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Surigao: A Nickel Producing District and Emerging World-Class Porphyry Copper-Gold Camp
The Surigao land package encompasses more than 26,000 hectares and is the second-largest package in Suriago province. The mineralization is epithermal gold, copper-gold porphyry and nickel-cobalt laterite.
The Surigao Gold District is an historic gold mining camp, where there are literally thousands of epithermal gold showings, prospects and small scale artisanal mines. Based on the recognized Philippine copper-gold model, porphyry copper-gold systems would be anticipated as well, and this was confirmed with the discovery in 2000 of the Philex Gold/Anglo American Boyongan Prospect. Subsequent drilling outlined a major porphyry copper-gold deposit with a disclosed resource estimate of 219 million tonnes at a grade of 0.51% copper and 0.74 g/t gold. Philex has announced that a second porphyry system has been discovered to the northwest of Boyongan, known as Bayugo, and possibly, a third porphyry system to the southwest. Australian junior Red 5 subsequently announced the discovery of a new porphyry copper-gold system just a few hundred meters along trend from Mindoro ground. Two other porphyry copper-gold prospects also occur just to the north of Mindoro's Tapian San Francisco Project.
The Surigao Gold District is attracting considerable international attention and is just beginning to undergo extensive exploration for new porphyry copper-gold deposits, as well as for epithermal gold deposits. Mindoro believes the Surigao Gold District will become a major copper-gold camp within the decade.
The Surigao District also hosts abundant nickel laterite occurrences and has at least three producing nickel laterite mines.
Mindoro commenced exploration in the Surigao District in 1997, under an agreement with Minimax Mineral Exploration Corporation, a private Philippine company. Under the agreement, Mindoro may earn a 75% interest in the Agata, Tapian San Francisco, Tapian Main and Mat-I Projects through phased exploration expenditures and issues of shares. To date, Mindoro has earned a 75% interest in the Agata, Tapian San Francisco, and Tapian Main Projects, and a 10% interest in the Mat-I Project. Mindoro's total project area in Surigao is over 26,000 hectares. The granted tenements consist of an MPSA on Agata and Exploration Permits on Tapian San Francisco and Tapian Main, as well as MPSA and Exploration Permit applications that are undergoing normal processing on the remaining ground. This is believed to be the second largest land holding after the Philex-Anglo American joint venture.
Between 2004 and 2006, Panoro Minerals Ltd. earned a 40% interest in the Surigao Projects. For strategic reasons, Mindoro recently re-acquired that interest. Upon closing, as consideration for the purchase of the interest, Mindoro paid Panoro $750,000 cash plus 500,000 Mindoro Common shares; Mindoro will make a second payment of $500,000 cash plus 500,000 Common shares on the first anniversary of the closing. Furthermore, in the event that the nickel laterite prospect located on the Agata project should proceed to production and upon shipment of an aggregate one million tonnes of nickel laterite, Mindoro will pay Panoro $500,000 cash plus an additional $500,000 cash payment on the first anniversary of the shipment.
Mindoro thus has a 75% interest in the Surigao Projects, and has the option to acquire a further 25% from its Philippine partner at feasibility stage, bringing its total interest to 100%, if all options are exercised.
Mindoro has a significant nickel-iron laterite prospect on the Agata Project, which has the potential to be advanced to production as early as 2008; and has defined multiple porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold prospects on the Surigao Projects.
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