Discovery to Mine Development in Argentina & Chile
Exeter Resource Corporation is one of the most active publicly traded mining companies operating in South America. Our business is the discovery, evaluation and subsequent mining of gold-silver deposits, principally in Argentina and Chile.
The Cerro Moro Gold-Silver Project (100% owned by Exeter) in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina is generating high grade to 'bonanza grade' drilling results from an extensive epithermal vein system, located 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of the Cerro Vanguardia gold mine. Drilling will continue through 2008 using as a minimum three drill rigs. Exeter's first high grade discovery on the property was the Escondida vein, followed by the Loma Escondida vein, and later the Escondida vein extensions. Over 20 targets are prioritized for drill testing. Independently calculated resource calculations will begin in the 2 nd quarter 2008 and continue through the year as potential ore zones are drilled off. Given the discoveries to date, Exeter is optimistic that Cerro Moro could develop into a very low cost open pit gold-silver mine.
The Caspiche Project (Option to own 100% from Anglo American Chile Limitada) in the productive Maricunga gold district in Chile, is a "gold porphyry system", a deposit type recognized as having potential for world class mines. In 2007, just before the onset of the Chilean winter, Exeter announced a 304 metre (1000 feet) drill hole intersection with a gold grade of 0.9 g/t (0.026 oz. gold per ton). The significance of this drill hole is twofold: firstly it confirms the target to be a gold porphyry system, and secondly the discovery is very strategically located. Caspiche is situated 11 kilometers (7 miles) south of Kinross' Refugio mine (+6 million ounces gold resource), and 15 kilometers (10 miles) north of the huge Cerro Casale gold porphyry (24 million ounce gold resource), owned by Kinross-Barrick Gold. Two diamond rigs are currently drilling at Caspiche, and gold results from the upper 200 metre oxidized (high sulphidation) protion od CSD014 (Exeter’s second drillhole) are expected latter half of February. The hole was terminated at 744 metres encountering potential gold-copper mineralised porphyry below the oxide zone. Gold and copper results should be available in March, and photos of drillcore may be viewed (Click here). Drillholes CSD15 and CSD16 are progressing as of mid-February.
The Don Sixto (Exeter option to own 100%) epithermal gold-silver deposit is situated in Mendoza Province, Argentina. Following detailed drilling through 2005 - 2006, the Company announced an independent estimate of gold resources at Don Sixto. At a 0.5 g/t gold cut-off grade the "measured and indicated resource" is 925,000 ounces of gold (20.48 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.40 g/t gold) and the "inferred resource" is 334,000 ounces of gold (9.29 million tonnes at a grade of 1.12 g/t gold). At a higher, 1.0 g/t gold cut-off grade, the "measured and indicated resource" is 9.34 million tonnes at a grade of 2.23 g/t gold, for 670,000 ounces, and the "inferred resource" is 3.14 million tonnes at 1.98 g/t gold, for 200,000 ounces.
In June 2007 the Mendoza government passed legislation that severely restricts mining in Mendoza. Exeter immediately suspended exploration on the Don Sixto property and filed an action in the Supreme Court to declare the legislation unconstitutional. The Company will work with all levels of government, industry, unions and other interested parties to demonstrate that the project, if economically viable, could be developed responsibly and on a sustainable basis. Internal scoping studies will resume should the new provincial government elected in October 2007, follow through on statements in support of amended legislation.
Exeter is drilling other gold-silver targets in prospective regions of Patagonian Argentina and Chile. The Company gained a broad foothold in the region through separate strategic alliances with Cerro Vanguardia S.A. (an AngloGold Ashanti subsidiary), and Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Chile.
Exeter is well positioned for success. Our projects are proving to be uniquely valuable, and our strategic agreements with major companies provide a "pipeline" of growth opportunities.