Verena Minerals - Overview
Verena Minerals Corporation is exploring for gold along the major mineralized belts of northern Brazil, a region boasting vast mineral wealth and a vibrant, modern mining industry. Brazil is home to a world-class mining industry with remarkable exploration potential. Brazil also has a favorable political climate with a recently modernized mining code and, despite its excellent geology, remains largely underexplored.
Verena is focused on expanding and advancing its 100% owned, 2.2-million ounce Volta Grande Project, where a preliminary economic evaluation is being completed. Verena completed 3,526 metres of core drilling in 2008 and focused on resource definition at Ouro Verde in the North Block and exploration drilling in the South Block. Highlights included gold intercepts of 14.3 metres at 7.10 grams per tonne (g/t) VVD-178, 23.25 metres of 3.98g/t VVD-192, 9.0 metres at 17.73 g/t VVD-195.
In February 2009, Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle and Associates (“SWRPA”) updated the National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimating a global indicated plus inferred resource of greater than 2.2 million ounces. The resource is comprised of 725,000 indicated ounces of gold (21.0 million tonnes at 1.08 g/t) and 1,503,000 inferred ounces of gold (49.8 million tonnes at 0.94 g/t) using a 1.08 g/t cut-off (see Press Release dated February 3, 2009).
Verena has initiated a preliminary economic evaluation that will study proposed mine design and production rates, estimated capital and operating costs and metallurgical test work to develop a proposed process flow-sheet. The metallurgical sampling has begun and will include crushing and grinding, bottle roll and jig leach analysis on selected core composites as well as pilot testing bulk samples representative of the ore types. SGS Lakefield Laboratories has been selected to complete the test work.
Verena has a strategic alliance with Kinross Gold Corporation, which owns 7.2% of the common stock of the Company and holds an option on the Patrocinio gold project.
The 100% owned Patrocinio Project covers approximately 18,700 hectares of the Tapajos gold province, historically the most important gold producing region in Brazil, with over six million ounces of artisanal production since the 1950s. Several public sources indicate that about one million ounces of gold has been produced by local miners at Patrocinio. In 2006, Verena optioned the project to Kinross, who can earn a 65% interest by sole funding US $8 million in exploration and development through September, 2011. In 2007, Kinross completed an airborne magnetic survey over the property and collected soil samples every 80 metres on 800 metre spaced lines across the entire property. Follow-up work focused on the Pista Velha target area, defined by anomalous gold in soils covering an area measuring 2.5 kilometre x 1.0 kilometre. Kinross has indicated to Verena that surface work will continue leading to a 1,500 metre drill program to be initiated by early in the third quarter, 2008.