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Monday, January 11, 2010
Today's News Headlines
* Yamana approves US$80mn exploration budget, discloses plans for 2010 - Regional
* Mining royalties could be increased - minister - Brazil
* IT needs in the mining sector focused on operational field, says Mincom - Regional
* Junior roundup: Firestone, MAG, Ventana, Andes Gold - Regional
* Service provider Procad sues Codelco for US$4.5mn - Chile
* Canplats adjourns shareholder meeting to review Goldcorp takeover bid - Mexico
* Medoro: Echandia technical report shows 1.35Moz gold - Colombia
* Apogee: Ministry accepts Pulacayo environmental plan - Bolivia
* Golden Minerals completes Hochschild, Sentient deals - Argentina, Bolivia
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* Yamana approves US$80mn exploration budget, discloses plans for 2010 - Regional
Toronto-based miner Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI; NYSE: AUY) has approved an exploration budget of US$80mn for 2010, the company said in a statement.
The company also disclosed exploration objectives for 2010 in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
According to the statement, some of Yamana's areas of focus in 2010 will include defining the size and potential of a new mineralized zone at the Suruca mine, 6km northeast of the Chapada mine in central Brazil.
Also in Brazil, the company said it will provide a resource estimate at Caiamar by mid-2010 with a further update by the end of the year.
Since purchasing Caiamar in July 2009, Yamana has completed 28 holes totaling 14,000m of exploration drilling. A total of US$3.4mn has been budgeted for exploration and 25,000m of drilling is planned at Caiamar, located in central Brazil's in Goiás state. In the first year of drilling, Yamana will assess the deposit's potential and evaluate the potential of the regional Caiamar concessions, in addition to defining the orebodies, the statement said.
Caiamar is located 38km from Yamana's Pilar project, 300km northwest of capital Brasilia. At Pilar, Yamana aims to upgrade the mineral resource to the indicated category and increase total overall mineral resources.
At Yamana's Fazenda Brasileiro property the company seeks to extend mine life and expand its Lagoa do Gato mineral resource, continue defining new near mine targets and upgrade mineral resources to support future production. Lagoa do Gato is located 4km northeast of Fazenda Brasileiro, which is in northeast Brazil, 180km from Bahia state capital Salvador.
In Argentina, the company is expanding the resource at QDD Lower West in San Juan province and continue exploration efforts at Salamanca, 10km north of Yamana's Gualcamayo gold mine.
"Yamana recently completed a core drilling campaign comprised of 17 drill holes for a total of 3,000m concentrating on the Salamanca mineralized tensional gash," the company said.
Results to date continue to compare to results from the three known mineral deposits at Gualcamayo, which have mineral resource grades of 1.08g/t gold at QQD and 2.6g/t gold at both QDD Lower West and AIM.
In northern Chile, Yamana is upgrading known deposits at El Peñón from 500,000oz gold equivalent to the indicated mineral resource category. Also, the company said it is expanding the footprint of Minera Florida with successful exploration at Chancón-Membrillo. The objective at Minera Florida is to upgrade 150,000oz gold equivalent to the indicated resource category.
"With that objective completed, 2010 exploration will focus on extending the known deposits, infill drilling to upgrade certain inferred mineral resources to the indicated resource category and a broader regional exploration program," the statement said. "The 2010 exploration program is to include 69,500m of exploration drilling and 24,550m of infill drilling with a budget of US$18.4mn, US$5.8mn higher than the original budgeted amount."
In central Colombia, Yamana recently acquired an exploration concession and project called Solferino in the province of Antioquia.
"Colombia remains within Yamana's geographical focus on stable jurisdictions in the Americas. Yamana believes Colombia has significant exploration potential," the statement said.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Mining royalties could be increased - minister - Brazil
Brazil could ask mining companies to give a portion of output to the government, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported citing mining and energy minister Edison Lobão.
New regulations currently being developed could also see mining royalties increased.
Current mining royalties of around two percent are insufficient, Lobão said, noting that mining royalties in other countries were sometimes as high as ten percent.
Brazil currently charges a 3% royalty on sales of aluminum, manganese and potassium, 2% on iron, coal and fertilizers, 0.2% on gemstones and 1% on gold.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* IT needs in the mining sector focused on operational field, says Mincom - Regional
After having mostly covered their needs in the backoffice space, the main IT demands from the Latin American mining sector are now concentrated on the operational field, heavy industry enterprise software provider Mincom's Latin American president, Gary Poole, told BNamericas.
