Casa Minerals Inc (TSX-V:CASA, OTC:CASXF) has announced the commencement of diamond drilling at its Congress gold deposit in the Martinez Mining District of Arizona’s Yavapai County.
The Vancouver-based company reminded investors that a 10,000-foot diamond drilling contract has been awarded to Godbe LLC of Colorado to complete the programme.
Since purchasing the Congress property, Casa said it has compiled all available technical data concerning the former mining operations. Documented mining operations, at intervals from 1880 to 1980, reveal it produced 426,000 ounces of gold, followed from 1982 to 1988 by poorly documented operations that may have produced about 75,000 ounces, the company added.
READ: Casa Minerals gears up for 10,000-metre drill program at the formerly producing Congress gold property in Arizona
"We are very pleased to have acquired the Congress Mine that was idle for so many years,” Casa president and CEO Farshad Shirvani said in a statement. “We wish to acknowledge the cooperation of the former owners and local authorities in helping us resume exploration of this exciting deposit.”
Casa said the purpose of the current program, which is its initial drilling of the historic Congress gold mine, is to obtain further information concerning gold-bearing structures that were identified but never developed.
Additionally, it said the drilling program has been designed to investigate nearby underexplored areas that were identified to have geologically similar characteristics and maybe the extensions of the Congress and Niagara veins. Incomplete records indicate potential mineral zones but it said there are no NI 43-101 compliant resources.
The company said the drill program is being guided by a registered professional geologist who will supervise drilling operations, take custody of drill cores and manage core records and sampling. Samples will be processed at an independent ISO-9000 certified commercial analytical laboratory and results will be released following receipt and confirmation.
Casa Minerals Inc is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Canada and the US. It owns a 90% interest in the Congress gold mine, as well as a 100% interest in the polymetallic Pitman and Keaper properties in British Columbia (BC), and has an option to acquire a 75% interest in the Arsenault VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) property, also in BC.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com