area we were working in, approximately 150km to the southwest of the six major discoveries, was equally prospective for IOCG deposits,' states Michael Downes, Exploration Manager for Brasilca.
The vast majority of the mineral rights in the region is controlled by Companhia Vale de Rio Doce (CVRD), a formerly government-owned Brazilian firm that discovered five of the country's six major IOCG deposits and is the world's largest producer of iron oxide (120 million tonnes,)followd by Rio Tinto (100 million tonnes) and BHP (70 million tonnes).
"It was a major coup for us to acquire a commanding property position in the area," says Downes. "CVRD had a strangle-hold on the area for many years and locked out any other companies."
Brasilca acquired its Tucuma property prior to the major IOCG discoveries in 1993, to explore for gold based on the prolific gold historyy of the area. Downes, together with Brasilca geologist Darci Lindenmayer, recognized key IOCG characteristics at the property, including the occurrence of high temperature alteration.
"We went over all the old datea and decided we should revisit this property as an IOCG target," says Downes. In 1999, the company decided to resumre exploration at Tucuma. A key regional fault was found to be associated with the mineralized system area extending over 10 km across the property.
The mineral porential of the Carajas region, which was untouched jungle as recently as 20 years ago, was first discovered when a team of Brazilian geologists landed in a clearing in Serra dos Carajas, where the ground had a visible overlay of iron ore in 1967. However, it wasn't until 1978, with the comstruction of a major 890km railroad, that CVRD began its $3 billion Carajas Iron Ore Project. As the area was opened up to settlers, garimpieros, or local artisinal miners, participated in a modern day gold rush in the region.
While Brasilca's primary focus remaines on the highly prospective Tucuma project, the company is also in the advanced stages of development on a large alluvial diamond recovery project in central Brazil, 450 imles west of its capital city, Brasilia.
The company's address is 402-625 Howe St, Vancouver, B.C. Canada, V6C 2T6. Brasilca's Public Relations, Director and Vice President of Administration is Mr.Jag Vyas can be reached at 604-682-1984 or jagvyas@brasilca.com . Brasilca's Vice President of Administration is Dr. Michael J.Downes can be reached at 416-686-1016 or mdownes@brasilca.com .Brasilca's web site is www.brasilca.com