Oroco Announces Receipt of a Draft Technical Report for the Santo Tomas Porphyry Project, Sinaloa, Mexico
Oroco Announces Receipt of a Draft Technical
Report for the Santo Tomas Porphyry Project,
Sinaloa, Mexico
VANCOUVER
,
June 7, 2019
/CNW/ - Oroco Resource Corp. (
TSX-V: OCO
) ("
Oroco
" or "
the
Company
") is pleased to announce the receipt of the initial draft of an Independent Technical Report
regarding the Geology, Mineralization, and Exploration of the Santo Tomas Cu-(Mo-Au-Ag) Porphyry
Deposit in
Sinaloa, Mexico
(
"the Technical Report"
). The Technical Report has been prepared by
Dane A. Bridge Consulting Inc. of
Calgary, Alberta
, for use by the Company and by Altamura
Copper Corp. ("
Altamura
") for filing as a Technical Report with Canadian securities authorities
pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, per the NI 43-
101F guidelines.
As announced by the Company on
May 7
th
and
May 9
th
, 2019 regarding a favourable final and
written decision of the federal appeal court in
Mexico
(
"the Decision"
), which decision is not subject
to appeal, the Company may now proceed to register the Santo Tomás Concession titles to
Xochipala Gold S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of Altamura. Oroco currently owns 13.0 percent of
Altamura and holds an irrevocable option to acquire the balance of Altamura (refer to the Company's
news release of
October 9, 2018
). Together with the Decision, the receipt of the Technical Report
provides the Company with a current, compliant technical basis upon which to advance the Santo
Tomás Project by confirming and extending the technical fundamentals of the Project.
The Decision and the Technical Report represent critical milestones which immediately permit the
Company to plan for the near-term perfection of its title over the Project, and to plan and undertake
exploration work that will seek to verify and confirm key aspects of a substantial body of historical
resource work. The Santo Tomas Cu-Mo-Au-Ag porphyry deposit is now documented along 5 km of
strike length, and the Technical Report describes Laramide-age intrusion and hydrothermal
mineralization within a large NNE-trending wrench fault and fracture system.
Mr.
Craig Dalziel
, President of Oroco stated, "
We are very pleased to be able to release the
Technical Report closely following the appeal court decision in
Mexico
. The Technical Report
clearly provides a basis upon which to advance the Santo Tomás Project and to immediately work
to re-rate the Company's valuation by confirming and extending the technical fundamentals of the
Project. The report validates the 10 year process of extensive strategic planning, complicated
legal initiatives, complementary land assembly and partnership arrangements, and key technical
confirmations which have resulted in an extraordinary opportunity for the Company."
The Technical Report presents the key findings of historical technical reports, including a 1994
Prefeasibility Study by Bateman Engineering (supported by metallurgical work by Mountain States
R&D International, Inc., a resource estimate by Mintec, Inc., and mining and plant estimates by
Minetek S.A. de C.V.).
The mineral resource estimate prepared by Mintec, Inc. is no longer
considered current.
1
The cited historical reports were based upon a data set comprised of 90
historical drill holes (reverse circulation and diamond-drill) totaling
21,075 m
, with the resulting
database now controlled by Oroco.
The historical Bateman Report
1
details several favourable deposit characteristics, including:
large volume and low strip ratio (
Bateman
, 1994: greater than 950 million tonnes above a cut-off
grade of 0.20% Cu containing approximately 7.4 billion pounds of copper);
good metallurgy (Mountain State, 1994: mineralized material responded favourably to
conventional flotation, common reagents and a 200-mesh grind to produce a 26% to 28%
copper concentrate);
the studies identified no major project risks, and highlight the proximity of the project to
substantial local energy and transport infrastructure; and
substantial exploration potential along a largely underexplored 5km strike length.
Further, the Technical Report integrates the historical work with a newer satellite digital terrain
model, and field geology and structural mapping, part of the exploration work undertaken between
2017 and 2019 by Oroco. Notably, recent structural work by Bridge Consulting corroborates the
essential attitude and boundary features of the mineralization as recognized by technical consultants,
Cambria (2009) and
Thornton
(2011), who undertook mineral resource-related work subsequent to
the published 1994 Bateman Engineering Prefeasibility study, and who modeled certain key features
of the geology and mineralization (
refer to the longitudinal section and web link following
).
Although these items are strictly historical in nature, they are of significance for near term exploration
planning by Oroco. The Technical Report compares an historical block model and grade shell volume
for the North Zone prepared by Cambria Geosciences Inc. in 2009 with the conclusions of the 2019
structural mapping, and reports that the Cambria 2009 Grade Shell of mineralized material greater
than 0.30% Cu remains valid considering the new structural data, and is acceptable as geological
information to confidently recommend a program of concurrent surface geophysical surveys, and
confirmation and definition drilling.
