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https://www.resourceopportunities.com/s/Home.asp Nevada Gold Rush August 2005- Special Issue Nevada has become the center of attention for gold companies seeking new deposits. Recent developments signal that several junior companies are about to be a part of the gold rush No area in the world is seeing more exploration activity -- nor producing more ounces of new discoveries -- than Nevada. The state has quickly emerged as the third largest gold producing region in the world. With annual production of 8 million ounces a year, this one state produces 11% of the annual mined supply of gold. Only South Africa and Australia produce more of the precious metal than Nevada. Some important developments in recent weeks signal that the trends that propelled the gold-rich state to the top ranks of gold producing regions are going to accelerate, increasing the importance of Nevada to the gold industry. Some of the junior explorers involved in the gold rush that is unfolding will deliver big gains to shareholders. With the gold price again closing in on a 16 year high, investors are getting positioned in gold companies, making the Nevada story all the more timely. Centerpiece For Three Of The Majors Three of the largest gold producers -- Newmont, Barrick and Placer Dome -- already derive a large portion of their annual production from Nevada. All of these gold companies have made the state a top priority in their exploration and development plans. Nevada is important to the gold industry for several reasons: * It ranks among the most favorable jurisdictions in the world to find, develop and operate mines. * There is a long history of mining, providing a strong base of mining skills and expertise. * The infrastructure for mine development in Nevada is better than any place on the planet. * Existing milling facilities have unused capacity, meaning that mines can be brought to production quickly and inexpensively. * Nevada has one of the richest endowments of gold of any region in the world. * Vast areas of the state remain under-explored and new approaches are leading to big discoveries. In addition to those benefits enjoyed by the state, geopolitical trends over the past few years are leading some companies to favor the United States in general as a favored place for developing mines. Mining companies are growing increasingly wary of investing in areas that may be subject to political upheaval, terrorism, corruption or capricious application of laws. Gold mines in the United States also have a built-in currency hedge. Mines in some countries are facing challenges as local costs escalate relative to the price of gold. For example, most of the gold production in South Africa is now uneconomic, as the strength in the South African currency has driven up mining costs relative to the dollar price of gold. Even with gold at the highest level in two decades, gold mines in South Africa are shutting down, as they are unprofitable. Within the United States, the gold industry is focused on Nevada and Alaska, with Nevada holding the lead as the best place to look for new gold deposits. The flip side of all the benefits enjoyed by Nevada is that much of the prospective exploration ground is already tied up. However, companies that had the foresight to acquire prospective ground while the gold industry was quiet are now poised to benefit as exploration activity heats up. The Rise of Nevada to the Top Ranks of the Gold Industry After walking over the Nevada gold deposits for more than a century, the state was suddenly vaulted to the upper ranks of the most important gold producing regions in the world. There is an interesting story behind that rapid rise to prominence and understanding it will help investors profit from the gold rush unfolding in the state. When gold was discovered in California in 1849, hordes of gold seekers literally trudged right on top of some of the largest gold deposits in the world. Even though many of those deposits occur right at surface, it was not until 1961 that the story of Nevada gold began to unfold. It may seem strange that the gold deposits in Nevada were hidden in plain sight for more than a century, and even stranger when they are practically in the backyards of some of the biggest players in the mining industry. The reason lies in the nature of many of those deposits. That type of gold occurrence is now referred to as "Carlin type" deposits, after the site of the 1961 discovery. In essence, the gold is disseminated throughout sedimentary rocks and occurs as very fine (sub-micron) sized particles, not visible even under most microscopes. Most gold districts were found in decades long past by prospectors. For the Nevada deposits, the old timers would not have found even a trace of gold by panning. Even the gold mining companies a few decades ago would not have detected the presence of gold in many of those deposits -- it wasn't until well into the twentieth century that assay techniques had evolved to the point of being able to detect the low levels of gold present in many of the Nevada surface deposits. After its initial discovery in 1961, the Carlin Mine began production in 1965. However, it took the higher gold price of the 1970s to spur the industry into seeking out other deposits in the area. Even then, most of those early deposits were not economic until a new recovery technology was fine-tuned. New Technology Created A New Era In Nevada Gold The advancement of heap leaching in the 1980s kicked off the exploration and development boom that propelled Nevada to the top ranks of the world's gold mining areas. (See the p.12 sidebar for more details of gold recovery and why heap leaching revolutionized the gold industry.) With many of the surface deposits grading a mere 1-gram per tonne (1 part per million, or 0.03 ounces per ton), conventional recovery wasn't economic on the low-grade Carlin-type deposits. Heap leaching provides a low cost alternative for those enormous, near-surface deposits and opened up an important era in the mining industry, especially for Nevada. During the 1980s and into the early 1990s, geologists combed the entire state, sampling anything that looked like it might carry gold. Assays at levels measured in parts per billion often led to follow-up work and drilling. More than 40 open pit mines evolved from that era of near surface gold exploration in Nevada. Barrick can trace its roots to the early 1980s heap leach era and Newmont and Placer Dome rose to prominence as major gold producers from mines developed in Nevada in that era. Several smaller companies also evolved, some of which were ultimately folded into the majors. The gold seekers in that era were focused on finding deposits within a couple of hundred meters of surface -- for two very important reasons. First, the heap leach approach only makes sense in the context of large-scale open pit mining operations. Secondly, the near surface material is typically oxidized. That means that the original sulphide minerals have broken down to leave the gold as free particles that are recoverable by heap leaching. Drilling was typically conducted by "reverse circulation" or "RC" drilling. RC drilling is a low-cost approach that brings up cuttings, like course sand, and is most appropriate for shallow holes. The holes were typically vertical and drilled on grid patterns, with little geological control. Exploration activity covered the state, but a lot of effort was concentrated along the well-established trend near the original Carlin discovery. Mine after mine developed along a northwest-southeast corridor now referred to as the Carlin Trend. Other trends were developing, but the large, near surface deposits around Carlin attracted the most attention. Occasionally, the drill holes hit higher grade intersections at depth, but for years those zones were ignored as being too deep to reach with surface mines and too difficult to process, as they were typically in sulphide minerals. Spectacular Drill Holes Open a New Dimension By the late 1980s, a few geologists were beginning to recognize the significance of those occasional higher grade hits. The next important era in Nevada gold mining began in November 1989, when Barrick reported assays from a deep hole north of its Betze open pit mine. The initial hole encountered 120 feet grading 0.463 ounces of gold per ton at a depth of 1,350 feet. An 800 foot stepout along the trend, at a depth of 1,305 feet, encountered 540 feet of mineralization grading 0.406 ounces per ton. To put those values into perspective, many profitable gold mines operate at 0.3 ounces per ton in ore bodies with a 10 foot thickness. Development of that discovery as the Meikle underground mine helped launch Barrick into the top ranks of the major gold producers. It soon became clear that the disseminated surface deposits that captivated the industry were merely "leakage" from higher grade deposits at depth, like smoke over a fire. The low-grade surface deposits were now seen as intense geochemical anomalies indicating far richer prizes that occasionally lie below. Geologists began probing below all of the surface mines, and turned up a raft of new high-grade deposits. With an unprecedented pace of new discoveries, the Carlin Trend quickly emerged as the second-biggest depository of gold in the world, with the latest tally at 180 million ounces of past production plus current resources in 42 deposits. Only the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa has a larger endowment of gold in such a small area. The Carlin Deposits As A Geological Model While each of the Carlin deposits is unique, they exhibit a common pattern of: * Structure -- The deposits are related to major crustal-scale fractures as well as secondary faults that provided conduits for the mineralizing fluids that created the deposits; * Intrusive units in the area that provided a heat source to drive the hydrothermal systems; * Suitable host rocks, typically calcareous sediments, that provided the trapping mechanism to extract the gold from the circulating hydrothermal fluids The p. 11 sidebar provides more details about the geology of gold deposits in the Nevada context. The understanding of Nevada gold deposits was just coming clear when the gold price began its descent into the cellar after 1997. Gold mining companies, struggling to stay afloat, axed their exploration budgets and their geological teams were cut loose. Development of Nevada gold mining slowed for the next few years. As the present exploration boom got underway, there was a big shift of exploration properties and geological talent from the majors into the juniors. Once the gold industry renewed its search for gold deposits beginning in about 2002, Nevada became an important part of the picture. The enormous success experienced by gold seekers along the Carlin Trend made it clear that the majority of prospective property on, or anywhere near, that trend was quickly tied up when gold exploration took off. A few juniors that had the foresight and the wherewithal to remain active during the downturn were able to secure significant property portfolios when no one else was paying attention. A few others were alert enough to move quickly as the gold industry began to recover. That well-located real estate has now become extremely valuable. A few astute geologists were applying the lessons of the Carlin Trend to other areas. Other Trends Evolved The Carlin Trend has been the sacred ground of gold exploration for the past 40 years, but other trends were also unfolding in Nevada, as deposits throughout the state began to line up and form patterns. The most significant trend outside of Carlin is the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold belt, located parallel to the Carlin Trend and 65 kilometers to the southwest. While that trend produced several mines, there were fewer of the easily located, surface mineable deposits that drove the early exploration on the Carlin Trend. Placer Dome began exploring in the Battle Mountain-Eureka area in 1959. By 1969, Placer, together with partners in the Cortez Joint Venture, were mining the Cortez deposit. (Today, the Cortez Joint Venture or "CJV" is held 60% by Placer Dome and 40% by Kennecott, a unit of Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies.) The Cortez Joint Venture tied up a vast swath of ground around the Cortez mine, covering what the joint venture partners (and much of the mining industry) at that time believed was the most prospective ground on the trend. In March 1991, the CJV was drilling condemnation holes in a gravel-covered area. Condemnation holes are drilled to confirm that there is no ore body at depth before placing waste dumps, leach pads or other surface installations. The partners were planning to extend the leach pads for the Gold Acres mine, a satellite deposit to Cortez that had operated since 1973. That condemnation drilling, beneath 300 feet of gravel, surprised the geological team by discovering the Pipeline deposit. A junior with an adjacent property followed up that success with their own drill program and found the South Pipeline deposit, which was soon acquired by the CJV. Development of those discoveries became the focus for the next few years. In 1998, the CJV discovered the Pediment deposit, but by then interest in gold exploration was winding down. An announcement by Placer Dome in April 2003 kicked off a gold rush to the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold belt. The company announced a new deposit called Cortez Hills, with the initial announcement referring to a deposit containing 3 million ounces of gold. That new deposit was located between Pediment and the original Cortez mine. The company has not announced individual drill hole results from Cortez Hills at the corporate level, but the