Patacancha Claim Group

The Patacancha Permits are located in the Ayacucho region of Peru approximately 500 km south east of the capital, Lima . The permits and mine site are a 2 hour drive on poor dirt roads from the nearest village, Chipao, which is remote with only the most basic facilities and is located some 5 hours drive on reasonable dirt roads to the highway at Puquio. From Puquio it is a further 8 hour drive via Nasca to Lima . Travel to site overall takes two days and is arduous.

The mine site and permits are located above 4,500m elevation (Marcelita Adit portal is at 4710m OD) rising to over 5,000m at the ridge line on the volcanic centre.

The Patacancha claim group lies in the Pliocene (c. 1.5Ma) gold-rich Ayacucho volcanic belt of southern Peru and covers approximately 15 square kilometres at elevations in the project area ranging from 4600 to 5125 meters above sea level. The area is characterised by a centre of andesitic effusive volcanism around a central edifice which has seen significant collapse and evidence of large pyroclastic flows to the west. Alteration is widespread and comprises propylitic, argillic and advanced argillic facies typical of high-sulphidation systems. Regional pervasive silicification with abundant barite rosettes and nests occurs associated with enargite-gold mineralization which is cut by, apparently later, high-grade precious metal veins within minor fault structures and by sulphide-bearing pebble-breccias.

The size of the hydrothermally altered anomaly encompasses an area of 30 square kilometers. Some of the geologic and mineralization features of Patacancha are similar to other high sulphidation systems including the well-known Yanacocha, Pierina, Pascua-Lama and Veladero gold deposits in the Andes of Peru, Chile and Argentina .