Q&A Interview with President/CEO of Gold Stock Soltera Mining Corp. (OTCPK: SLTA): Ethical Gold in Argentina
Point Roberts, WA - June 08, 2011 -
www.InvestorIdeas.com, a leader in sector stock research including mining stocks, release a Q&A interview with Dr. Fabio Montanari, President/CEO of Soltera Mining Corp. (
OTCPK:SLTA) (FRANKFURT:SN7) for interested gold stock investors.
On May 5th, 2011 Soltera reported some exciting gold assay results from a chip and channel program on sections of the 14 km long gold-bearing quartz vein system that spans their El Torno property in northern Argentina. Those results included a mind-boggling 1.5 meters at 376 g/t. This announcement, however, came on the heels of an April 27th release stating that test work on an eluvial (weathered surface material) area designated to provide feed for the existing gravity plant showed insufficient gold for exploitation.
Then on May 25th Soltera announced that Goldlake Italia S.p.A ("Goldlake"), a company that has an agreement to supply "ethical gold" to Cartier Jewelers, intends to invest a further US$900,000 into Soltera by June 30th 2011.
InvestorIdeas.com interview with Dr. Fabio Montanari sheds light on the relevance of these three announcements and tells investors about his current plans at Soltera Mining's flagship Argentine gold property, El Torno.
Dr. Fabio Montanari has an international mining career of over twenty-five years, including senior experience spearheading advanced exploration and mining activities in Africa, South America, Europe, Canada and the United States for a host of internationally recognized exploration and mining companies including: Asarco (US), Golden Star (UK), ENI Group (Italy) and Normabec (CAN). Dr. Montanari has also been a geological consultant to the United Nations under the U.N. Technology Cooperation Schemes.
Q- Investorideas.com
Dr. Fabio Montanari, let's start with the two announcements regarding assay results. They seem contradictory, with one reporting low gold values and the other some very high gold values, so what does this mean?
A- Fabio Montanari
The difference is because the samples were from test work on two very different types of gold deposit.
The main potential of the El Torno property is for large deposits of vein and bedrock gold, but there are also much smaller deposits of weathered surface (called eluvial) material that can contain free gold. The first announcement concerned test work on eluvial material whereas the second concerned analyses from part of the main vein system.
Q- Investorideas.com
Why bother with the eluvial deposits if they are small and, in any case what went wrong with the eluvial test work?
A- Fabio Montanari
We were looking at the eluvial material because there is a simple gravitational processing plant already in place that had been used successfully in the past by the mineral title owner and it offered the real possibility of generating a rapid cash flow that would pay for exploration of the main targets. Initial operation of the plant produced gold in the form of tiny nuggets and the next logical step was to test an area of potential eluvial feedstock to see if there was enough for a commercial operation. Any production by this means would be ideal for Goldlake's agreement to supply ‘ethical gold' to Cartier.
The sampled area, about 35 of the 7 861hectares (19,424 acres) included in the property, was selected because it had a good thickness of weathered material, all the necessary permissions for surface extraction, and is relatively close to the processing plant. Part of the area had also been worked previously by the mineral title owner. However, extensive and detailed test work showed that although small amounts of gold are distributed widely throughout the area, the tonnage of material containing higher values is insufficient to justify a commercial operation from this location. There was simply less gold than we had anticipated and, as a result, we cannot go into production immediately as we wished. There are, however, other areas of eluvial material throughout the property that could contain gold and these will be examined in due course.
Q- Investorideas.com
So what is the significance of the very high gold values in the second announcement?
A-Fabio Montanari
The high gold values are very exciting and very significant.
We already knew from old records that a gold-rich zone, said to be about one and a half meters wide, extends along the western edge of the main vein system. Drilling in the 1990s showed that the zone extends to at least 110 meters depth and suggested an average gold grade around 10 gpt. Soltera geochemical surveys also suggest that the zone extends for most of the 14 km vein length. This gold zone is a major exploration target.
Although we had been concentrating on eluvial material, I decided to look more closely at surface expressions of the gold zone. I selected a 300 meter long stretch marked by old workings and trenches, and took samples of various rock types such as white quartz or iron-rich breccias to find out where gold was concentrated. A few were simply grab samples (lumps of a particular rock type), but most were channel samples which means literally cutting a channel several centimeters wide and deep through the rock over a distance of 1 or 1.5 meters. The gold analysis of a channel sample indicates the average gold over the length sampled.
The results were startling to say the least. They included channel samples of 6.5 meters with between 6.2 and 8.8 g/t Au, 1 meter at 14.95 g/t Au, 1 meter at 20.9 g/t Au, and 1.5 meters at 376 g/t Au. The mean value of the 17 samples containing more than 1 g/t Au (with the 376 g/t Au cut to 100 g/t Au) was 11 g/t Au.
The data confirms the existence of the rich gold zone along the flank of the main vein as indicated by earlier drilling and indicates that in some places it is considerably thicker than previously thought (up to 6.5 meters). Some gold mineralization was even detected in part of the main vein system where it had not been previously recognized. The results open up all sorts of possibilities for the future, including that of possible surface production from ‘hot spots' over parts of the vein. It definitely means there should be intensive sampling along the full 14 km length of the vein system.
Q- Investorideas.com
And what about the Goldlake announcement?
A-Fabio Montanari
Goldlake evidently appreciate the potential for gold at El Torno and decided to back us despite the setback over eluvium gold production. We are really looking forward to moving rapidly on some serious exploration of the main vein and dispersed bedrock gold targets.
Q- Investorideas.com
So what's next for Soltera?
A- Fabio Montanari
Intensive exploration of the major gold targets and fulfilling the listing requirements.
Under the terms of the agreement with the mineral title owner, we have eighteen months to decide whether or not the property is worth purchasing outright. This means we have to acquire sufficient information to make a firm decision.
The next step will be detailed mapping and sampling along the full length of the vein and over parts of the dispersed gold targets that are marked by strong geochemical anomalies. At the same time, we are planning a geophysical survey over part of the main vein system. The net result of this work will be to define drill targets and we intend to start drilling during the next field season which commences in September this year. If ‘hot spots' are detected along the gold-rich zone, we will look at the possibility of future surface production, but our main emphasis must be on the major targets.
In addition, we intend to bring all our SEC and BCSC filings up to date in order to become fully compliant with all reporting procedures.
About El Torno
The El Torno project is located in the extreme north of Argentina in rolling country of the high Andes at a height of around 4,000 meters. Soltera holds options over 78 km 2 of highly prospective ground that contains a very large gold-bearing quartz vein system extending intermittently for 14 km with veins up to 20 meters wide, and the area has potential for major gold deposits of two types; large gold-rich quartz vein deposits suitable for underground mining, and gold-bearing quartz vein swarms within the country rocks suitable for large-scale open-pit mining.
Investors can view the mining company profile for Soltera Mining Corp. at http://www.investorideas.com/CO/SLTA/
Soltera Mining Corp. (OTCPK: SLTA) is a gold exploration company concentrating on its large-scale El Torno Gold Project in the Province of Jujuy in north-west Argentina. Soltera is an unusual exploration company in the sense that it is following two distinct lines of action: the first is to explore potentially large vein and dispersed gold deposits that occur within the 78 km2 title area; while the second is to develop the easily exploited and substantial surficial gold deposits that have formed by weathering of the underlying gold-bearing bed rocks.
Visit the company website athttp://www.solteramining.com/
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Contacts:
Soltera Mining Corp.
Fabio MontanariPresident/CEO
1-888-768-5552 or 1-303-800-5752
info@solteramining.com
fmontanari@solteramining.com
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