Specifically, the Technical Report recommends that initial work at
Santo Tomas
include 200 line-km
of deep 3D Induced Polarization ("3D DCIP") surveying over the known extent of mineralization, and
a drill program of 11 core drill holes (approximately
7,300 m
) that will verify and better contextualize
the historical drilling at the North Zone. The Company views this initial program of confirmation drilling
as critical to providing future validation for a near-surface, higher-grade, low-stripping ratio zone of
relevance for a mine scoping study.
Figure: Longitudinal Section through the Santo Tomas North Zone deposit. (CNW Group/Oroco
Resource Corp.)
The reader is directed to the Oroco website at
www.orocoresourcecorp.com
for further detail
regarding historical work, other longitudinal sections and a plan control map for the above section,
together with a Legend for the Sections, and for other graphics representing the principal elements
of the historical / geological resource work.
The Technical Report presents a set of vertical Longitudinal Sections that illustrate the potential of
the near-surface, higher-grade central portions of the North Zone with strong strike continuity of the
mineralization. The Technical Report author recognizes that the Cambria 2009 Grade Shell provides
a geological validation for the continuity of mineralization and indicates a target volume of
approximately 280 to 315 million tonnes and a target grade of 0.45% to 0.55% copper in a tabular
body dipping towards the west at 50º. The fringes of the Cambria 2009 Grade Shell are prospective
for exploration step-out drilling, to depth and along strike both to the north and south.
The historical mineral resource estimate
1
by Mintec, Inc. (1994) of the North Zone segment of the
Santo Tomas
deposit requires verification by drilling and by check assay of historical diamond drill
core, in order to confirm, and in future, to report a compliant NI 43-101 mineral resource in that
area.
The Technical Report notes that the
Santo Tomas
historical assay results have been the subject of
several programs of verification re-assay, each demonstrating a close correlation between the
reported assay value and the verification assay value.
Notwithstanding, the Company confirms that
no recent program of verification of the assays at
Santo Tomas
has been conducted.
The
Technical Report concludes that the historical assay results are therefore considered to be
geological information, only.
The Company looks forward to releasing the Technical Report to the public.
TECHNICAL REVIEW:
The technical information in this News Release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian
regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and has been reviewed
and approved on behalf of the Company by Mr.
Dane Bridge
, M.Sc., P. Geol., of Dane A. Bridge
Consulting Inc., an Independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101.
ABOUT OROCO:
The Company currently holds an irrevocable option to acquire 100 percent of Altamura Copper
Corp., a private B.C. company which holds a 50 percent interest in Compañía Minera Ruero, S.A.
de C.V., the registered owner of the
Santo Tomas
concessions, and an option to acquire the other
50 percent interest. The
Santo Tomas
concessions are a contiguous group of seven mineral
concessions located in Sinaloa State, Mexico. Altamura Copper Corp. also holds a 66.7 percent
interest in Xochipala Gold, S.A de C.V., the owner of a net 85 percent unregistered contractual
interest in the
Santo Tomas
concessions. The Company and Altamura Copper Corp. are pursuing
the registration of the
Santo Tomas
concessions to Xochipala Gold, S.A. de C.V. for reason of its
preferable ownership and investment structure relating to those concessions (see the Company's
most recent MD&A available on SEDAR).
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined
in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking
statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable
Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact
included herein, including without limitation, statements relating to future events or
achievements of the Company, are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance
that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in such statements. Many
factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements
to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers should not place undue
reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release
concerning these matters. Oroco does not assume any obligation to update the forward-
looking statements should they change, except as required by law. Readers are also
cautioned that this news release includes reference to certain historical reports and studies
that are cited in the Technical Report. All of these reports are older than three years before
the date of the Technical Report, and were not prepared for Oroco: as such these reports are
to be considered geological in nature, and are not to be relied upon or assumed to imply any
mineral resource classification(s) with respect to the Santo Tomas Project areas of
mineralization.
1
The conclusion and results of the historical Bateman report are no longer considered current. The Mintec, Inc. resource estimate included in the historical Bateman report
(1994) is the last publicly released mineral resource estimate, but utilized a classification scheme that is no longer accepted under NI 43-101. Additionally, the mineral
resource estimate is no longer accepted under NI 43-101 standards for reason that it does not conform to the current structural geological model in the Technical Report. A
qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve, and it is therefore not considered to be
reliable. However, the historical assaying and verification methods were performed within the accepted standards applicable at the time.
SOURCE
Oroco Resource Corp.
View original content to download multimedia:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2019/07/c2581.html
%SEDAR: 00026117E
For further information:
Mr. Craig Dalziel, President and CEO, Oroco Resource Corp., Tel: 604-
688-6200, www.orocoresourcecorp.com
CO: Oroco Resource Corp.
CNW 19:00e 07-JUN-19