Coeur d’Alene Mines has entered into an option agreement with Tara Gold Resources and its subsidiary Corporación Amermín that will allow Coeur to earn a 100% interest in the La Currita property adjacent to Coeur’s Palmarejo silver and gold project now in construction in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Construction at Palmarejo – the world’s largest new silver project under construction – continues on budget and on schedule with production anticipated to begin as planned in the first quarter of 2009. La Currita borders the southeast end of Coeur’s Guadalupe deposit in the south end of the Palmarejo District, where exploration drilling has been expanding and defining additional mineral resource. No exploration work has been conducted at La Currita since October 2007. A mineralised structure is exposed on surface for about 1 km, with surface samples returning up to 5 g/t Au and 600 g/t Ag.
Donald J. Birak, Senior Vice President of Exploration commented, “We believe the silver and gold bearing structures at La Currita are a direct extension of our own Guadalupe deposit, where we continue to drill to define and expand the deposit. In addition to its mineral potential, La Currita is well positioned to provide an efficient secondary access to Guadalupe.”
At mid-year Coeur completed a new model of the mineral resources for Guadalupe which now totals nearly 29 Moz of silver in Measured and Indicated categories and 16.5 Moz silver Inferred. In addition to the large silver mineral resource, Guadalupe’s gold Measured and Indicated resources are over 380,000 oz and Inferred over 270,000 oz. Guadalupe is now over 2 km long, and 200 m vertical. All zones are open on strike and at depth and currently drilling is underway to both tighten the drill spacing and expand the deposit. Engineering evaluation has commenced towards defining the first proven and probable reserves from Guadalupe.
Coeur’s exploration program at Palmarejo is focused on geotechnical and infill drilling in the Palmarejo deposit as well as expanding and upgrading the mineral resources at the nearby Guadalupe deposit
Under terms of the agreement with Tara Gold, Coeur will make an initial payment to Tara Gold, and subsequent optional payments over the next two years totalling $3.0 million to gain 100% interest in the La Currita property. Tara will retain a sliding scale net smelter return (NSR) royalty based on the market price of silver.
Coeur is one of the world’s leading silver companies and also a significant gold producer. It produced 11.5 Moz of silver in 2007. Coeur, which has no silver or gold production hedged, is now producing silver at what is expected to be the world’s largest pure silver mine – San Bartolomé in Bolivia – and is currently constructing another world-leading silver mine – Palmarejo in Mexico.