Cornucopia project portfolio features gold targets in Nevada

The winter months were not idle ones for Cornucopia Resources (TSE), which made substantial progress on several of its principal projects.

Chief among these is the wholly owned Mineral Ridge, formerly known as Silver Peak. Situated in southwestern Nevada, the property comprises the Mary and Drinkwater zones which, between 1858 and 1942, produced 540,000 oz. gold. More recently (1990-1992), open-pit mining on the Drinkwater yielded 60,000 oz. This production phase was carried out by Homestead Minerals and Zephyr Mining.

The geologic resource of Drinkwater is now estimated at 7.5 million tons grading 0.054 oz. gold per ton. Estimates for the Mary zone will be incorporated into a prefeasibility study which is nearing completion. Gold mineralization occurs within a series of stacked, shallowly dipping shear structures hosted by metasedimentary rocks. The gold, which is fine-grained, occurs freely and as electrum with trace amounts of sulphides. Metallurgical testing, environmental studies and permitting are under way, and the company is confident a feasibility study will be ready by autumn. The capital cost of bringing the project to production is estimated at US$15 million, while the operating cost is expected to be less than US$250 per oz. Exploration will continue in 1995 on areas outside the two zones. Cornucopia also holds a quarter interest in the Ivanhoe property, in the northern end of Nevada’s Carlin trend. Newmont Gold (NYSE), the operator, holds the remainder, which it acquired in 1992 for US$20.1 million. Dominating the property is the Hollister open-pit gold mine, which was operated by partners Cornucopia and Galactic Resources from late 1990 to mid-1992. Heap-leaching yielded 112,000 oz. from 3.3 million tons of oxide ore grading 0.038 oz. The material was mined from the USX East and West zones. A preliminary pit design encompasses the Clemintine, Velvet and Butte zones, which host a combined geological resource of 9.1 million tons grading 0.035 oz. Situated adjacent to the Hollister, this deposit features a total resource estimated at 42 million tons grading 0.031 oz. for both oxide and sulphide.

Last fall, diamond drilling on the western margin of the Clemintine attempted to offset an earlier reverse-circulation hole which encountered 15 ft. of quartz-vein fault breccia grading 1.5 oz. from 745 to 760 ft. The follow-up hole returned 2.4 ft. of 37.4 oz. from 744.3 to 746.7 ft., before being aborted in the zone as a result of stuck rods. The zone is believed to be a feeder structure in relation to the overlying deposit, and further drill testing is planned.

Farther afield, in Ghana, West Africa, Cornucopia’s interest in several projects was transferred to Carlin Resources (VSE), of whose outstanding shares it owns 63%. Reverse-circulation drilling on the 124-sq.-km Chichiwere concession is testing two gold geochemical anomalies. Trenching on the property returned values ranging from 0.22 to 2 oz. for a series of quartz veins varying in width from 1 to 1.6 ft.

Preliminary exploration is also planned for the Akwatia diamond concession, which adjoins ground held by Ghana Consolidated Diamonds and DeBeers. A second diamond concession, Volta, will undergo trenching and a geophysical survey.

An option agreement concerning the purchase of Carlin’s Ochwereso alluvial diamond concession by PBX Resources (VSE) has been cancelled, as PBX was unable to proceed with the acquisition.

Based in Vancouver, B.C., Cornucopia has about US$6 million in cash and 25.8 million shares outstanding.