BUILDING A MID TIER MINING COMPANY
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 second quarter of 2009 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) is located 15 kilometers (8 miles) south of Kinross Gold's Refugio mine (+6 million ounce gold resource), and 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the very large Cerro Casale gold-copper deposit (24 million ounce gold resource), jointly owned by Kinross-Barrick Gold. Exeter’s Caspiche discovery is classified as a "gold-copper porphyry", a type of deposit common to many of the world’s largest open pit gold-copper mining operations.
From December 2007 to May 2008, Exeter drilled a series of diamond and reverse circulation drill holes to better define the May 2007 discovery of gold-copper mineralization on the property. The results of that program were announced on June 23, 2008.
Based on the new drill hole information, supplemented by recent geophysical data, it is apparent that the target deposit has a minimum surface footprint of some 600 metres by 500 metres. The deepest drill hole intersected mineralisation down to +800 metres, indicating the mineralised volume is very substantial by industry standards. The average grade of the deposit has yet to be determined but a number of the drill holes are ore grade, relative to the nearby Refugio and Cerro Casale deposits.
Three rigs are scheduled to drill 46,000 metres (150,000 ft.) beginning October 2008, part of a major program to establish NI 43-101 resources for both the oxide zone and the underlying gold-copper target. The on-going objective is to develop a major new open pit gold-copper mine on the property.
For further information on the Caspiche project click here.
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.