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El Paso Prospect: Abundant Copper Showings and Two Large IP Anomolies
The El Paso Prospect is located seven kilometers north of the Lobo Project, and twelve kilometers from the Taysan porphyry copper-gold deposit.
El Paso is immediately north of the major west-northwest-trending structural boundary that separates older northeastern batholithic terrain (San Juan Diorite), and the younger southern volcanic terrain. This major boundary is an especially favorable structural setting which served to localize mineralizing intrusions, including Taysan. The area is underlain largely by San Juan Diorite with islands of metavolcanics, intruded by younger quartz diorite porphyry and andesite porphyry intrusions, and overlain in places by younger Quaternary volcanic tuff. Extensive porphyry-related phyllic and intermediate argillic alteration has been mapped, as well as potassic alteration in places.
Widespread copper-gold mineralization occurs associated with the younger andesite porphyry intrusions, as well as the older, more-eroded San Juan Diorite. The mineralization associated with the former is the principal target. In the southwest part of the El Paso prospect, copper mineralization had been known historically and was tested with shallow drill holes by a previous operator in the mid-nineties. Results are unknown. However, the area tested by drilling is not associated with significant IP anomalies and is considered to represent copper mineralization on the periphery of the porphyry copper-gold system.
Subsequent reconnaissance IP surveys by Mindoro defined two large and strong chargeability anomalies, known as Calantas and Mulawin, approximately two kilometers east of the copper showings. Each is about two kilometers by one kilometer in extent, with chargeability values ranging from 20 to over 50 msec, against a background of four to eight msec.
A thin cover of volcanic ash obscures much of the area, but scattered outcrops indicate geology consists of stocks of younger fine-grained, quartz diorite and andesite porphyry intruding metavolcanics. Independent petrology confirms that alteration consists of quartz-sericite-chlorite and sericite-clay-chlorite. These alteration assemblages are common to Philippine porphyry systems and are usually transitional to the core potassic zone at depth. The petrology also confirms the presence of quartz veining with magnetite and the copper minerals chalcopyrite and bornite. A channel sample from the metavolcanics yielded 0.24% copper over 15 meters. This suggests the strong chargeability anomaly below is of considerable potential. High molybdenum values of 806 parts per million (ppm) over a ten meter trench are associated with an andesite porphyry stock at Calantas, and also suggest a porphyry source.
Drill testing is planned for later in 2007 or 2008, once ground work has been completed and priority drill targets defined, subject to receipt of an exploration permit, which is in the final stages of approval.
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