numbers attracted a lot of attention in the geological community. For example, a slide in the presentation package for a Nevada mine tour, dated September 8, 2004 (available on the Placer Dome website) shows the results of four drill holes: * 200 feet at 0.114 ounces per ton plus 90 feet at 0.373 ounces per ton; * 340 feet at 0.428 opt plus 290 feet at 0.504; * 500 feet at 0.786 opt; * 410 feet at 1.035 ounces per ton Those numbers are particularly spectacular in that Cortez Hill will be primarily an open pit. While those holes are not representative of the overall resource, they demonstrate the enormous size of the mineralized system and the potential for spectacular grades. By the end of 2004, Placer Dome reported proven and probable reserves of 8.8 million ounces for Cortez Hills and Pediment. The Cortez resources continue to grow, as exploration progresses. The latest discovery, ET Blue, is on trend, 10 kilometers southeast of Cortez Hills. Placer expects the Cortez Hills mine to begin operations by mid-2006. The high grade ore from that deposit is projected to boost the CJV production to more than a million ounces per year, at a cash cost of less than $150 per ounce. Interestingly, the Cortez Hills deposit is between two mines only five miles apart, operated by the same company. Yet, 40 years elapsed from finding the Cortez deposit to discovery of Cortez Hills. That rich gold deposit showed no surface expression, as it is covered by gravel. It was only a finely-tuned knowledge of the geology that helped the geologists interpret the geophysical and other results that led to the spectacular Cortez Hills discovery. Cortez Becomes the New Center of Attention The recent discoveries around Cortez have defined a geological setting distinct from the northern portion of the previously outlined trend. The Cortez Trend has now emerged as a separate trend, partly overlapping the broader Battle Mountain-Eureka trend, but diverging along an important structural corridor known as the Cortez Fault. As with the Carlin Trend, a favorable combination of structure, intrusive activity and favorable host rocks are the key to finding the big deposits. The tightly constrained geological model that had prevailed through the 1990s was broadened by the new discoveries, opening up a larger area of prospective ground. Well before the Placer Dome announcement, several geologists had also been looking at the region with a broader perspective. Those geologists, working through junior exploration companies or in some cases independently, were quietly accumulating mineral rights that related to the emerging geological models. By the time word of the Cortez Hills discovery hit the street in 2003, much of the prospective ground in the trend was already locked up. Now, two years later, any ground with a hint of potential has been secured, either by a handful of juniors or by the major gold producers. A New Era Emerges On The Cortez Trend Over the past couple of years, the groundwork has been laid for an important new era in Nevada gold exploration. The independent geologists and prospectors have largely vended their properties to junior explorers in return for shares and royalty interests. The juniors, exploring on earlier holdings and their recent acquisitions, have raised money, compiled historic data and carried out surface work. The important drilling stage, in which discoveries are made, is just getting underway. A few holes drilled over the past couple of years give a hint of what to expect in this round of drilling. For example, Victoria Resources' share price soared from a nickel to more than C$2 a share when one of their drill holes hit a promising intersection. The share price fell when subsequent holes fell short of the expectations created by that earlier hole, but the story continues to unfold as the company is still working on the property. The same geological conditions that host the rich endowment of gold on the Cortez Joint Venture ground are now recognized to continue for tens of kilometers to the southeast, outlining a mineral belt of comparable extent to the Carlin Trend. In earlier decades, attention was directed to the low grade surface deposits that are sprinkled along the trend. At the present gold price, some of those deposits look attractive. However, their real value is that they may represent the surface expression of high-grade deposits at depth. In essence, those deposits may be geochemical anomalies indicating buried deposits. Events Over The Past Few Weeks Signal That Big Developments Are Set To Unfold On June 28, White Knight announced that Robert McEwan had acquired 5.7 million shares of the company from Goldcorp. A few people recognized the significance of that transaction and the shares of White Knight started moving. McEwan had recently stepped aside as CEO of Goldcorp after he led the company into a merger with Wheaton River. McEwan was the visionary behind the enormous success of Goldcorp, helping propel a $150 million company in 1996 to a $2.8 billion company at the time of the merger earlier this year. The White Knight shares didn't fit into the plans of the new Goldcorp, but they became the foundation for McEwan's new venture. He quickly supplemented his initial stake by purchasing another block of 2.3 million shares. He also bought 1.6 million shares on the market, at an average price of C$1.26, bringing his position in White Knight to 17%. McEwan followed up his White Knight move on July 29 by taking control of another public company -- U.S. Gold (USGL-OTC BB). He invested $4 million to acquire 11.1 million shares, giving him a 33.3% stake. McEwan become chairman and CEO and appointed four of the six directors. A few more investors were beginning to see what was unfolding, and the shares of US Gold soared from $0.39 before McEwan's involvement to as high as $2.19. US Gold holds the 1.4 million ounce Tonkin Springs deposit and struggled for years to economically extract gold from the near surface ore. The mine operated for a period, but the complex ore stymied the metallurgists and the company languished, even after the resurgence in the gold industry. McEwan may believe that he can find the key to getting the gold out of the Tonkin Springs ore. More likely, he sees the Tonkin Springs surface deposit as an indicator of a richer deposit at depth. If that first gambit doesn't pay off, the junior also has 36 square miles of mineral rights on the Cortez Trend. A quick glance at the property map for the region will show the strategic advantages of holding interests in US Gold together with White Knight. McEwan is not simply dabbling in penny stocks. He is a visionary, intent on building another success on the scale of Goldcorp. The two companies that McEwan is presently involved with have already had big moves. There is still enormous scope for those companies as the Cortez story unfolds, as will be detailed later in this issue. In addition, there