Yamana Gold Inc. T.YRI

Nice BC gold news on DJNews

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By Brian Truscott Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES VANCOUVER (Dow Jones)--Consolidated Spire Ventures Ltd. (CZS.V) is on the verge of releasing an NI43-101 compliant assessment for its flagship Prospect Valley property near Merritt, B.C. What makes this event rather unusual is the kind of geology this Canadian gold and silver exploration junior is sitting on: a low-sulphidization stockwork system that could one day lend itself to a high-tonnage, low-cost, open-pit, low-grade gold operation devoid of the normal contaminants often found in B.C. mines, such as lead, zinc and copper. The company has been working its 100%-owned property - in the relatively new Spence's Bridge gold belt - since 2003 and believes it's sitting on a system that so far is 90 meters deep, 2 kilometers long and 170-200 meters wide. Grades are averaging around a gram per metric ton but there have been some assays showing 12-15 grams. And that's just the one-third of the property explored and drilled to date. Here's the problem: This kind of low-sulphide stockwork system isn't normally seen in B.C., and for a few years now, there's been a certain amount of skepticism surrounding the findings of the project. The B.C. Securities Commission and B.C. Geological Survey have both looked in the past at the kind of information being released by Consolidated Spire. But as more and more data are released, skepticism is turning to cautious optimism that this is a large find that will one day be cheap to mine. "Prospect Valley has had a tough time being recognized because what we are is something you don't see in B.C.; if we'd been in Nevada, we'd be on people's radar by now," said President and Chief Executive Brian Buchanan. He said part of the problem is that, in the past, land surveys of the area used a broad-brush approach to the volcanics of the area and missed some of the more unusual geological characteristics. "But this is a totally new camp and we just don't (often) see low-sulphide systems in British Columbia," he said. "People are now looking at this and saying this is a huge system, one which we have gone in and explored and drilled over the last couple of years." On the 2-kilometer center section of the claim - called the North and South Discovery targets - Consolidated Spire has proven its geological model - one that's now been vetted by the B.C. Securities Commission, he said. Majors Are Now Taking An Interest "We now have the geological potential of up to 3.7 million ounces of gold," he said. And, again, that's just on one-third of the claim. "We haven't drilled the upper areas yet," he said. Nevertheless, the model has started to attract attention, which was underscored by the company's attendance at the recent Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual conference in Toronto. "We were at the PDAC in March and that's when we really got recognized; we had all of the majors - can't mention their names - at our booth and we signed confidentiality agreements with a number of them,' Buchanan said. "They're now going through our material and looking at us; a couple of them came up and tapped the board at our booth and said, 'This is what we're looking for.' " Why? Buchanan said that, once you get into a stockwork system like this, it can keep growing - that's what happened down in Peru, to put that country's mining status on the map. "These low-sulphidization, high-tonnage, low-grade systems (are attractive) because when you're looking for gold and want to be able to process it as cheaply as possible, this is probably the cheapest method out there because there are no contaminants," he said. "The gold is tied up in basalts (fine-grained gray and black volcanic rock) and it's very clean and crushable." All of this suggests the "Next Big Thing" for the company is this summary for last year's drilling program, which is being folded into the upcoming NI43-101 assessment - to be released possibly within 10 days, he said. "This becomes the bible that people can rely on," he said. This will lead into the three-stage drilling and exploration and development program set for 2008. The company wants to put a road along the length of its property for better access, which will ultimately spark a 120-plus hole drilling program through 2008 and into 2009. Bottom line? Buchanan said Consolidated Spire is at the stage where it can start looking for a viable joint-venture partner - a larger company with operational experience that can come in to the project on an earn-in basis. "It's all looking exciting and every time we turn a page we keep on moving ahead. Yes, there have been some rough times in recent years as people had trouble understanding what we were about, but we're pouring all of our energies at the moment into Prospect Valley," he said. The company is also sitting on a number of viable-looking Mexico-based properties which, for the moment, are taking a backseat to this flagship project north of the 49th parallel. Company Web Site: https://www.spireventures.com -Brian Truscott, Dow Jones Newswires; ; [e-mail] TALK BACK: We invite readers to send us comments on this or other financial news topics. Please email us at [e-mail]. Readers should include their full names, work or home addresses and telephone numbers for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit and publish your comments along with your name; we reserve the right not to publish reader comments. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 04-09-08 1200ET Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.