Exploration JV – Stage 1 – Conclusions Despite the fact that the Salta (Cascadero 50% subsidiary) and Corriente Argentina (Lumina wholly-owned subsidiary) commonly “formulated” their JV’d exploration program in a series of meetings back in June and July in 2012, CCD Management was apparently still unaware about the exact number (and consequently locations) of the reverse circulation drill holes up to January 2013.
A comparison between the information initially provided by CCD in December 2012 / January 2013 (see Map “Francisco II – Claim Border”) and the effective drill locations, could be summarized as follows:
| Claim | Objective | CCD revealed Locations December ’12 – January ’13 | Effective Locations Feb 07, 2013 |
| Francisco II | 4 Drills to Test the continuation of Lumina’s existing deposit mineralization | West of Lumina's existing grid Estimated area – Up to 300 meters step out West of RC 19 and up to 450 meters North Within the LCC 0.30% CuEp Resource boundary or within / bordering the LCC “Extent of Resource Pit – November 2012” | 2 Drills FR-12-06 – 150 meters step out West of RC-12-19 FR-12-07 – 150 metres North of FR-12-06 |
| 3 Reconnaissance Drill holes to test the contact relationship with the volcanic sediments and the underlying granite host rock | West of Lumina's existing grid (RC 19) Near the limit of the Graben (a down dropped block of rock bordered by parallel faults) covering the major part of Francisco I & II | FR-12-08, FR-12-09 and FR-12-10 are step outs to the west and north of FR-12-06 No precise indication provided… |
| Francisco I | The 4 drill targets are a combination of gravity and magnetic anomalies and areas of surface rock grab samples that assayed copper and gold values | 5 Drills FR-12-01 to FR-12-05 Only partial information provided about the location of FR-12-04 (North-West) |
This Exploration Program has been initiated to cover “legally required work in order to keep the concessions in good standing”;
Both concessions are equally shared between Salta / Cascadero (50% acquired by in Q4-2010 / Q1-2011) and Corriente Argentina / Lumina (50% acquired since 2012).
Note that the term “exploration” was mainly applicable to Francisco I, since the objective on Francisco II was clearly to assess a possible western extension of the existing LCC deposit.
Francisco II – Extension of existing deposit – Barely confirmed
As far as Francisco II Drill Results are concerned:
- FR-12-06 and FR-12-07 were drilled as initially located by CCD and therefore within the LCC 0.30% Cu-Eq “Resource boundary”. But their mineralization was below expectations… A higher percentage of mineralization (for instance, up to 0.60% Cu-Eq) should have undeniably proven a possible “western deposit continuation”, far beyond the Francisco II claim border.
- This “far beyond” testing was initially mentioned by CDD, with two drills that have (disappointedly) not been executed.
- The 3 initially named “Reconnaissance Drill holes” (but their exact location has not been indicated) “returned anomalous levels of Cu, Mo and Au from surface to total depth”. This sentence does not provide any indication (the drills mineralization has not been communicated) but tends to point towards a mineralization below the 0.30% Cu-Eq threshold (otherwise, the press release should have trumpeted their mineralization).
Based on the information provided (and pending further drillings, if any), we may (temporarily) conclude that the 0.30% Cu-Eq Resource boundary of the existing deposit was accurately defined by Lumina within the latest NI 43-101 Technical Report (effective date: October 2012, released date: January 2013).
Francisco I – Another deposit? – Reloaded
The Exploration Program on Francisco I, having a surface of 1,313 Ha, consisted in 5 drills to test a marginal portion of the claim. From those 5 drills (their location has not been indicated):
- 3 “returned low values of copper, gold and moly” (probably below the economical level) and should be considered as unsuccessful…
- FR-12-05 encountered gold and copper mineralization on two anomalous intervals, having a cumulated 14 meters length out of an estimated total drill length of around 250 meters… Interesting but not economically viable!
- FR-12-04, “in the north western part of Francisco I”, encountered 5 intervals of copper and gold mineralization (for a cumulated length of 14 meters) to a depth of 216 meters
It should be mentioned that FR-12-04 is located near the “Gold Pit Zone” (see map below); consequently, the gold mineralization should not be considered as a “revelation”. Additionally, this area has already been the subject of a CCD former geochemical program with backhoe (June 2012) concluding that this area has a “high-priority”.
From those unimpressive results, Cascadero interestingly concludes that (emphasis added):
“The higher gold content in drill holes on Francisco I may indicate a different style of mineralization, possibly an IOCG system, that could extend onto Salta's 100% owned La Sarita I and La Sarita II properties that adjoin Francisco I and II to the west”
The search for an Iron oxide copper gold ore deposit (IOCG), in the Taca Taca area, has been a CCD constant preoccupation in recent years and the possibility of an IOCG deposit has been mentioned in numerous occasions (refer for instance to the press release “LA SARITA IOCG PORPHYRY”, released on Mar 03, 2010)
But, despite those CCD anticipative conclusions (IOCG existence, extent, mineralization and economic viability still have to be proven) about Francisco I, La Sarita I and La Sarita II (located about 10 Km south west of Francisco I), it could not be ignored that IOCG deposits form within “provinces”… and that the extended Taca Taca area could be one of them…
This element is also significant for Lumina, since additional mineral concessions have been recently acquired in the region (Acquisition of Additional Mineral Concessions – Part II)…
The following map illustrates the area covering the recently acquired concessions (in green – including Francisco I & II) but limited to the nearby proximity of LCC existing deposit (marked in yellow / blue), as compared with Cascadero’s existing claims (in red).
Should CCD statement be accurate in relation with the IOCG existence on La Sarita II, Lumina would become an unavoidable partner, since it owns the exploration rights on Mina La Sarita (Claim 1434/1942 – 167.99 Ha), located inside the CCD owned La Sarita II (and occupying around 10% of its surface).
In other words, if further exploration is to be initiated on La Sarita II, an additional collaboration between CCD and LCC will be on the agenda…
Lumina Infrastructure and Mining operations
LCC Inferred copper resource already integrates a marginal part of Francisco II (but this part is not included in the “Resource Pit”) and any suitor should be logically interested to take advantage of this additional (limited) area.
Part of the debate is also related to the space necessary for the future mining infrastructure. In this regard, the “Taca Taca – Property Map” (above) highlights that some of the concessions situated north of the existing deposit are now the property of LCC and that access to the nearest railway station could be done through LCC concessions. On those additional properties, LCC mining infrastructure could be installed.
Additionally, since only the north western part of Francisco I indicate mineralization, the remaining of this claim should now be fit for the same purpose (even if distant from the existing deposit).
Francisco II still offers the most advantageous location but this became a secondary issue since there is no extension of the mineralization of the existing deposit, LCC already owns 50% of this concession, CCD barely has the financial resources (about $2 Mio in cash) to finance further drilling on their own concessions and CCD priority moved to La Sarita I & II…
Patiently waiting for the PEA to know the outcome of this topic…