are other outstanding opportunities with some of the other juniors that hold strategic ground along the Cortez Trend. This issue is devoted to gold exploration in Nevada. In addition to this background summary, there is an overview on geology and mineral processing related to the region, updates on companies that we have been following that have property on the trend and some new companies with prospective properties in and around the Cortez Trend. Updates Keegan Resources (KGN-TSXV) (Originally published June 29, 2005 and updated to August 19.) Keegan will be drilling its three Nevada gold prospects over the course of the summer and fall. Drilling started on the Horse Mountain project, which represents a potential northern extension of the prolific Carlin Trend. Two deep targets, at 3,000 feet and 1,500 feet respectively, will each be tested with a single drill hole in the current campaign. A direct hit of a big new gold discovery with the first hole in either target would be a spectacular success. Realistically, the company anticipates gathering stratigraphic information plus evidence of alteration and gold mineralization that would be used to orient subsequent holes. The second project to be drilled, Regent, is in the Walker Lane gold trend of western Nevada. That property has seen 500 drill holes over the past couple of decades, all aimed at outlining a disseminated near-surface deposit. Several high-grade hits from the old drilling attracted the attention of Keegan's president, Dan McCoy, a Ph.D. geologist with a wealth of experience in Nevada. There have been numerous successes in Nevada where a few high-grade hits in a near surface disseminated gold zone have led to high-grade gold deposits below the surface. The third project to be tested is Fri, also in the Walker Lane. The property was explored for a copper-molybdenum deposit in the early 1970's. One hole from that program hit 6 grams of gold per tonne over 20 feet, but was not followed up in that era of low gold prices. McCoy recognizes the significance of that hit and plans to investigate it with additional drilling. Keegan is also working on its Asumura project in Ghana, West Africa. Surface sampling has outlined a sizable gold target. The project is on trend and geologically similar to Newmont's 10 million ounce Ahafo deposit, 65 kilometers to the northeast. Keegan plans to follow up the surface sampling with drilling over the coming months. Keegan has a strong geological team with considerable opportunity to continue to acquire high potential gold prospects. The company should attract considerable investor interest for the drill programs, especially in view of the high potential rewards of success. Price June 29, 2005: C$0.85 Shares Outstanding: 8 million Shares Fully Diluted: 10.3 million Market Cap: C$6.8 million Contact: Michael Bebek 1-800-863-8655
www.keeganresources.com Price August 19th, 2005: C$ 0.85 Staccato Gold (CAT-TSXV) Staccato was first introduced in the July #2 issue. Staccato has five gold exploration properties in northeastern Nevada, with three of those projects located along the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold belt, both north and south of the Cortez area. The South Eureka project, is at the south end of the Cortez Trend, in a similar geological setting. Placer Dome is funding work on Staccato's Long Peak project is located west of Battle Mountain in the northern part of the trend, and expects to be drilling in the coming weeks. The company is presently doing a small financing to fund the ongoing work on its other properties as it reviews funding alternatives for a drill program on the South Eureka project. Staccato spent a couple of years accumulating a 27 square mile property at the south of the Cortez area. The property is located just south of Barrick's Archimedes project, which is presently in development. Staccato's South Eureka property hosts several past-producing open pit mines. A resource of roughly a half million ounces had been delineated on the Staccato property by previous operators. Those near surface ounces are somewhat interesting in their own right, but their real value is in their role as an indicator for what may lie at depth. As has been demonstrated at several gold occurrences in the Carlin Trend and the Cortez Trend, low-grade deposits at surface are sometimes an indicator for a richer deposit at depth. Staccato's share price has moved up considerably since the company was introduced here in July, but the market value is still remarkably low for a company with such a large and prospective property package. The value of the company should continue to advance as interest builds in the Cortez Trend and the company builds greater recognition for its assets. Price August 15, 2005: C$0.135 Shares Outstanding: 29.2 million Shares Fully Diluted: 39.5 million Market Cap: C$3.9 million Contact: Greg Hryhorchuk 604-682-8789
www.staccatogold.com White Knight (WKR-TSXV) White Knight was first introduced in the July #2 issue. White Knight has the second-largest property holdings in the Cortez Trend and one of the top geological teams exploring in the trend. That team has been working in the region for a dozen years and has developed a leading-edge understanding of the Cortez geology. The company aggressively accumulated properties during the quiet period around 2001, long before action in the region heated up. Over the past couple of years, the company has carried out comprehensive programs involving geology, geochemistry and geophysics. That work has brought the company to the drill stage, with nine properties scheduled for drilling over the course of this year. Joint venture partners are providing funding for 5 of those programs. In addition to the aggressive exploration programs underway, White Knight has seen significant developments on the corporate front. Robert McEwan, the driving force behind the enormous success of Goldcorp, has brought his business building talents to the Cortez Trend. Over the past two months, McEwan has accumulated 17% of White Knight. He then took control of US Gold. A quick glance at the property holdings of those two companies will make it clear that McEwan holds interests in companies that control 40 kilometers along the most highly prospective gold belt in the world. There is speculation that the two companies may be merged. At this stage, there is no indication of what the next move will be. While there appears to be benefits in bringing the two companies together corporately, a merger would not be necessary to carry out a coordinated exploration strategy. While the corporate story unfolds, exploration is continuing on all of the White Knight properties. Drilling is underway on Slaven, with the first results expected any time now. Drills are either turning or will soon begin on eight other White Knight properties. The share price will undoubtedly go through wild gyrations as drill results over