Comet Resources says drilling is set to commence in the new year at its 50 per cent-owned Santa Teresa Gold Project in the Baja California region of Mexico where Comet has already booked a maiden high-grade resource of 369,000 tonnes at a solid 7.47 g/t gold.
The Perth-based, however geographically diversified, mineral explorer said Interminco Services, acting as project manager, had hired a local geological contractor, Minera Cascabel, to assist with geological work and permitting ahead of mobilising a drill rig to site. Minera Cascabel operates a JV with the Imdex Group out of Tuscon Arizona and is staffed by veterans of exploration in Northern Mexico.
Comet said Interminco had already secured landowner access approval after concluding negotiations around surface rights, with legal counsel in the process of papering up those agreements.
According to the company, ecologists have also visited the site to conduct a formal survey as part of the permitting process. Water sources have been identified, access roads upgraded in advance of drilling activities and a site office set up nearby in Ensenada to house workers.
Comet also said it had found historical drill core which will be used for future metallurgical testing. Old trenches will also be cleaned, deepened and sampled to improve the accuracy of location for future drill pads. The field crew had even uncovered old drill collars and found them to be in excellent condition.
The company said Minera Cascabel geologists will undertake a mapping and further trenching program targeting vein outcrops ahead of finalising drill hole locations.
Comet Resources Managing Director, Matthew O’Kane said: “It’s great to have boots on the ground pushing forward to drilling for Q1 next year, and to be finalising plans for a number of geological work programs at Santa Teresa. I am very pleased with the expediency of work from Interminco and have great confidence in our recent appointment of Cascabel - Imdex as Geological Consultants.”
The Santa Teresa Gold Project comprises two mineral claims totalling 202 hectares, located in the gold-rich El Alamo district of Baja California. Comet’s ground is positioned approximately 100 km southeast of Ensenada in Mexico but only 250 km southeast of San Diego, California, USA.
In addition to the two mineral claims covering the Project area, two additional claims totalling a further 378 hectares in the surrounding El Alamo district are being acquired by Comet.
Interestingly, Comet noted its initial resource estimate for Santa Teresa could grow as the project’s bevy of high-grade intercepts had only reached a drill depth of 300m. The current resource estimate uses a conservative cut-off of 2.5 g/t gold, based on the economic parameters for the mining of quartz vein hosted deposits in central America.
Yet this evaluation method is particularly sensitive to a ‘top cut’, or the removal of the ultra-high-grade results that may skew the overall resource estimate.
If a top cut of 50 g/t gold is applied to the Santa Teresa, the inferred resource would climb to 414,000 tonnes at a very healthy 8.94 g/t gold. But if the top cut was completely removed, the overall tonnage remains the same, but the grade blows out to a much higher 13.07 g/t gold.
Regional gold production in the EL Alamo district has its roots in the late 19th century, before being stymied by the Mexican Revolution in 1912. Historical records estimated around 100,000 and 200,000 ounces of gold was extracted from alluvial workings and the artisanal underground mine at Santa Teresa.
More recent drilling at Santa Teresa delivered a bounty of high-grade intercepts from diamond drill holes, including 2m at 32.4 g/t from 19m, 3.9m at 39.0 g/t from 121m and 1m at 958.4 g/t gold from 239m.
The latest JORC resource is based upon the results from 32 diamond drill holes emplaced by Premier Gold Mines in 2008 and a subsequent evaluation suggests the deposit is unconstrained by drilling at depth and open along strike.
Whilst Comet’s evaluation of Santa Teresa is continuing, it is leveraging off an already bagged high-grade gold resource. With the drill rods set to spin again in the new year, Comet will be banking on some good hits to boost its resource base ahead of the jump to gold production.
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By Matt Birney
