![]() | ![]() | ||
The Candelaria Copper Belt, one of the most prospective IOCG (Iron Oxide Copper Gold) provinces in the world, is bounded on the west by the Atacama fault zone and to the east by a series of sub parallel fault systems. The Belt hosts numerous world class copper deposits, including Candelaria and Manto Verde. Interested readers can find many academic publications relating to the Candelaria IOCG belt on the internet; one of the most read papers is that published by Richard H Sillitoe in September 2003, and can be accessed by clicking the following link: Iron Oxide - Copper - Gold Deposits: An Andean View. Latitude Resources' portfolio of IOCG properties all lay within the Candelaria Copper Belt; the Filipina Grande project is Latitude's most advanced property. During the early 1990's RTZ Mining & Exploration Chile Ltd. completed a number of geochemical and geophysical surveys within the Filipina Grande district. Induced Polarization and magnetic gradient surveying led to an 11 hole Diamond and reverse circulation drilling programme. According to an internal report generated by RTZ, the results indicated that the area may contain a resource in order of 188 to 420 MT at a grade of between 0.5-1.2% copper and 0.1-0.3 g/t gold. A number of factors, including the collapse of commodity prices, led RTZ to drop the project from its portfolio. Latitude Resources acquired, via option agreements in 2003, the key landholdings in the Filipina Grande area, covering a total area of 2,300 hectares. Expenditure by Latitude on Filipina Grande, from the acquisition of the project in 2003 to date, totals US$1.4 million dollars. The Filipina Grande project comprises 3 main target areas, Mina Grande North, Mina Grande South and Caminada. The project hosts copper oxide mineralisation in the north of the project and sulphide mineralisation across the whole project area. The results of an in-house resource estimate (published 25th May 2006) was generated using the company's own expertise, utilising standard polygonal estimation methodology, incorporating data from the following sources:
** Standard: Inferred Resource estimates comply with the JORC standard definitions *** This asset is wholly owned by Latitude and so the table represents both the gross and the net attributable estimates. The oxides generally occur close to surface in the Mina Grande target area, which lies in the northern portion of the Filipina Grande project. The oxide bodies extend from surface, or close to surface, and reach an average depth of approximately 70 metres. Samples of these oxide bodies returned encouraging results from preliminary metallurgical testing which was announced in March this year indicating that the mineralised material would be amenable to treatment by acid leaching, a relatively cheap process route. Further test work will be carried out over June / July 2006 to better evaluate the recovery characteristics of the oxides. Sulphide Mineralisation The sulphide bodies occur in all target areas within the Filipina Grande project, and tend to be elongate, linear zones controlled primarily by structures. The average true width of the sulphide bodies is in the order of 6 metres, varying from 2.5 metres to 14.25 metres wide. They range in depth from 100 metres to 600 metres below surface; the most important mineralised zone occurs between 100 metres and 350 metres depth. Potential It should be noted that the oxide and sulphide mineralisation reported is that which can be defined as JORC compliant Inferred Resources. The Company believes there are additional target areas within the Filipina Grande project which, subject to further exploration, could increase the overall size of the mineralised system in the future, indicating the potential for the project to develop substantially. Ongoing Activity During June and July, Latitude plans to commence a large-scale, systematic sampling program, to obtain data from all 13 artesanal oxide and sulphide mines on the property. This sampling program will give increased control over grade and distribution, allowing Latitude to better plan the next phase of activity at relatively little cost. Filipina Grande News Releases
Maps
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||