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Exploring a better way Country location map (above) and plan map Company profile Batero Gold Corp (TSX-V: BAT) has “something significant” in Colombia. President and CEO Brandon Rook told Mining Journal that the company’s Batero-Quinchia project encompasses multiple porphyry gold targets and already justifies “long-term planning”. As of early January, the company was evaluating last year’s drill data to finalise a focused follow-up programme for 2012. Batero expects to publish its first independent resource estimate (by Roscoe Postle Associates Inc) in early 2012 and will immediately begin a Preliminary Economic Assessment. Mr Rook notes that the company has accomplished a lot in a short time. In 2008, he identified Colombia as having “amazing geology” and being a safe political environment in which to invest. He then started looking for a project that “ticked all the boxes”, securing the rights to Batero-Quinchia in 2010. High potential Batero is focused solely on Colombia, and, in particular, on the country’s emerging Middle Cauca porphyry gold and copper belt. This belt already hosts two significant gold deposits: Gran Colombia’s Marmato project (containing 12.4Moz of gold 20km north of Batero-Quinchia) and AngloGold Ashanti’s La Colosa (16.27Moz of gold 100km to the southeast). The belt also hosts the significant porphyry gold deposits of Titiribi, La Mina and Quebradona. At the centre of the latest excitement is Batero’s 100%-owned 1,407ha property within the municipality of Quinchia in the department of Risaralda (some 55km north of Pereira, the regional capital). The region is considered socially stable and mining-friendly, and projects in the area are supported by comprehensive infrastructure, including roads, water and power. Three gold-copper porphyries were identified by an earlier programme in 2006 after early-stage drilling on the property. These porphyries are spaced over a 2km north-south strike length at elevations between 1,600m and 1,950m. The intrusives are composed of dykes and stocks emplaced in intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks of the Miocene Combia Formation and in Cretaceous basalts. All of the targets host gold and copper mineralisation. The mineralised zones encountered to date form part of a regional system covering more than 300ha. This district’s recognised core extends over 2km from La Cumbre through El Centro (encompassing the target areas of Manzanillo, La Lenguita and El Cedral) to Dos Quebradas. Achievements in 2011 The company recently completed a 55,755m diamond-drill programme on time and on budget. Over the past year, Batero has aggressively delineated an area of gold and copper mineralisation at or near surface, expanding the overall footprint of the La Cumbre porphyry over 600m in a NW-SE direction and over 400m in a NE-SW direction. The company also extended mineralisation to a depth of 756m at the La Cumbre porphyry, which remains open at depth and in several directions. The company also drilled the northern area of the property at Dos Quebradas and extended the gold-copper system about 950m to the south through the El Centro zone about 950m. Mr Rook said he was “encouraged by the continuity of the Dos Quebradas gold-copper system from the El Centro porphyry mineralisation in the south through to the north concession boundary. The drill results show a large extension of structurally controlled related porphyry mineralisation within the basalt host rocks continuing to the northern limits of the concession. Also, the new results indicate that mineralisation is present near surface and at depth.” Exploration drilling at the El Centro zone led to a discovery of the La Lenguita porphyry along with near-surface high-grade gold epithermal mineralisation. Structurally-controlled epithermal gold mineralisation was also discovered along the Amarilla Structural Corridor east of the La Cumbre porphyry, which also overprints the porphyry systems at La Cumbre and El Centro. The company has identified continuous mineralisation along an approximate 2km strike length from the Dos Quebradas porphyry through the El Centro zone to the La Cumbre porphyry. Batero also made a discovery
Examining cores at the core shack at Matecana, 800m southeast of La Cumbre. The company says this project suggests that the district has “strong potential to be expanded with further drilling”. The expansion of mineralisation from Matecana to La Cumbre would further extend the N-S strike of the project’s gold-copper mineralisation to about 2.8km. Goals for 2012 Batero will build on the highly successful 2011 field exploration and diamond-drill programme by strategically expanding the near- and at-surface higher-grade gold mineralisation at the La Cumbre porphyry. The company will also define the size and extent of the near-surface high-grade gold epithermal STRONG LOCAL TEAM Batero’s strong management and technical team in Colombia has contributed to numerous significant discoveries throughout the country. In December, Batero announced the appointment of Dr Darryl Lindsay as chief operating officer and senior vice president, and as president of the company’s wholly owned Colombian subsidiary, Minera Quinchia SAS. Dr Lindsay was also appointed to Batero’s board of directors and brings 20 years of experience as an exploration geologist and project manager for major porphyry mineral development programmes in South America from inception through to feasibility. In a very short time, Batero has aggressively moved forward with financing, exploring and proving the resource and has achieved significant milestones as the project moves from exploration to feasibility. “We are committed to moving this project forward and delivering value to shareholders” mineralisation in, and adjacent to, the Amarilla Structural Corridor, which is contiguous with the eastern boundary of the La Cumbre porphyry. The Amarilla Structural Corridor, a high-priority target, is over 3km long, 200-400m wide, and strikes NNW-SSE across the company’s concession. Significant drilling highlights last year included hole QAP-DDH-034, intersecting 5.80m grading 11.42g/t gold at just 9.80m below surface. The company’s strategy for 2012 will include exploring additional targets that have been identified from the first phase of the company’s field programme from mapping, geochemical and geophysical programmes. Over 70% of the concession block is yet to be explored. Batero will also continue to determine the presence and extent of a gold-rich oxidation horizon overlying a potential epithermal centre in the eastern part of El Centro which is supported by gold-in-soils anomalies and 2011 scout drilling. Securing value Batero recently received confirmation from Ingeominas that 100% of the property is now covered by concession agreements allowing long-term future exploitation of the project. Mr Rook said the company has also secured all surface rights in the immediate area of the La Cumbre porphyry and that the company will extend these surface rights over new discoveries, and areas that might be required for development infrastructure. Mr Rook described this as a “major accomplishment that clearly demonstrates to investors that we are committed to moving this project forward and delivering value”. Corporate social responsibility Reflecting the enormous potential of the project, Batero has begun ‘long-term planning’, including a major focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR). In an interview with Mining Journal, Mr Rook stressed that the Vancouver-based company “has a conscience” and is formalising CSR “from the ground up with a forward-thinking approach” that is progressive for most junior and even mid-tier companies. The company is investing in environmental and social programmes to build what Mr Rook describes as “positive relationships with local communities” that will ensure the sustainability of long-term objectives for the company and its community neighbours. To help with its CSR policies and practices, Batero engaged consultancy Greenspirit Strategies and www.baterogold.com conducted extensive consultations, surveys and baseline studies to better understand the local people and the environment. Mr Rook noted that Batero now has a “close working relationship with the local community”. He said the company’s “determination to improve the lives of local people has created an environment where the surrounding community supports this project moving ahead”. For example, families have participated in Batero’s ‘Farms for the Future’ programme and have “improved their quality of life and increased their agricultural production and incomes substantially”. Batero is also investing in water management and educational opportunities “because these are critical areas for community development in Quinchia”. CONTACT Batero Gold Corp 3703-1011 W Cordova Street Vancouver, BC, V6C 0B2 Canada Tickers: TSX-Venture: BAT Frankfurt Exchange FWB:68B Pink Sheets: BELDF Tel: +1 604 568 6378 Fax: +1 604 568 6834 E-mail: info@baterogold.com
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