Bronco Creek Exploration Inc.

Projects

PROJECTS
BY TYPE

Alkaline Gold Projects
Mineral Hill


Carlin-Style Gold Projects
Cathedral Well
Richmond Mountain


Porphyry or Skarn Base-Metal Projects
Copper Springs
Courtland East
Hardshell Skarn *
Jasper Canyon *
Mesa Well *
Middle Mountain
Park-Sayler *
Red Hills
Silver Bell West
Superior West
Yerington West


* Available for partnership

Cathedral Well, Nevada

Target Commodity: Au

Partnership Status: Eldorado Gold Corporation lease/option

Land Position: 5,030 acres; 261 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims

Property Location: Green Springs district of southwestern White Pine County, Nevada (~60 km southwest of Ely), straddling the western flank of the White Pine Range and adjacent Railroad Valley

 

·         In proximity of historic Green Springs gold mine and cyanide heap-leach operation (1.1 million metric tonnes of ore averaging 2.1 g/t gold)

 

·         Located in region characterized by numerous jasperoid occurrences and past-producing gold mines — including Green Springs itself, Illipah, Alligator Ridge, EZ Junior and Pan prospect — regarded to be the southern continuation of the Battle Mountain-Eureka trend

 

·         New mapping and reinterpretation of district structural geology by BCE team reveal multiple targets including:

  1. