Portage Resources Inc.: Wuakakuy properties estimated to contain 58 million ounces of silver

PRNewswire | June 24, 2011 | 11:32 pm Precious Metals Latin America Silver 

Signalling an intention to acquire the Wukakuy silver deposits in Peru, Portage Resources says its due diligence on the properties indicates a reserve estimate of 58 million ounces of silver.

The company said Friday that further geological reporting and subsequent estimates have been given by a respected Peruvian geologist and his reviews of the N43-101 and other geological reports have been used to produce a fair estimate of the reserve potential for the Wukakuy properties.

Within the Wukakuy property — which comprises 600 hectares in the Putina District of southeastern Peru — the Bonanza Cuerpo deposit contains 54.04 million ounces of silver, while the Caprichosa Manto deposit contains 8.188 million ounces, Portage Resources said.

Based on today’s silver prices of approx. $35/oz, the  estimates have a potential value in excess of $2 billion.

According to the  N43-101 report:

  • The exploration targets on the Wukakuy Property are a series of stratabound zones of Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization hosted in Carboniferous to Permian-aged carbonate and clastic sediments. This property lies immediately north of the Mina Cecilia, a past Ag-Pb-Zn producer from the same host rocks.
  • The Wukakuy Property is comprised of two mining concessions named “Wukakuy ” and “Wukakuy Uno” totaling 600 hectares located in the Putina District, Department of Puno, southeastern Peru. The property is 110 kilometers north-northeast of the city of Juliaca.
  • The primary exploration target is the Bonanza Cuerpo, a zone measuring 100 x 250 meters defined by abundant gossan outcrop with indications of an additional 150m of strike length. The surface expression of the gossan suggests that it is a concordant body within the surrounding host carbonates. Samples from the gossan yield highly anomalous values of Pb-Zn (0.15 -0.99% Pb; 0.12 -2.4% Zn) with locally anomalous values of Ag (maximum of 7.8 oz/t Ag). These values from gossan are highly prospective indicators for a massive sulfide body at depth. Mineralized sandstone breccia outcrop further along strike suggests that this zone may extend more than 400m in strike length. This zone is open on either end.
  • The second target is a smaller manto exposed 1,300 meters northeast of, and parallel to, the Bonanza Cuerpo. Full width of this manto is not exposed in trench cuts. A channel chip sample was taken across 1 meter of exposed manto that returned 5 oz/t Ag, 1.3% Pb, 1.9% Zn. A sample from a gossan outcrop 200m north of this trench cut exposure ran 0.3 oz/t Ag, 4.8% Zn and no Pb.
  • The property warrants a thorough exploration program given its favorable geology, surface geochemical anomalies, and location near significant stratabound Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization in the district.

Portage says it has consulted with community leaders during this due diligence phase and will appoint a community relations leader for the project upon acquisition.

Read the full news release here

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