The mining industry contribution to Mincom's Latin American operations is over 80%, while globally it is around 45%.
Poole said the biggest problem in mining is related to lost opportunities in the operational area. "Companies lose a lot of money when they have large reserves, or underground reserves, as you won't know what's there until you mine it. Then you have to excavate, transport and crush it, and in each stage there are losses," he said.
According to the executive, today mining firms need solutions that provide transparency regarding where the losses are in the whole production chain.
Mincom has developed a new strategy to target the mining industry, which includes a new segmentation of the vertical.
"In the past we treated mining as mining. Now we are segmenting the market into commodities, and we are developing solutions for each of the commodities, in order to offer more value to those particular mining companies, over and above what we offer with our standard products to mining," Poole added.
The fastest growing segment within the mining industry is, according to Poole, the mid-tier market, including those that are just finishing exploration. For them, Mincom has launched its Accelerator solution, which comes preconfigured for their segments.
"We expect much of the revenue of mining to come from those mid-tier companies," Poole said.
By Cristina Molina
Business News Americas
* Junior roundup: Firestone, MAG, Ventana, Andes Gold - Regional
Edmonton-based Firestone Ventures (TSX-V: FV) has wrapped up work on phase 1 of its 2009-10 zinc-lead-silver regional exploration program in western and central Guatemala, the company said in a statement.
Crews collected 149 rock samples, 26 stream sediment samples and 1,033 soil samples with results expected later in January, at which point targets for further surface work and potential drilling will be evaluated.
Regional mapping and sampling and targeted drilling will restart in mid-January.
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Vancouver's MAG Silver (TSX: MAG) reported the latest gold and molybdenum assays on drill holes at the Pozo Seco zone of its Cinco de Mayo property in Mexico include 44m grading 0.16% molybdenum and 0.27g/t gold.
Additional highlights are 65m of 0.10% molybdenum and 0.18g/t gold, as well as 39m of 0.12% molybdenum and 0.15g/t gold. The holes demonstrate that the moly-gold zone continues to the northwest and remains open toward recently acquired ground, MAG said.
Cinco de Mayo is in Chihuahua state.
***
Vancouver-based Ventana Gold (TSX: VEN) reported it has completed the exercise of existing option agreements for the El Cuatro, La Suiza and La Itala properties in Colombia, giving it 100% of the minerals rights for the three blocks.
The properties are within and adjacent to the La Bodega gold property, where another option agreement is under dispute with the land owners. Ventana has said the dispute is an attempt to invalidate the option agreement and is without merit. The case is in arbitration.
***
New York's Andes Gold (Pink Sheets: AGCZ) reported plans to begin a phase 1 assessment of a possible tailings processing operation in Ecuador. Andes has stockpiled 5,000t of tailings from some months of small-scale production on its own properties and a number of neighboring operations.
The idea is to begin processing the tailings, which could hold 3.5g/t gold, within the next several months, Andes said in a statement.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Service provider Procad sues Codelco for US$4.5mn - Chile
Procad, a company that provided mining services to Codelco's Salvador division in northern Chile's region III, has filed four suits worth 9bn pesos (roughly US$4.5mn) in total against the state copper producer on grounds of unjustly terminating the supplier's contract, according to a Procad spokesperson.
The official said Codelco terminated the contract in 2008 unilaterally and without justification.
Procad is an engineering firm that carried out maintenance to machinery and other services for Salvador, according to the source.
A Codelco representative told BNamericas that the suits are related to administrative procedures that all comply with the law.
Codelco's smallest division, Salvador produced 46,000t of copper out of the company's total 1.21Mt during the first nine months of last year.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Canplats adjourns shareholder meeting to review Goldcorp takeover bid - Mexico
Canplats Resources (TSX-V: CPQ) said it aims to postpone a shareholders' meeting called for January 28 to discuss a proposed takeover by Goldcorp (TSX-G, NYSE: GG).
The company is adjourning the meeting in order to prepare information on the deal to provide to its shareholders, Canplats said in a statement.
In November Goldcorp signed an agreement to acquire Canplats in a deal worth about US$230mn.
But later Minera Penmont, a JV between Mexico's Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) and US corporation Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), trumped that offer. However, Goldcorp has since raised its bid.