the coming months either exceed or fall short of investor expectations. With the increase in share price over the past few weeks, White Knight has the highest market value of any of the Cortez juniors. That valuation is due in part to the entry of a high profile investor and the speculation surrounding nine drilling programs on properties in a geological settings that is turning up monster deposits. Looking a little deeper, it is clear that White Knight will form an important component of an exploration group that will almost certainly evolve into one of the leading explorers in the most signifi cant gold exploration region in the world. Remember, the Carlin Trend, just 65 kilometers northeast, has so far yielded 180 million ounces. The Cortez Trend is geologically analogous to the Carlin Trend, with experts projecting a similar potential for Cortez. Exploration is just getting underway on the vast section of the trend south of the Cortez Joint Venture property. For one entity to control such a vast piece of such a highly prospective exploration district is an extraordinary opportunity that provides enormous potential for shareholders of White Knight. Price August 15, 2005: C$1.61 Shares Outstanding: 54.1 million Shares Fully Diluted: 67.3 million Market Cap: C$87.1 million Contact: Kareen McKinnon 604-681-4462
www.whiteknightres.com Initiating Coverage Bravo Venture Group (BVG-TSXV) Bravo has a substantial property position along the Cortez Trend in northeastern Nevada, one of the most important gold exploration regions in the world. Placer Dome, the best established of the major gold producers operating on the Cortez Trend, has joint ventures with Bravo on a portion of that land package. The company also has exploration projects in British Columbia and Alaska that add additional upside potential. Bravo is part of the Manex Resource Group, which can boast of Western Silver among its successful ventures. President Joe Kizis has 30 years of exploration experience, the bulk of which was spent in Nevada. Directors include Dr. Tom Patton, the head of Western Silver. Bravo secured 10 properties in the southern portion of the Cortez Trend, all covering what it believes are highly prospective targets. Placer Dome optioned four of those properties in deals that allow the major to earn interests in return for funding work. For each of the properties, Placer Dome can earn 51% by spending $1 million and can increase its interest to 70% by funding the project through a bankable feasibility study. After entering into a joint venture agreement with Placer Dome on the South Lone Mountain property, Bravo geologists tracked down the cuttings from an oil well that was drilled near the property in 1989. The cuttings confirmed the presence of the important Roberts Mountain formation at a depth of 1,400 feet. That formation is the most important host for gold deposits in northeastern Nevada. Assays from the cuttings revealed the presence of gold in the Roberts Mountain formation (0.33 grams per tonne) and in the gravels above the formation (2.46 grams per tonne). The presence of significant gold values in and near the most important host rock in Nevada was an extremely important discovery. Placer Dome immediately swung into action, staking 40 square miles of property around that discovery for the benefit of the joint venture. That property position exposes Bravo shareholders to a total of 65 square miles of prospective geology, one of the largest property positions in the southern part of the highly prospective Cortez Trend. Placer Dome is presently pulling together the available geological information on the joint venture properties and is also conducting additional geological, geophysical and geochemical surveys. The company intends to identify drill targets and secure permits to begin drilling before the end of this year. Bravo's geological team is also working on six other Cortez properties, with the intention of advancing the geological stories and securing partners to fund drilling. In addition, the company is pursuing the acquisition of additional prospective land in northeastern Nevada. The Nevada properties are clearly the focus for Bravo investors. As a bonus, the company has two other properties for which it is currently getting little or no credit, but which could add considerable value if exploration programs currently underway produce favorable results. The Woewodski Island project is in the southern part of the Alaska panhandle, off the coast of British Columbia. The property is part of a well-mineralized belt that includes Rio Tinto's Green's Creek mine (24 million tonnes grading 13.9% zinc, 5.1% lead, 5.8 grams per tonne gold and 730 grams per tonne silver). That belt also includes multi-million ounce high-grade gold deposits, such as the historic Alaska-Juneau mine. Previous work on Woewodski Island by several different companies identified 13 high-grade surface showings. Bravo, for the first time, has consolidated the property position. A preliminary drilling program last year encountered impressive intersections in the four target areas that were tested (for example, 3.8 meters at 560 grams per tonne silver, 2.8% lead and 22% zinc). Further fieldwork over the course of the summer is intended to fine-tune drill targets in anticipation of further drilling this fall. Bravo's Homestake Ridge property is directly east of the Alaska project in British Columbia, in a mineral belt that hosts one of the richest mines in North America: Barrick's Eskay Creek mine has 2.6 million tonnes grading 48 grams per tonne gold, 2,150 grams per tonne silver plus 7% zinc/lead/copper. Three major mining companies worked in the area from 1974 to 2002, providing Bravo with a good starting point. The junior drilled 11 holes in 2003 that encountered some high grade gold-silver intercepts within broader halos of anomalous gold values. With 10 properties in northeastern Nevada as well as the two northern properties, Bravo has numerous chances for exploration success. The joint venture with Placer Dome provides an endorsement of the merits of the Cortez properties and relieves shareholders of the obligation of providing all of the exploration funding. The company has money in the bank to see it through the next round of work. With some luck, one (or more) of the drill programs this fall will generate some good news. In the meantime, the share price should advance as work progresses and investor awareness grows. Price August 15, 2005: C$0.455 Shares Outstanding: 45.5 million Shares Fully Diluted: 59.6 million Market Cap: C$20.7 million Contact: Investor Relations 604-684-9384
