Canada’s Odyssey Resources has renewed its option to acquire a 100 percent interest in Teck Cominco's Altintepe Gold Property, an advanced epithermal gold project located in northeastern Turkey. The terms of Odyssey's agreement with Teck Cominco require a minimum expenditure of $550,000 by April 30, 2004.
During 2002, Odyssey completed a comprehensive program of data compilation followed by geological mapping and sampling across the property, leading to a better understanding of the controls on gold mineralization and the delineation of a number of new gold targets. This was followed by a first phase diamond drilling program, leading to the discovery of a new gold zone, followed by the preparation of an independent resource estimate in accordance with National Instrument 43-101.
The central 2G zone has been estimated to host an Indicated Resource of 1,191,377 tons at a grade of 1.87 grams gold per ton, and an Inferred Resource of 3,161,550 tons at a grade of 1.52 grams gold per ton. The 2G zone remains open to the immediate west. The estimate was based on a cutoff grade of 0.4 grams gold per ton and does not include two satellite gold zones: Camliktepe, located 600 meters to the northwest, and the newly discovered Sinan zone, located 1,000 meters to the northeast.
Extension Ridge, a third gold zone located approximately 300 meters north of Sinan, is estimated to host an Inferred Resource of 2.194 million tons at a grade of 1.21 grams gold per ton. Two significant gold targets, located approximately three kilometers to the west of the 2G and related zones, remain to be tested; drill permits have already been obtained.
Gold mineralization at Altintepe comprises a series of upward flaring zones of disseminated, oxidized, volcanic-hosted gold in association with favorable volcanic horizons in proximity to a series of feeder faults. Deposits are located at or near surface, and would be amenable to mechanized open pit mining and heap leach gold recovery.
Odyssey management is pleased with the results obtained at Altintepe to date. Plans for the second year of this option agreement include upgrading the existing 2G resource, and fully defining the Camliktepe and Sinan zones, in all cases through a grid drilling program. Additionally, a program of exploration drilling will be completed over the Seyliktepe and Karakis gold targets. This will be followed by a Scoping Study, leading to the preparation of a formal Prefeasibility Study. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
