Overseas Platinum acquires interest in GUYANA gold bet

Overseas Platinum recently acquired the right to earn a 76% interest in a large gold property in the Republic of Guyana. The 354-acre mining lease covers the Hick’s vein, which was explored by Cominco in the early 1970s, and a contiguous 9-square- mile exclusive permit that includes the old Eldorado and Kaburi mines.

Extensive geochemical work on the Hick’s lease by Cominco at the time demonstrated continuity to the gold mineralization over 1,200 ft of strike length. Detailed sampling in one area outlined 250,000 tons of reserves grading 0.17 oz gold, says Overseas Platinum. The gold mineralization occurs in a band of metasediments which have been traced over a distance of six miles.

Cominco put down two diamond drill holes into bedrock, one of which returned 7 ft of 0.18 oz gold and the other (about 800 ft to the north) 10 ft of 0.85 oz gold. Overseas Platinum has signed a letter of intent for the properties which will involve total payments of $170,000(US) over a 3-year period. If the property is not placed into production over that time at a rate of at least 150 tons per day, $370,000(US) will have to be paid out over a 5-year period.

A $350,000 work program has been recommended for the combined mining lease and the exclusive permit. Work on the mining lease will include detailed rotary drilling, some trenching, and detailed metallurgical and engineering studies if applicable. The company’s near term objective is to demonstrate a near-surface reserve of saprolite (clay-rich decomposed rock) totalling one million tons grading 0.17 oz gold.

The company has also been actively searching for high quality platinum properties. It recently acquired about 2,000 acres of ground 50 miles north of Duluth, Minn. Mineralization in the area includes low grade copper-nickel with which platinum group metals are often associated. The company also has plans to explore for platinum group metals in Brazil and Italy.