To be honest, I was hoping for a bit more discussion from AA about this promising porphyry Ann... apart from previous admirable attempts by Zen (2.2lt wine flagon) and Lateral (song, I think).
Why was nailing the porphyry important? I was grilled by my wife re our Inca investment and she was not convinced that investing more money here was a good idea.
Needless to say, it was a hard sell and I had to name the elephant in the room, the porphyry... which I can't even pronounce, let alone spell!
I had the embarrassing convo with my wife (W) below before I contacted Justin and Ross to help me out re our porphyry projects, past and future (see later):
W: What's the size of our ICG investment in the smsf?
P: 20%
W: I thought it was only 10%
P: It was until a major shareholder recently pulled out, so I brought some more @ .004
W: (silence)
W: How much profit have we made so far?
P: Actually, we've made a loss
W: (silence)
W: So why do you want to buy more?
P: (Admittedly my pitch was not great... where's a geo when you need them!) Ross is a really good geo who has this pack of cards' theory that continues to be validated re NE-SW intersecting with NW-SE structures... For example, at Lara down the road they have the same Jumasha limestone formation that's good for known epithermal intrusives, skarn mineralisation, carbonate replacements. This probably means that a porphyry (or two) is sitting down there AND we have the recent geophysics analysis to suggest this.
W: (silence)
P: I'll just email Justin and Ross to find out more about our porphyry projects!
P: Dear team, I'd be interested in how our 2 porphyry projects (Chanape and Riqueza) are similar and yet different in your opinion
R: Chanape...
- Porphyry: Thought to be deep >1,000m (interpretation by World’s #1 expert Dick Sillitoe, who we brought in for assessment purposes).
- Associated porphyry mineralisation: Yes – Au-Ag-Cu-As breccias and veins which were high grade but small and full of arsenic.
- Country rock into which porphyry intruded: Volcanics – so no real chance of skarn mineralisation.
- Other porphyries in the area: Sure – 30kms away Toromocho mega-deposit operated by the Chinese. The economics of Toromocho may never be known.
- Majors interested in Chanape: Plenty: IAMGOLD (9 visits), Teck (4 visits), Antofagasta (1 visit), CA’s for another 4 or 5 but no deal. We tried that’s for sure and we were very close with IAMGOLD and Teck.
Riqueza...
- No porphyry KNOWN YET within the project area but geophysics showing plenty of potential – there are known porphyries all around us (SEE below)
- Associated porphyry mineralisation: Yes – plenty:
- Zn, Ag, Pb veins, stockwork, breccias and mantos at Humaspunco-Pinta (surface) carbonate replacement style:
- There are too many veins to count. We stopped counted at 46.
- Cu along intrusive contact at Pampa Corral (surface) skarn style.
- Au-Ag-Zn-Pb veins and stockwork at Colina Roja (surface) epithermal style.
- Cu with pervasive alteration at Alteration Ridge (surface) epithermal style.
- Country rock into which porphyry may have intruded is limestone – big tick for skarn mineralisation.
- Other porphyries in the area: 3 known within 20kms (another one suspected) NOT INCLUDING those that may occur at Riqueza.
- Majors interested in Riqueza: South32 Signed up! They are looking for porphyies and skarns: Target type: Antamina (>800Mt Cu-Zn), Cerro De Pasco (>200Mt Cu-Zn-Ag).
- Other majors in the VERY near vicinity: BHP and Anglo American.
In summary, I was excited by Ross' prompt and informative response and my wife was finally satisfied... so we're taking up all our entitlements today. Phew!
PS If a picture's worth a thousand words, then in hindsight I should've pitched with Inca’s new NE-SW schematic cross-section showing the geological and structural configuration of various mineralised prospects of Riqueza! Poet.
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