www.bravoventuregroup.com Initiating Coverage Miranda Gold Corp (MAD-TSXV) Miranda holds a substantial property position in Nevada's Cortez trend, one of the most highly prospective gold exploration regions in the world. A great deal of work is presently underway, with much of the funding provided by other companies. The company follows the joint venture model of exploration: It acquires prospective properties, develops the geological story on those properties through surface work and then brings in joint venture partners to help fund the drilling. Miranda's president Ken Cunningham and vice president exploration Joe Hebert both have many years of successful gold exploration experience, with a focus on Nevada. Ken led the exploration efforts that resulted in the discovery of a million-ounce-plus deposit on the Carlin Trend and a 4-million ounce find in the Battle Mountain trend. Joe was previously senior exploration geologist for the Cortez Joint Venture and was part of the team that discovered the 8 million ounce Cortez Hills deposit. Miranda's geological team are exceptionally well-qualified to spot the right geological conditions to host a big gold deposit. Members of Miranda's team have been working in the Cortez Trend for more than five years. That experience has allowed Miranda to acquire properties covering nine prospective target areas in the trend. Work is presently underway on eight of Miranda's Nevada gold projects, funded by seven different companies including Placer Dome, Newmont and Barrick. The joint venture agreements will see a tremendous amount of work carried out over the next few months, including drilling programs slated for at least six of the properties. While partners are advancing those projects, the Miranda geological team are continuing to generate additional exploration prospects. They are primarily looking for Carlin/Cortez type prospects, and they are also on the lookout for high grade epithermal vein systems. Miranda's share price has notched up over the past few weeks in reaction to the growing level of interest in the Cortez Trend. The share price will likely continue to be volatile, but there is substantial upside potential. The company has one of the most highly qualified Nevada exploration teams and an impressive property portfolio focused on one of the most prospective gold exploration regions in the world. Perhaps even more important than the funding contribution, the joint venture partners are providing validation of Miranda's exploration concepts. That point is particularly significant with three of the Nevada majors -- Placer Dome, Newmont and Barrick -- all funding work on Miranda properties. The share price should continue to advance with the growing level of interest in the Cortez Trend and as the property portfolio advances and is further expanded. There is big upside potential if the holes planned for the balance of the year turn up good results. Price August 15, 2005: C$0.85 Shares Outstanding: 28.6 million Shares Fully Diluted: 38.8 million Market Cap: C$24.3 million Contact: Investor Relations 604-689-1659
www.mirandagold.com Initiating Coverage Minterra Resource Corp. (MTR-TSXV) The Elder Creek property, which is now being drilled, is located 8 kilometers northwest of the producing Pipeline and Pipeline South gold mines operated by Placer Dome. An open-pit heap leach mine operated on the Minterra property in 1989-90, but shut down due to poor recoveries. A small resource remains at surface, with potential to further expand it. That resource is interesting in its own right, but the real target lies below the surface. A recent independent geological report on the property noted: "the near surface resource at Elder Creek is a guide to and possibly indicative of a high-grade gold deposit in lower plate carbonate rock. The Elder Creek property has potential for high-grade gold along exposed structures where they intersect lower plate rocks at depth." Minterra's first test of that deep target was abandoned due to difficult drilling. A second hole was drilled to 1,860 feet before reaching the limit for the reverse circulation rig. The company intends to deepen that hole with a core rig. Two earlier holes in the area, one to the west and the other to the east, encountered the lower plate at 2,450 feet and 2,200 feet, respectively. on the Elder Creek property. The recent Minterra hole found hydrothermal alteration such as would be expected proximal to a gold deposit in that setting. Drilling, expected to get underway again in September, will test the significance of that alteration. The alteration in the Minterra hole is an encouraging sign, but alteration halos can be extensive and it would take a great deal of good fortune to hit the bull's-eye with the first shot. The company is planning to drill up to four additional holes in this first phase on the Elder Creek property. The Toy property is located 12 miles south of the Pipeline mine. The Minterra property is immediately adjacent to the Toiyabe property held by the Cortez Joint Venture, which hosts an open-pit heap leach mine that operated from 1988-91. A geophysical survey on the Minterra property turned up seven target areas. The company is presently awaiting assay results from geochemical sampling over those targets as a guide to planning a drilling program. The company also plans to drill its Gold View property once it obtains permits. The target is a gold geochemical anomaly in a favorable structural setting. The property is located east of the Tonkin Springs deposit and immediately adjacent to a property that Bravo Venture Group has optioned to Placer Dome. Minterra's Pipeline South prospect is 5 miles south of the Pipeline mine and 10 miles west of the Cortez mine. The property is of interest in that it hosts structures that appear to be related to gold deposits on both the Pipeline and Cortez deposits. Geophysical and geochemical surveys are planned to pinpoint drill targets. Minterra is also planning to drill its East Whistler property, located north of Barrick's Archimedes project, which is presently under development. Geochemically anomalous zones have been found along a major structure and in contact with an intrusive unit. Minterra also has several other interesting gold prospects in other prospective regions of northeastern Nevada. The North Carlin property is located 5 miles east of Newmont's 20 million ounce Gold Quarry mine. The property is under post-mineral cover and it was previously believed that the prospective lower plate rocks were too deep to be of interest. Minterra's geological consultant obtained information from water monitoring wells that were drilled some years ago that indicated the lower plate on the property is much closer to surface than previously believed. The company is now conducting a detailed geological study of the property. Two of the Minterra properties in the Northern Nevada Rift exhibit similar geology to the setting that hosts the 7-million ounce Midas deposit, which grades better than 1-ounce per ton. Minterra is defining drill targets based on geochemical values along suitable structures. Minterra is presently doing a C$750,000 private placement, priced at C$0.15, to continue working on its properties. The company anticipates entering into joint ventures soon with other companies to help fund the drilling of its properties. I would see joint ventures as an important development, as it would lessen the dilution arising from Minterra directly funding drill programs. Minterra offers investors numerous opportunities for exploration success. The projects are all early stage, but the stock is favorably priced, offering a high-risk / high-reward exploration play. Price August 15, 2005: C$0.19 Shares Outstanding: 20.6 million Shares Fully Diluted: 26.9 million Market Cap: C$3.9 million Contact: Investor Relations 604-687-6690
