Magellan Gold has agreed to acquire the El Dorado Gold-Silver Property, a 50 hectare mining concession near the village of Las Minitas, located 50km south of its SDA Flotation Plant at Acaponeta in the Mexican state of Nayarit.

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Image: A gold mineral. Photo: courtesy of carlos aguilar/Freeimages.com.

Magellan intends to advance El Dorado towards production as a matter of priority. The Company has initiated permitting and is in the process of selecting an underground mining contractor.

The project has excellent road and rail infrastructure, and the Company plans to truck the ore from El Dorado to the SDA Plant for processing. El Dorado is situated within a district of epithermal vein systems from which historic mining produced high grades.

Magellan CEO Pierce Carson said: “Drilled resources at El Dorado appear to represent a readily available source of feed for our SDA Mill.

“If confirmed these resources could supply ore to the mill for approximately five years at a mining rate of 100 tonnes per day. In addition, the geology is prospective for extensions of mineralization and for new discoveries.

“Acquisition of El Dorado is a key step in our strategy of initiating and then increasing production through the mill.

“To achieve these objectives, we are considering all financing options, including joint development with a suitable partner.”

Commencement of mining will depend on a number of preconditions, the most important of which include obtaining environmental and blasting permits, selecting and mobilizing a mining contractor and procuring financing.

An access and land use agreement with the local ejido already is in place. Once development begins, ore will be accessible with a minimal amount of underground development. Ore will be sourced initially from the shallow, upper portions of the mineralized veins.

Drilling on the El Dorado vein system was conducted by a TSX.V-listed company in 2010-2011 and comprised 28 diamond core holes totaling 4,950 meters. Two veins appear to offer particular promise for mining, namely the Hundido and Intermedia veins.

These veins lie adjacent to and along strike from the old Hundido Mine, which from 1900-1927 produced an estimated 50,000 tonnes of high-grade gold-silver ore. The veins are steeply-dipping, highly silicified structures cutting volcanic rocks.

Polygonal resource calculations for the two veins, based on intersections in 10 core holes and after applying a 25% tonnage deduction for dilution and recovery factors, yielded respectively 89,000 tonnes grading 7.01 g/t gold equivalent (Au+Ag) over a true width of 2.3 meters (Hundido Vein); and 91,000 tonnes grading 15.17 g/t gold equivalent (Au+Ag) over a true width of 8.3 meters (Intermedia Vein).

These resources are non-NI43-101 compliant. The mineralization extends from near surface to a drilled depth of 150 meters and is open at greater depth.

The El Dorado vein system can be traced on the surface for a distance greater than three kilometers and exhibits structural complexity with numerous conjugate vein splits both in the hangingwall and footwall.

This complex structure hosts multiple mineralized zones including high-grade veins potentially minable underground, and lower-grade open-pittable stockwork zones that are observed to extend over tens of meters in width in both the hangingwall and footwall of the El Dorado vein system.

Magellan has concluded an agreement with Ingenieros Mineros, S.A. de C.V., the owner of the El Dorado mining concession giving the Company the right to acquire the concession by making staged six-monthly option payments over two years towards an end purchase price of $800,000 (plus 16% IVA). No royalties are payable.

Magellan has the right to begin production during the term of the agreement. The Company has made the initial option payment of $50,000 (plus 16% IVA).

In addition, Magellan has agreed with a TSX.V-listed company to purchase a comprehensive El Dorado data package including diamond drill core and technical information for a price of $120,000, payable in cash and Magellan common stock.

Source: Company Press Release