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Projects
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Las Animas Project - Sonora, Mexico
Summary
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Zoro Gold has acquired 100% interest in a mineral property located in the Mexican state of Sonora. Known as Las Animas, the property is located some 200 road kilometers southeast of Hermosillo, the state capital, and 175 kilometers northeast of Ciudad Obregon, a major agricultural center. Figures 1 and 2 show the location of the Las Animas properties relative to important regional cities of Northwest Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.
The property consists of 3 separate claims totaling approximately 6,825 hectares. A more detailed outline of the mineral exploration concessions is shown in Figure 3. The properties are found at the southern end of the prolific California-Sonora gold belt, which is currently considered the hottest gold exploration area in the world. A number of global companies are currently carrying out significant exploration activities on a number of important gold and copper plays.
Two separate mineral targets exists, one on the northeast portion of the claims constituting potentially a large disseminated copper/gold zone, and the balance of the claims - about 2,000 hectares - which contain a potentially large zone of disseminated gold mineralization. The bulk of the property is located between 400 to 600 meters above sea level.
Locally, the predominate host rock appears to be related to volcanic activity of the late Cretaceous-early Tertiary arc magmatism common throughout central Sonora, consisting of propylitically altered flows of andesite and possibly dacite, with minor amounts of agglomerates and breccias of local derivation.
Gold mineralization is apparently related to local micro-veining and brecciation, which occurred through subsequent hydrothermal activity related to movement of the underlying Sonora batholith. Copper appears superficially as a suite of oxides contained in an elongated zone several hundred meters long, and up to 100 meters in width.
Land Position
Since filing the original claims in 2006, foreign mining companies have surrounded the Las Animas project both to the north and the south with more than 11,000 square kilometers of mineral claims. There are some small adjacent property areas that remain unclaimed, and Zoro is currently evaluating the placement of a few more hundred hectares of mining claims.
Access
Commercial aviation service is available from major cities in the U.S. southwest, to both Hermosillo, the state capital with a population of 600,000, and connecting to Ciudad Obregon, with a population of 300,000.
If leaving from Hermosillo, the road to Las Animas leads east along a paved road to the town of Tecoripa, then south along pavement to the town of Suaqui Grande. The pavement is in particularly poor shape. Las Animas is then reached by following some 40 kilometers of dirt road southeast from Suaqui Grande. These roads are annually maintained through a joint effort of local ranchers and state road crews. The summer of 2006 was a particularly rainy year with several hurricanes off the Baja Peninsula creating havoc with secondary roads throughout western Mexico.
If leaving from Obregon, pavement leads northeast to Rosario. An improved dirt and gravel road is then followed for some 60 kilometers to El Realito, and then west along dirt road for some 15 kilometers. An alternative is to use secondary roads if the weather permits on a NNE trajectory for 110 kilometers.
Basing the project out of either Hermosillo or Obregon is seen to be of comparative advantage. Hermosillo is more accessible to major cities such as Los Angeles, Tucson, and Phoenix, and has a larger population and is home base to many mining companies. Because of its large agricultural base, the extended Obregon area actually has better access to many types of equipment and repair shops.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure at the property - roads, buildings, and so on, is sparse to non-existent. An old telephone line runs across the property but appears to be in disuse for some time. The Yaqui River with abundant water resources is located 2 miles east of the property boundary, at an elevation some 200 to 300 meters below the median property elevation.
Copper mineralization is found in an elongated belt several hundred meters long and up to 100 meters wide. The obvious surface target zone to a depth of 100 meters is potentially 20,000,000 metric tons. Depth of oxalation but is unknown. Additional copper mineralization max exist but lack superficial expression,
Gold mineralization is spread out over several square kilometers. Sampling and drilling will if an economic deposit is present.
Current Activities
A preliminary sampling program is currently underway at Las Animas, with ore samples being taken on obvious high grade targets such as outcrops, veins, and old workings.
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