Nueva California Technical Summary.indd - Focus Ventures Ltd.

Nueva California Technical Summary
FOCUSED ON GOLD IN PERU
TSX.V: FCV
Focus Ventures Ltd.
Suite 830-355 Burrard St
Vancouver BC V6C 2G8
604.688.5288
www.focusventuresltd.com
> LOCATION
The Nueva California Property is situated in the Department of Ancash in north-central Peru, in the District of Yungay, Province of Yungay, some 42 kilometers north of Huaraz
and approximately 320 kilometers north of Lima.
> HISTORY
The Nueva California Mine began production in 1984 as a small 100 tpd cut-and-fill underground and open pit mining
operation. It is estimated that 600,000 - 700,000 tons of ore has been processed, with approximately 70,000 oz Au and
450,000 oz Ag extracted to date.
Past and current mining operations have focused exclusively on mining high grade mineralization that was interpreted to
be hosted by altered “dykes”. Underground and open pit mining has traced the oxidized upper portions of these zones over
distances of 200 – 250 meters along strike, easily followed by miners due to the dark appearance in contrast with paler
intrusive wallrocks. Such wallrocks contain low grade disseminate mineralization in the order of 0.5 – 3 g/t Au, however
these grades are deemed uneconomic by the current underground operations.
PIMA Alteration Study
Despite production for over 25 years, the hard rock potential of the mine has never been explored
systematically by drilling.
> GEOLOGY
The Nueva California property resides in the central part of a renowned polymetallic mining district of
the Western Andean Cordillera of central Peru. The belt stretches over a distance of some 600 kilometers
and is located approximately midway between the Morococha deposit in the south and the Yanacocha
deposit to the north. The overall metal endowment and diversity of deposit types in this district make it
truly exceptional with respect to mining and mineral potential. Exploitation is mainly from Intermediate
Sulphidation, Low Sulphidation, High Sulphidation, Porphyry, and Porphyry–Skarn types of deposits,
which are all types of hydrothermal deposits thought to be associated with Tertiary high-level calc
alkaline intrusions.

The Nueva California deposit occurs in granodiorite of the Cordillera Blanca Batholith at its western edge,
where it contacts with rocks of the Early Cretaceous (113 – 144 ma) Goyllarisquisca Group. The contact
between the intrusive and sedimentary rocks is a northwest trending regional “range-front” fault that can
be traced NNW– SSE along the entire western edge of the Batholith. The fault dips moderately to steeply
southwest, and has normal and right lateral strike slip movement.
The existing mine model interprets the high grade mineralization as hosted within a series of at least
5 parallel NNW – SSE trending andesite dykes, which were originally part of the same structure having
dislocated by a series of low angle faults and repeated down slope in a “staircase” arrangement. Focus’
geologists believe that the mineralized dykes are in fact remnant layers or xenoliths of bituminous shale/
siltstone and coal beds of the Cretaceous Chimu Formation that have been intruded and assimilated by the
granodiorite sills and dykes. The sediments acted as the focus for intense hydrothermal activity evidenced
by multiple pulses of quartz veining, quartz vein stockworks and siliceous hydrothermal breccias.
The new interpretation is important for the future exploration potential of the deposit, interpreting the
deposit as a large disseminated gold deposit with bulk mining potential. This new model depicts multiple mineralized zones within wider zones of low grade mineralization that
extend to depth. Strike and width of the mineralization are presently unconstrained.
The mineralization in the mine is for the most part strongly oxidized, consisting of goethite, limonite and lesser hematite as staining and as
replacement of pyrite which is ubiquitous to the altered granodiorite and the sediments as fine and medium grained disseminations and
veins, mostly with quartz. Oxidation penetrates at least to the lowest levels of the mine or 50 – 70 meters below surface. Other principal
sulphide minerals are arsenopyrite, galena and sphalerite. Traces of chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, covellite, bornite, and chalcocite have also
been observed.
> DEPOSIT CLASSIFICATION
The Nueva California deposit is unusual in that it shows characteristics of both low and intermediate
sulphidation categories, hosted by intensely altered high-level granodiorite intrusive and sedimentary
rocks, however it is possible that it belongs to a “hybrid” class of Au-Ag deposits or is of higher
temperature origin. Although the deposit is located in a region with world-class mineral endowment,
the geology and mineralization is poorly understood. The geological setting, distribution, multiple
mineralization styles and episodic nature of the alteration and the overall strength and magnitude of the hydrothermal system
observed at Nueva California are characteristic of large gold systems, such as the nearby Pierina Mine.