www.minterra.ca An Introduction to the Geology of Nevada Gold Deposits Nevada has been propelled into the top ranks of the world's gold producing regions, and the state boasts a higher level of mineral exploration than anywhere else in the world. A brief introduction to the geology of gold deposits in general, and to the characteristic features of Nevada deposits will help investors follow the action. Metal deposits are formed when suitable conditions of temperature, pressure and/or chemistry change the fluids in a way that the metals are precipitated from the solutions. Gold is typically deposited along with quartz, iron sulphide (pyrite) and minor amounts of other metal sulphides. The circulation of the hydrothermal fluids is driven by a heat source in the form of hot molten rock that has worked its way to the upper part of the crust. The fluids percolate slowly through microscopic pores in the solid rock. Faults, or breaks in the rock provide conduits that channel larger volumes of fluids. In the far geological past, long before the age of dinosaurs, the area that is presently Nevada was the margin of a continent. Sediments were shed off the continent into the shallow portions of that ocean. Marine sediments formed in deeper portions of the ocean as the remnants of sea life settled to the bottom. Over hundreds of millions of years, the shoreline shifted back and forth, creating a series of different sedimentary units that built up one upon the other. After the sediments were laid down, the region was subjected to massive forces as the Pacific Ocean tectonic plate (segment of the earth's crust) was pushed against and under the continental plate. The sedimentary rock units along the margin of the continent were contorted by a series of folds and faults. "Thrust faults" resulted as rock units from the west slid over top of other rocks as they were pushed eastward. Over time, changes in the direction of the tectonic movements resulted in several series of near vertical faults, some with lateral movements and others with vertical movements. In other places, the rock units reacted to the compressive forces by developing a series of folds. There were also extensional events that created "rifts", or deep openings in the crust. The Carlin Trend and the Cortez Trend developed along zones of general crustal weakness. Those zones were subjected to considerable thrust fault and vertical fault activity. Those zones of weakness in the crust also allowed magma (molten rock) from deep in the crust to migrate toward the surface. Those conditions of faulting together with the presence of hot magma were ideal for the formation of gold deposits. The magma provided heat that set up convection cells, propelling super-heated hydrothermal fluids to percolate through the solid rock, scouring metals. The fluids were then channeled along the conduits created by the faults. Structure is an important feature The Carlin and Cortez gold deposits are "structurally controlled" in that they resulted from fluids traveling along the structures or faults. Many of the deposits formed where the fluids passed through favorable rock units. In particular, the calcareous units (limestone) acted as buffers that reduced the acidity of the fluids, resulting in deposition of metals. Units with organic carbon also served to trap the gold as the solutions passed through. The lower plate contact is often not easy to find, as blocks of rock have been alternately uplifted and down-dropped. In some places, the lower plate rocks may be found at surface, while only a short distance away, the lower plate boundary may be thousands of feet below the surface. Surface deposits may be leakage The low-grade surface deposits were formed as the fluids traveled up vertical faults and then percolated into permeable sedimentary rock units under conditions of relatively low temperature and pressure near surface. Geologists now recognize that those disseminated deposits are often merely "leakage" from higher grade deposits at depth. Numerous high grade deposits have now been discovered below low-grade surface deposits. The exploration focus in Nevada has largely shifted to the search for buried high-grade deposits. Typically, those deposits formed as gold bearing hydrothermal fluids moving along vertical faults encountered suitable rock units. The biggest deposits were developed in areas with long-lived hydrothermal cells, large volumes of fluid flows, and structural conditions that allowed the fluids to pass through and at the same time have a prolonged contact with the suitable host rock. The real life situation is far more complex than suggested by this simplistic summary. The high-grade deposits might occur anywhere along tens of kilometers of fault. The situation is further complicated because the faults are not clean breaks, but rather zones of faulting in which multiple splays or branches of faults are present. Even if a geologist is successful at locating the appropriate place along the fault, a deposit can be located at any depth, from near surface to deeper than a drill rig can reach. Exploration on the Cortez Trend is focused on rocks close to the upper plate/lower plate boundary. The most important structural element seems to be particular branches of the Cortez fault. There are several branches within that fault system, with different branches having different levels of importance as contributors to gold deposits. Geologists are helped somewhat by the fact that there is often a telltale geochemical plume surrounding the high-grade gold deposits. Much of the gold may have been deposited at depth, but traces of the metal remained in the fluids as they found their way toward surface. Of course, in a particular case, it is possible that little or none of the gold was dropped at depth and the surface deposit represents the total gold content of the system. The exploration approach to find large, high-grade deposits at depth is to first locate areas where the lower plate is within reach of surface. Then, using geology, geochemistry and geophysics, target areas are identified that have suitable structure, rock units and hints of the presence of gold or other elements associated with a gold deposit. The final step is to bring in a drill rig and hope that all of the hard work will result in a new