Sundance Minerals Ltd.: San Ricardo Gold-Silver Property, Sonora, Mexico-Joint Venture with Paget Minerals and Report on Work Completed
12.09.2012 | Marketwire
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire - Sept. 11, 2012) - Sundance Minerals Ltd. ("Sundance" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement with Paget Minerals, Corp., whereby Paget can earn up to a 60% interest in the San Ricardo Gold-Silver Property ("Property") in northern Sonora State, Mexico. The Property is located within the prolific state of Sonora in the vicinity of numerous porphry, mesothermal and epithermal gold-silver-copper deposits (http://www.sundanceminerals.com/s/San_Ricardo.asp).Chris Osterman, President and CEO of Sundance, stated, "We are pleased to have Paget as a partner and move the project forward evaluating the multiple targets identified within the Company's extensive landholdings and drill-test around the historic San Ricardo mine."
THE PROPERTY:
The Property area covers 37,400 hectares in northern Sonora State. The region hosts large Cu-Mo porphyry deposits, such as Cananea and Creston, and a number of mesothermal and epithermal gold-silver deposits, including the San Francisco (Timmins Gold), Mercedes (Yamana Gold) and Santa Elena (Silver Crest Mines). Excellent road access provides year-round exploration.
Preliminary reconnaissance within the Property has identified multiple high-grade targets as well as areas with bulk tonnage potential. Current work has been focused in the Santa Cruz Target around the inactive San Ricardo Mine, an area with scores of historic mine workings and small scale leach production, comprising at least four semi-parallel vein systems.
Mineralization in the Property occurs as granite-hosted veins, shears, stockworks, and oxides-coated fractures, with potential for both high-grade underground and lower-grade open-pit targets. Paget and Sundance have completed detailed mapping as well as collected 730 samples including underground channel, surface rock-chip and trench-channel samples at the San Ricardo Project area. Underground sampling along 300m of the minimum 2km-long Santa Cruz vein show results from 1.0m @ 0.29 g/t Au, up to 2m @ 46.35g/t Au. Sixty one percent of the 83 saw-channels cut in mine workings have more than 4g/t Au and average 12.16 g/t Au over 2.54 meters.
The weighted gold-grade averages of sampling on 8 different levels are:
Length Sampled Width Grade Au
Mine Working (meters) (meters) g/t
975 Sublevel 14 1.45 1.87
975 Tunnel 54 2.42 5.28
935 Superior 33 1.98 10.82
935 Tunnel 23 2.52 5.54
935 Incline 12 2.04 11.16
Abejas Inferior 20 2.37 12.70
Abejas Tunnel 15 2.62 7.09
920 Tunnel 18 2.91 22.92
The vein-structures in the underground workings remain open along strike and at depth.
The Santa Cruz vein system merges with the Intermedia and Mina Antigua veins systems forming a mineralized stockwork. Trench and surface rock-chip sampling in the stockwork target show values from 0.1g/t Au to 18m @ 0.94g/t Au, 24.3m @ 0.50g/t Au, and 6m @ 1.84g/t Au and all samples within an area initially measuring 150 x 200 meters average 0.72 g/t Au. The topography in the stockwork trench area and the immediate underground workings is favourable for access and pit development with subdued, rolling hills and flat open spaces. Locally, silver values range from anomalous to 452 g/t.
Surface sample results from additional areas within the large San Ricardo claim block adjacent to current and historic gold placer workings show values to 4.5g/t gold.
TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT:
Paget has an exclusive right to earn an initial 51% interest by incurring US$500,000 in exploration expenditures by the first anniversary of the closing date and an additional US$5.0 million in aggregate by the fourth anniversary of the closing date. Paget also retains an exclusive right to earn an additional 9% by funding a pre-feasibility study in the three-year period following the 51% earn-in date.
Once Paget has earned a 60% interest in the Property, the parties shall elect to participate in the exploration program on a prorated basis or not. In the event either party dilutes below 10%, it shall be entitled to a 2% Net Smelter Return royalty ("NSR"). Paget will have the right to purchase 1.5% of the NSR for US$2.0 million.
Sundance will be the operator during the first 12 months employing its established technical and logistical support team in Mexico. The operator in the ensuing years will be determined by Paget. Sundance and Paget plan to commence drilling of the Santa Cruz target during the last quarter of 2012.
Quality Control:
Chris Osterman is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and is responsible for the preparation and verification of the technical information in this release.
About Sundance:
Sundance Minerals is an exploration company currently focusing on precious and base metal projects in Mexico and the United States. Our mission is to create and sustain shareholder value by developing a balanced portfolio of exploration targets in known districts. Sundance has a portfolio of 14 properties in Mexico and one in Nevada, most of which are available for JV's. Technical information including geology, geochemistry, and geophysics is available for all of them. Five out of the 15 properties have historic drill holes. Leading properties are Miranda and San Ricardo gold projects in Sonora, Los Tamales (Cu) in Sonora, as well as Geranio and Lachatao gold projects in the Natividad mining district in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Forward-Looking Statement: Certain statements in this News Release constitute "forward looking statements" that reflect the Company's current expectations and projections about its future results. Information concerning the interpretation of exploration results may also be considered forward-looking statements as such information constitutes a prediction of what mineralization might be found to be present if and when a project is actually developed. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain factors and assumptions. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs; the continued participation of Paget in the San Ricardo project, the need to obtain additional financing to maintain its interest in and/or explore and develop the Company's other mineral projects; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones for the Company's mineral projects; and other factors of the mineral exploration industry more fully described in the Company's Management Discussion & Analysis of Financial Position and Results of Operations, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The assumptions made in developing the forward-looking statements include the following: the accuracy of interpretations of exploration results; the continued participation of Paget in the San Ricardo project, and the availability of equipment and qualified personnel to advance the San Ricardo project. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact
Sundance Minerals Ltd.
Chris Osterman, President
+1 (520) 906-6633
info@sundanceminerals.com
www.sundanceminerals.com