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(Alliance News) - Orosur Mining Inc on Thursday provided an update on the progress of exploration activities across its project portfolio, sending its shares sharply lower.
Orosur Mining closed 7.5% lower at 8.70 pence on Thursday in London.
Orosur said assays from the final two holes of over 40,000 metres of drilling at its Anza project in Colombia have now been received.
Neither of the holes intersected had substantial mineralisation, though Orosur said this was to be expected given the results from the previous holes.
Consequently, exploration work at Anza has been wound back to allow for the corporate restructuring of the joint venture to be completed and to advance a variety of licence processes, such as the integration of smaller licences and conversion of applications to granted status.
Anza is the subject of an exploration agreement with a venture option with Minera Monte Aguila. MMA is itself a 50:50 joint venture between Newmont Corp and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.
MMA elected to move to Phase 2 of the joint venture. This will require it to spend USD20 million on the project over a maximum of four years to earn an additional 14% equity, taking its total ownership position to 65%. As part of the move from Phase 1 to Phase 2, a USD2m option payment was payable to Orosur.
Moving to its El Pantano project in Argentina, Orosur said results at the project to-date have been "extremely encouraging" with the latest round of mapping and sampling suggesting that El Pantano has potential to host a "major, previously unexplored" low-sulphidation epithermal system.
Environmental permitting work is underway that will allow drilling to be undertaken later in the year at the project, Orosur added.
At its Ariquemes project in Brazil, Orosur said its large-scale regional sampling programme is now complete, with the final results of the programme pending.
"Once received, it is anticipated that this regional dataset will be able to provide vectors to potential mineralisation that will then form the basis for more targeted exploration programs in the near term," Orosur explained.
Ariquemes is a joint venture with Meridian Mining UK S. Orosur has the right to earn a 75% stake in the project by investing USD4 million in exploration over a four-year period in two stages.
By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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