Pursuit signs agreements in Asia

Agreements with landholders in the Philippines and Indonesia have set the stage for International Pursuit (TSE) to expand its mineral holdings in those countries.

In the Philippines, Pursuit and Vulcan Industrial & Mining (a Philippine producer of industrial minerals) have inked a deal that will see Pursuit’s Philippine unit spend US$5 million on exploration. These funds will be spent on two properties adjacent to Pursuit’s Hinoba-an property on Negros Island, and a property on Luzon, the country’s main island in the north.

Under a 4-year agreement, Pursuit will earn a 60% working interest in the properties. The Luz property, northwest of Pursuit’s current land package, has a drill-indicated resource of 40 million tonnes grading 0.35% copper. The Manlupo property, adjoining Hinoba-an’s southeastern corner, has a target zone defined by induced polarization and geochemical surveys measuring 1,500 by 600 metres. The Tagkawayan property on Luzon is in an early stage of superficial gold exploration.

Pursuit and Australian explorer Technology Resource have concluded an agreement to establish a joint company in Indonesia to explore the Mandor property in western Kalimantan (formerly Borneo).

The 150-sq.-km property, which is covered by a work contract with the Indonesian government, hosts copper-gold mineralization in a porphyry system.

High copper values from chip sampling, grading up to 19.2% in one sample, suggest that a supergene-enriched zone may exist at Mandor and that solvent extraction-electrowinning may be an option for treating this mineralization.

Both agreements allow a period before closing for Pursuit to complete due-diligence investigations on the properties.

Pursuit has also reported results from Hinoba-an, where a total of 5,884 metres of drilling are nearing completion. About three-quarters of the drilling was performed on extensions of the Don Jose deposit, where reserves are listed at 100 million tonnes proven and probable, grading 0.45% copper. The widely spaced drilling does not permit an accurate resource estimate for these extensions, but mineralization appears to continue across Pursuit’s property, extending onto the properties to the southeast. In all, Pursuit sees a 12-km strike length of favorable geology.

The company has also been assaying samples for their molybdenum, gold and silver values. In previous drilling, the operators had assayed only for copper. Should the deposit go to production, byproduct molybdenum credits might brighten the economic picture. Of the limited analytical work performed to date, the average molybdenum grade is around 0.015% molybdenum sulphide.