IMA gains ground in Patagonia

Vancouver — IMA Explorations (IMR-V) has acquired the first two of several gold-silver properties in Chubut province, south-central Argentina.

Dubbed Las Bayas and Laguna de Los Toros, the properties are 150 km south of London-based Brancote Holdings’ newly discovered Esquel deposit.

Mapping and sampling led to the discovery of the 34.5-sq.-km Las Bayas prospect. Grab samples assayed as high as 25.8 grams gold and 32.7 grams silver per tonne.

Sampling at the 42-sq.-km Laguna de Los Toros property yielded assays as high as 7.6 grams gold and 452 grams silver from a series of subparallel, steeply dipping veins that have been traced for more than 1 km in strike length.

Owing to trace element signatures and the style of mineralization, both properties are considered low-sulphidation epithermal precious metal targets. Early next year, IMA will delineate drill targets.

Meanwhile, at IMA’s Mogote property in San Juan province, Rio Tinto (RTP-N) is preparing to launch a second phase of exploration aimed at delineating drill targets. The Mogote property is at the southern end of the Maricunga gold-copper belt, along the border with Chile, 70 km north of Barrick-Homestake’s Pascua-Lama-Veladero gold-silver deposits.

Rio Tinto can earn up to a 70% interest in Mogote by spending US$8.8 million on exploration.

At the 287-sq.-km Valle del Cura property, any exploration plans will be determined by results from work carried out at the neighbouring Pascua-Lama-Veladero deposits of Barrick-Homestake. Barrick Gold (ABX-T) holds an option to earn a half-stake in either the Rio de Las Taguas or Potrerillos properties in return for spending US$3 million on exploration and paying US$250,000 in cash over five years. Barrick can earn an additional 25% interest by covering IMA’s financing costs to bring the project to production.

In northwestern Peru, at its Rio Tabaconas property in the Cajamarca gold-copper belt, IMA plans to kick off a follow-up exploration program in January. The work will centre on the Tablon and Cerro Las Minas targets, where crews will carry out ground geophysical surveys, mapping, prospecting and soil sampling in an attempt to identify drill targets. Gold mineralization appears to be controlled by a steeply dipping fault structure that has been traced for a distance of 2 km in a northeast-southwest direction.

IMA has 23.5 million shares fully diluted and recently raised $1 million by way of a private placement.