RE:NewsLast Financing: July 2017, bought Deal private placement for total proceeds of C$10 million, at C$0,81 per Share!!! I actually added some yesterday at C$0,50. One set of good drill results will see this back in the 0,95 range.
This is an article (May 2017) from Gwen Preston:
Cordoba announced results from 22 holes into the northern half of the Alacran deposit. The results were good: intercepts were generally longer and higher grade than the deposit average and included several short high-grade hits. Not included, however, was an interval like the mega high-grade hit Cordoba announced in late January (0.9 metres of 4,440 g/t gold 10.25% copper, 24.7% zinc, and 347 g/t silver). Unfortunately that’s what the market wanted to see. As a result CDB shares slid 15% in two days. The slide put the price within 15% of our entry point ($0.80). For those not in the stock, I see this as a good opportunity.
The crazy hit announced in January came from a vein within the larger skarn deposit. Cordoba only just started understanding these veins in the last drill program (late 2016), which means the current drill program is the first attempt to track or define this new kind of mineralization. The theory is that the veins resulted from the final mineralizing event at Alacran. They cut through established skarn mineralization, which is what makes up the current Alacran resource of 53.5 million inferred tonnes grading 0.7% copper and 0.37 g/t gold. The skarn resource is growing. As much as investors wanted to see a few super high grade hits, what really matters are intercepts like 184 metres of 0.46% copper and 0.28 g/t gold, 128 metres of 0.8% copper and 0.24 g/t gold, and 28 metres of 1.55% copper and 0.58 g/t gold. Those are skarn intercepts but specifically they are long, well-mineralized skarn intercepts that set Alacran up for good resource growth in the next estimate.
It’s also important that drills are finding copper and gold in multiple rock types. Until recently it was assumed that only the limestones, siltstones, and mudstones carried grade, but as the cross section below shows it’s now apparent that the underlying volcanics and even the overlying tuff can also grade. 3 The cross section is also a reminder of the structure and complexity of this deposit. In general, Alacran is a north-south striking body that dips steeply to the west. That is true, but within that body are multiple rock types and contacts. As for the veins, the team still doesn’t understand well how to track them. The latest drilling did reveal an association between the veins and a diorite dyke the strikes right along the deposit but dips more steeply than the rest of the stratigraphy. The other structural feature that seems to rouse higher grades is a north-northeast-striking fault corridor. Intercepts along this fault corridor so far suggest a set of stacked veins. The dyke is the dark purple sliver and the fault the dashed blue line on this level plan, which actually shows rock types 75 metres below surface and incorporates a slight plunge to the south.
At the moment most of the best gold intercepts, whether from veins or stronger skarn mineralization, happen near the dyke or fault. 2 metres of 9.82 g/t gold and 1.57% copper 2 metres of 11.15 g/t gold and 1.3% copper 2 metres of 7.36 g/t gold and 1.56% copper 2 metres of 3.4 g/t gold and 8.89% copper “I know the market wanted more of those high high grades and we will find more, but we have to figure out where these veins are coming from,” said Mario Stifano, Cordoba president and CEO, in a call this afternoon. “They seem to be associated with this dyke, so we’re going to follow it down. We need to understand where all this mineralization is coming from.” Down is good for another reason.
Cordoba and partner HPX believe the veins are a particular type, called Carbonate Base Metal (CBM) veining, because they carry a particular mineralogy 4 (chalcopyrite, sphalerite, carbonates, and coarse gold). The distinctive presence of zinc in particular (sphalerite) in these veins is proving consistent as drilling continues. CBM systems are known for two key characteristics: high grades and deep extent. Unlike many vein systems that pinch out a few hundred metres down, CBM veins often carry on for hundreds and hundreds of metres. So drilling at depth will be useful both for understanding structural controls on veining and to assess whether this CBM system offers that kind of rich depth extent. Cordoba has not done much deep work yet because the focus was on understanding the system and proving up a good open pit resource. They were also constrained in their deep drilling because many of the best spots are within the small town and locals have only recently granted permission for Cordoba to drill deep holes (the difference being that long holes take a long time, which means days of noise). It’s now time for some depth work, especially since Cordoba and HPX also recently completed mag and IP work that highlights good depth potential. The locals are clearly getting comfortable having Cordoba around, as they also just granted another permission: to sample the underground workings.
Remember, the town of El Alacran is a mining town. Almost every man is a miner; instead of a town square El Alacran has a tailings pond. The town rings constantly with the hum of small ball mills that grind ore into sand, which is spread on walled tables and its gold leached with cyanide. Houses (on the left), an adit (the grey area in the middle), and process facilities (on the right) in the town of El Alacran 5 Adits disappear into the hillsides everywhere around El Alacran, driving right into the Alacran deposit. Cordoba has not had access to these extensive workings – until now. In short order a team will explore and map the workings, which should provide very useful information. So. Cordoba’s results were good. There should be another batch in six to eight weeks – there is one rig turning, each hole takes a few days, and the Cordoba-HPX style is to release at least a dozen holes at a time. It’s tough to know what CDB’s price will do between now and then. I think the market ‘overreacted’ to this set of holes not offering another doozy one-metre hit, but I also understand the Alacran deposit better than most and with that background see this set of results expanding the overall deposit and boosting its grade, while helping the team figure out how to home in on more high grade. The deep holes will help, as will the underground mapping, though both will take a bit of time. In the meantime Cordoba will push holes through the dyke contact and the fault zone, hopefully capturing high-grade hits while expanding the overall deposit. Given the summer doldrums, CDB may yet get a bit cheaper, especially since the next set of results are two months out. As such I don’t think there’s a rush to buy the stock but I do think this asset will deliver another doozy or two down the road, while establishing a solid skarn deposit.