The Curipamba Project
The Curipamba project is a gold, silver and base metal exploration district located in central-west Ecuador in the Western Mountain range's Macuchi Group about a 2.5-hour drive from Ecuador's major port city, Guayaquil. The Company owns 16 concessions (71,297.87 hectares) at the Curipamba project; a substantial landholding in a never-drilled prospect in Ecuador. There are a number of priority areas identified on the Curipamba project including sub-areas like Sesmo Sur, Las Naves Central, Guapara, Tabanal and Santa Rosa (see accompanying project map). The work completed to date on the Curipamba project consists of extensive geochemical programs, ground geophysics at Sesmo Sur and Las Naves Central, and currently in the process of a phase1 10,500 metre drill program. The first 18 holes have been completed at Sesmo Sur and currently the Company is drilling 13 distinct anomalies at Las Naves Central.
The project is considered the Company's highest priority based on several key considerations including:
- a substantial landholding (100% owned and operated) in a new prospective area in Ecuador;
- though at an early stage of exploration, the initial reconnaissance exploration program has identified significant gold-silver, plus base metal areas of mineralization at surface;
- gold-silver in large quartz breccia/shear zones and in lithologically/structurally controlled zones there is epithermal-style gold-silver mineralization evident;
- sulphide float has been found in numerous creek beds; and
- infrastructure including roads and power is in place with a producing Kaolin mine approximately 10 kilometres south of the Sesmo Sur / Las Naves Central target areas.
The Curipamba Concession can be divided into a northern area with porphyry copper-gold-silver potential and a southern area with gold-silver base metal mineralization found in quartz (silicified) breccias, shear zones and possible “Eskay Creek” type mineralization. The area has visible massive sulphide veins at surface such as the Roble anomaly at Las Naves Central, and within the rhyolite-dacite tuffs and flows there is a possibility of discovering a VMS deposit. Recent drill results from the El Domo anomaly at Las Naves Central may prove this theory correct as significant massive sulphide mineralization was encountered at depth.
Sesmo Sur and Las Naves Central are considered to be the most prospective and highest priority areas at this time. This conclusion is based on assay results from the regional geochemical sampling program that commenced in early 2007. Results can be found in the sub-sections of the website.
Geology Overview
The Curipamba Concession is underlain predominately by a sequence of Middle Paleocene-Eocene volcanoclastic rocks that have been assigned to the Macuchi Group. These are overlain by Upper Tertiary rocks and Quaternary alluvial deposits. The Macuchi Group consists of a sequence of volcanoclastics, sediments with intercalated volcanic flows, and possibly sub-volcanic sills. Lithologically, it is composed
of arenaceous sediments, siltstone, coarse pyroclastics, breccias, tuffs, gabbros, diabase, sub-porphyritic basalts, pillow lava, and minor calcarenites. A major part of the Macuchi Group is the product of submarine volcanic activity and eruptive material and deposits of re-worked material.
Intrusive rocks represent a large portion of the total area. They are divided into several large groups: extensive tonalite and granodiorite plutons with a medium to coarse grain primary texture with hornblende, magnetite and biotite that have intruded into the volcanoclastic rocks of the Macuchi Group. There are also porphyritic to micro-tonalite dikes and stocks that follow large faults. The plutons are typically weathered but also there are metamorphic aureoles at the contacts.
