Lower Puruni Regional Block
Introduction
In the Lower Puruni regional block, 207 medium scale prospecting permits and six medium scale mining permits totaling 355.5 sq mi are held by the Company. This total includes the Million Mountain block of prospecting permits totalling 34 sq mi. The six mining permits have had recent significant alluvial gold production. The Company's land position in the Lower Puruni Region is described in the table below:
| Category | Number of Permits | Total Sq Mi |
|---|---|---|
| Medium Scale Prospectus Permit | 207 | 345.6 |
| Medium Scale Mining Permits | 6 | 9.9 |
Location and Access
Access to these properties is among the best in the country, with an all weather dirt road to the Puruni River which crosscuts the area. The trip from Georgetown to the Lower Puruni block takes approximately nine hours by 4x4 pick-up truck. Branch roads accessible by ATVs and 4x4 trucks lead to the different gold producing areas within these properties (See Figure 2).
Access for heavy exploration and mining equipment is by tug and barge from the coastal port of Georgetown up the Essequibo River to the river port village of Itibali. From Itibali to the project site, theaforementioned all weather dirt road is suitable for movement of heavy equipment in any season.
Historic and Present Gold Mining Activities
The Lower Puruni region has been a significant gold producer since the early 1900's. Production hascome mostly from alluvial gold operations utilizing crude river dredges and artisanal hydraulic mining methods, though two primary gold deposits are presently known within the Lower Puruni regional block. One is the Company's Million Mountain deposit, which is discussed above in more detail, and the other is the adjacent, historic Peters Mine Deposit (held by Guyana Goldfields Inc.).
There are currently more than twenty alluvial gold mining operations in the Lower Puruni area, utilizing hydraulic and excavator mining and crude gravity recovery, generally with field-built sluices. Collectively, production from the area sold to the Guyana Gold Board exceeds 30,000 ounces per year. (Guyana Gold Board public records)
Among the historic and present alluvial gold producing sub-areas within the Lower Puruni regional block are: Takutu River, Mara-Mara River, Mara-Mara tributaries, Last Chance Creek, Old Granny Creek, Jubilee Creek, Chinese Creek, Tiger Creek and Rock Creek, and small tributaries.
Primary Gold Potential
The primary gold sources for many of the placer areas are not presently known. However prospecting in the vicinity of many of the placer operations reveals coarse dendritic particles of gold with no evidence of significant transport. Substantial historic and current placer production from the Lower Puruni Regional block, and the apparent negligible transport distance for placer gold suggests the Lower Puruni area is prospective for discovery of additional primary gold deposits.
The two confirmed primary gold deposits within the Lower Puruni regional block are the historic Peters Mine (held by Guyana Goldfields Inc.) and the Company's Million Mountain deposit. At Peters Mine, Guyana Goldfields has reported steeply dipping quartz veins with core drill intercepts of > 10g/t gold. These localized bonanza grades, are associated with mineralized hydrothermal alteration in metasediments of Lower Pre-Cambrian age. Exploration work at the old Peters Mine has been on-going for more than three years. Guyana Goldfields has applied for and been granted, a permit to develop a mine and processing plant utilizing CN for gold recovery.
At Million Mountain, historic work as well as work by the Company has identified a stockwork of auriferous quartz veins, with the strike and dip of the dominant vein set being consistent with a major thrust known as the "Million Mountain Break", striking WSW – ENE and dipping to the NNW. The stockwork is bounded/offset to the east by a NW – SE trending mineralized shear zone approximately 10 meters in width which grades > 15 g/t. A right bank tributary to the Puruni River known as "Hundred Pound Creek" has clearly contributed to the placer deposits in the area, as it cross cuts a portion of the stockwork and shear zone which make up the primary gold deposit as it is currently known at Million Mountain.
Recent Geological Activities
A fairly complete digital database is available for the Company's Lower Puruni regional block. This database includes radar satellite images, historic mineral occurrence maps, base maps (rivers, roads, etc) and geochemistry maps. Much of this information is already in the Company's files. The remainder is available from the GGMC. Recent geological work conducted by the GGMC includes geological mapping, stream sediment sampling and rock sampling for BLEG and ICP analysis, petrographic analysis and interpretation of results.
Lower Puruni
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