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Yale Resources Reevaluates Historic La Verde Grande

Yale Resources Reevaluates Historic La Verde Grande

By Chris Shaw

Yale Resources (TSX-V:YLL) has added a promising new project to its growing Mexican portfolio by acquiring 100% of the La Verde Grande Cu-Zn-Ag-Au Mine, as per their June 25th press release. The mine property consists of six contiguous concessions that total approximately 300 hectares, as well as the nearby La Verdecita and El Picacho (on strike with la Verde Grande) prospects, both of which saw limited production in the early 1900′s. The company has also staked 1,900 hectares of prospective ground surrounding this area to cover additional skarn and porphyry potential.

Ian Foreman, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person in charge of the project. He has been president of Yale for over two years. Before that, he was consulting for the company. “I’ve been part of the team, and now what I want to do is I want to replicate that by being at the helm of Yale.” Foreman has worked on a series of large projects, from the grassroots stage to production, and has extensive experience in Peru and Mexico. He was a key part of the team that put a large 1,000 ton mine (the Santa Rose in Peru) into production.

The La Verde Grande is located 45 km northwest of Hermosillo, Sonora, and is well-situated in terms of infrastructure. It is 2km from a paved road and the power grid. The geology consists of an overall system of skarn bodies and veins. Host rocks are a thick sequence of metamorphosed limestones that are locally intruded by granite and monzonite porphyries, dykes, and mineralized aplite dykes. Garnetized limestone hosts the most significant mineralization.

Historical sampling within the 2,000 feet (~ 610 m) of old workings at the La Verde Grande Mine (which saw operation in the 1900s and the 1960s) demonstrates the great potential of the property. Grades reported by the Consejo de Recursos Minerales were: 2.06 % copper, 1.91 % zinc, 33.07 g/t silver and 0.3 g/t gold for the upper workings and 2.54 % copper, 0.76 % zinc, 132.59 g/t silver and 0.3 g/t gold for the lower workings. As the deposit is at surface, the company anticipates that it could be exploitable by open pit methods.

So far, the company’s technical team has identified key factors that encourage further exploration of the property. First, the property contains old adits and workings that bear examination. Second, access roads have been identified. Third, anomalies have been identified on geophysical maps.

There are certain steps involved in assessing the value of a past producer. The first is to determine the state of the workings. Old workings provide excellent sampling opportunities. “You’ve got the small mines, you’ve got the waste dumps that are out of the mines, and you’ve got the walls of the mines,” said Foreman. Then, old data needs to be compiled and digitized. Next, a technologically current sampling program must be planned and carried out to synthesize the data with the physical evidence in order to determine the size of the overall reserve.

The workings at the La Verde Grande are in good condition – and are all open and dry. Yale’s plan is to sample the old workings and to evaluate the data to determine future diamond drill targets. “We have a mountain of data from past operators that we’re going through,” said Foreman. The company has purchased the complete historical database from Scorpio Mining Corp., who held an option on the property from 1999-2002. On this basis, a ‘ground-truthing’ program, consisting of sampling, – and ultimately diamond drilling, can be carried out efficiently.

There are certain similarities between the La Verde Grande and BC’s Craigmont mine, which started life as a skarn deposit, and with deep drilling became one of the most profitable mines in Canadian history.

Foreman noticed Cu-Mo mineralization on his first visit to the property. Even with desert weathering conditions, modern IP surveys are very good at detecting weathered Cu-Mo deposits. These can be huge – and very profitable. Any indication of a major Cu-Mo deposit will attract the attention of the world’s biggest mining companies, such as Freeport-McMoRan, and Teck Cominco.

Foreman is keeping an eye on the big picture. “The geologic maps that we have, have no real evidence of large porphyries in this area. But we do know that Freeport-McMoRan drilled 8 holes, essentially on a 1 km spacing, and each hole intersected mineralized porphyry. So there’s a significant porphyry at the NE corner of our property that trends off our property. It’s anomalously mineralized and we still have yet to truly determine the size and scope of that porphyry. No drilling has been done in the core of the claims. Very limited reverse circulation drilling was done in the vicinity of the La Verde Grande mine.”

With his aggressive, fiscally conservative outlook, Foreman presents a unified message to investors: “The compelling thing that we’re doing is we’re bringing in high-potential projects, with Urique, Zacatecas, Carol, and particularly La Verde – we’ve got home run shots…we’re a growth story.”

The easiest way to find more ore, as the old geologists say, is – ‘Follow the ore.’ Yale Resources is working diligently to do just that.

“Our focus is to put a project to the point where we have a production decision…we, in the short term, have to find as good a portfolio of projects possible,” he added. The company has three other projects in Mexico – the Zacatecas, the Urique, and the Carol properties. Diamond drilling is underway at Zacatecas.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as a recommendation to buy stock in any company. Although the author has made efforts to verify the information contained herein, the accuracy of all the information cannot be guaranteed. As always, it is recommended that you commit considerable time to completing your due diligence before buying stocks in publicly traded companies. A fee has been paid for the creation and distribution of this article.

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