Dec 1 2010
Estrella Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:EST) has announced it has established a new corporation in the Dominican Republic to acquire and explore gold and copper properties.
The Company has submitted four applications for exploration concessions, covering 24,025 hectares of mineral lands. Estrella is also seeking property submittals from third parties. The new company is named Estrella Gold Dominican Republic ("Estrella DR"), based in Santo Domingo. The Company's applications were submitted to the Secretary of State for Industry and Commerce and are now being processed. The island of Hispaniola contains a high gold endowment and contains one of the world's largest gold deposits at Pueblo Viejo, Dominican Republic. The management of Estrella has had extensive experience and successful gold exploration in the adjacent country of Haiti and is now seeking to utilize that experience to make new discoveries with Estrella in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. The geology of the northern half of the country is dominated by a Cretaceous-Tertiary age, accreted island-arc terrain. The island of Hispaniola has a rich history of gold production, including the first discovery of gold and the first city established by Europeans in the "new world" (1492). The principal gold deposit in the Dominican Republic is the Pueblo Viejo deposit, which is now being developed by Barrick/Goldcorp.
Pueblo Viejo is one of the largest gold deposits in the world is the second largest epithermal high-sulfidation gold deposit in the world, with a total gold endowment of more than 25 million ounces. This area was first mined in the early 1500's following Captain Columbus's discovery of gold on the island of Hispaniola in 1492. Gold was produced from the rich placers near Pueblo Viejo at Miches, until 1545 when the placer deposits played out and the Spanish operations shifted to Mexico and Peru. The huge volume of bedrock mineralization at Pueblo Viejo was discovered in 1969 and put into production in 1975 by a joint venture between the government of the Dominican Republic, Simplot Industries and Rosario Resources, with an oxide reserve of 27 Mt @ 4.23 g/t Au and 21.6 g/t Ag.
The mine was operated until 1999 and was of great importance to the Dominican Republic. Pueblo Viejo produced 5.4 million ounces of gold and 24.7 million ounces of silver from oxide and transitional ore. Mining stopped when the sulphides were reached. The mine was once again a subject of interest in 2001 when it was auctioned to the former Placer Dome. Barrick Gold acquired Placer Dome and the Pueblo Viejo project pursuant to an agreement with Goldcorp, providing Goldcorp with a 40% interest in the project. The Pueblo Viejo project contains reserves of 20.4 million ounces of gold, 423.6 billion pounds of copper and 117.3 million ounces of silver. Barrick holds a 60% interest and is the operator with Goldcorp owning the remaining 40% interest. Production is scheduled to begin during the first quarter of 2011.
Source: Estrella Gold Corporation