discovery. Investors should recognize that deposits will not be found with a single drill hole, but through a process of obtaining information and refining the target for on-going drilling Heap Leaching, Vat Leaching, Gravity And Autoclaves: A Primer On Gold Recovery Techniques There are several ways to recover gold from ore, with the most effective method depending on the nature of the particular deposit. Vat Leaching With conventional vat leaching technology, the ore is crushed and then ground to the size of flour. A slurry of the finely ground ore is mixed with a cyanide solution in a series of large tanks. Over a period of one to several days, the gold is dissolved by the cyanide. Once the gold-bearing solution is separated from the ore, the gold is precipitated from solution. Precipitation of the gold is done either by adding zinc to the solution or by passing the solution through specially prepared carbon. The precipitate is then fired in a furnace and cast into bars of impure gold, or "dore". The final step is to deliver the dore bars to a refinery to produce high purity gold bars. Heap Leaching Heap leaching is a more cost effective way to bring the cyanide solution into contact with the gold, but the process is only applicable to certain ore types. In essence, ore is trucked from an open pit mine and simply dumped onto a big plastic sheet. That sheet ranges in size from a football field to several football fields. The first step is to prepare the pad site by leveling the ground, sloping it toward a collection pond. A plastic liner is laid on top of a clay layer. Next, a layer of crushed ore is laid down to protect the liner. Then, ore is simply heaped onto the leach pad, either with trucks or conveyors. Once the pad has built up to some depth, say 10 meters, a sprinkler system is installed on top of the leach pad. A weak cyanide solution is then sprinkled over the leach pad. As the solution percolates through the heap, it dissolves the gold. The gold-bearing solution then travels along the liner to the collection pond. Two ponds are located at the downslope end of the pad. Barren solution, returned from the recovery plant, is stored in the barren solution pond before being pumped onto the pad. The gold-bearing solution collects in the pregnant solution pond. The pregnant solution is pumped into the recovery facility where the gold is precipitated. The precipitation technique is similar to that used in vat leaching. Heap leaching can bring the cost of mining and processing gold ore down to a few dollars a ton, thereby turning even low-grade deposits into profitable mines. However, the process only works with certain ore types, typically the oxidized upper portions of deposits. Oxidation, or weathering, breaks down the sulphide minerals that sometimes encapsulate gold particles. (Fine grinding can also liberate gold from sulphide minerals in some deposits.) The weathering process also dissolves out other minerals and thereby creates permeability in the rock, providing channels for the leach fluids to percolate through the rock. Heap leaching is particularly useful for Carlin-type gold deposits, where the very fine particles are readily soluble. Frequently, oxidized gold deposits have a high clay content. Clay can compact in the heap, creating barriers to the flow of the leach fluids. Where there is a high clay content, the ore is crushed to, say, less than an inch, and then agglomerated. That is, the coarsely crushed ore is mixed with cement powder to form nodules that will maintain a competent heap. Depending on the permeability of the rock, the ore can be heaped directly from the mine ("run of mine"), or crushed to a size that provides the optimal balance of recoveries versus cost. The leach cycle typically takes a few weeks. During that time, ore from the mine is heaped onto a second pad. Once the leach cycle is complete, a second lift is added to the pad, and the leaching cycle is repeated. Heap leaching is very cost effective, but recoveries are typically measured in the range of 70% to 85%. Vat leaching can achieve recoveries in the mid or upper 90s. Consequently, deposits containing a couple of grams or more are typically treated by vat leaching in order to achieve higher recoveries. Gravity Separation In the case of deposits where the gold occurs as particles that can be liberated by crushing and grinding, gravity separation is used. Sophisticated table or cyclone systems can achieve high recoveries of the free gold particles. Even where vat leaching will be employed, the gravity process is often used to recover some of the gold and thereby reduce the amount of cyanide consumption. Frequently, the ore passes from a gravity separation unit into a cyanide circuit to recover the particles that remain locked up within rock particles and/or are too small to respond to gravity separation. Refractory Ores -- Roasting, Autoclaves and Bioleaching Gold is commonly deposited in association with sulphide minerals, such as pyrite (iron sulphide), arsenopyrite (iron-arsenic sulphide), or various sulphides of copper, zinc or other metals. If the gold particles are located on the periphery of the sulphide minerals, they can be recovered by cyanide leaching. Sometimes, however, the gold particles are locked up within the sulphides in a way that they cannot be liberated by grinding. In that case, the sulphide minerals must be broken down chemically to expose the gold particles. A common way to break down sulphides is by roasting. A sulphide concentrate is typically recovered from the ore by standard floatation. The concentrate is then heated in the presence of air, which oxidizes the sulphide minerals. In some cases, the sulphides must be treated with added oxygen under pressure, which is done in a vessel known as an autoclave. Roasters and autoclaves add considerable capital and operating cost to a mining project and are justified when the grade measures in multi-grams. A less costly means of breaking down sulphide minerals uses bacteria. The process, known as bioleaching, bio-oxidation or bacterial oxidation, employs specific types of bacteria that break down the sulphide minerals. Proprietary regimens of carefully controlled acidity levels and nutrients create environments in which the bacteria thrive and oxidize the sulphide minerals. Bioleaching is employed in either vats or heaps. Once the sulphide minerals have been broken down, the gold can be recovered with standard cyanide leaching. In some of the Nevada mines, up to four different recovery techniques are used in the same operation to treat different ore types. Many of the gold deposits are found in close proximity to the boundary between "upper plate" and "lower plate" rocks, consequently finding areas where the lower plate is near surface is an important exploration variable. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO RESOURCE OPPORTUNITIES ***** Cortez Trend Map CLICK TO ENLARGE