Canplats' main asset is the Camino Rojo gold-silver project in Mexico, which Goldcorp intends to add to its portfolio in order to expand resources at its Peñasquito mine.
Located some 50km from Peñasquito in Zacatecas state, Camino Rojo has 3.45Moz gold and 60.7Moz silver in measured and indicated resources, and 555,000oz gold and 7.61Moz silver inferred.
Fresnillo is a subsidiary of Mexico's Peñoles.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Medoro: Echandia technical report shows 1.35Moz gold - Colombia
Toronto's Medoro Resoruces (TSX-V: MRS) reported it has received an NI 43-101 technical report on takeover target Colombia Gold's Echandia property in the Marmato region of Colombia.
The report shows Echandia holds 1.08Moz gold and 14.2Moz silver in the measured and indicated category plus 274,000oz gold and 3.09Moz silver inferred, Medoro said in a statement.
The M&I ounces are contained in 48,572t grading 0.69g/t gold and 9.12g/t silver, while the inferred resources are 10,637t grading 0.80g/t gold and 9.04g/t silver.
The calculation was based on 17,144m of diamond drilling in 96 holes and used a 0.3g/t cutoff grade, the statement said.
"Medoro is very pleased with the estimates in this report and believes that this report further supports the company's strategy to acquire, consolidate and then develop the gold mining district of Marmato in Colombia," said Medoro CEO John Hick.
The company recently announced it had entered a support agreement to buy UK-based Colombia Gold for 33.3mn Medoro common shares, which were trading at Cdn$0.57 on Friday. Medoro will also pay off Colombia Gold's debt up to Cdn$2.8mn (US$2.71mn).
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Apogee: Ministry accepts Pulacayo environmental plan - Bolivia
Toronto-based Apogee Minerals (TSX-V: APE) reported that Bolivia's environment and water ministry has accepted the company's recommendations on its Pulacayo silver-zinc-lead development project.
The company submitted in November a report on the environmental aspects of mineral extraction, milling and construction of tailings facilities for Pulacayo as part of requirements to have to project categorized for development, Apogee said in a statement.
The ministry has deemed Pulacayo a category 1 project and has provided Apogee with the terms of reference needed to prepare a baseline EIS, which is required to obtain environmental licenses and permits for development.
The environmental permitting process is expected to wrap up within a year, Apogee said.
Apogee is earning 60% in Pulacayo from Golden Minerals (TSX: AUM), formerly Apex Silver Mines. The company also submitted in November an economic study for the project to Bolivian state miner Comibol.
Pulacayo has 7.0Mt grading 53g/t silver, 1.42% zinc and 0.63% lead in the indicated category, and 9.56Mt of 75g/t silver, 1.46% zinc and 0.61% lead in inferred resources.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Golden Minerals completes Hochschild, Sentient deals - Argentina, Bolivia
US-based Golden Minerals (TSX: AUM) reported it has completed its previously announced deals with Peru's Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) and private equity firm Sentient Group, leaving the two companies with stakes of 9.4% and 19.9% in Golden, respectively.
Golden has acquired Hochschild's 35% in their JV at the El Quevar silver project in Argentina in exchange for shares and warrants, giving it a 100% stake.
The Sentient deal involved a private placement of 745,318 Golden common shares worth Cdn$5.26mn (US$5.10mn).
El Quevar in Salta province holds 21.9Moz of silver in the inferred category and 4.3Moz in the indicated category. Golden also has the Pulacayo silver-zinc-lead deposit in Bolivia, a JV with the local Pulacayo miners cooperative and Toronto's Apogee Minerals (TSX-V: APE), which is earning a 60% stake.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
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In-deph interview
* "We'll have a number of projects on the go in Latin America in 2010"
Robert Quartermain
CEO
Silver Standard
Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru
http://www.bnamericas.com/interviews/mining/Robert_Quartermain_,Silver_Standard,/169389295
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Main companies covered in today's news
* Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Solitario_Exploration_*_Royalty_Corp,-Solitario_Exploration/169389295
* Volcán Compañía Minera S.A.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Volcan_Compania_Minera_S,A,A,-Volcan/169389295
* Hochschild Mining PLC
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Hochschild_Mining_PLC-Hochschild/169389295
* Ventana Gold Corp.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Ventana_Gold_Corp,-Ventana_Gold/169389295
* MAG Silver Corp.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/MAG_Silver_Corp,-MAG_Silver/169389295
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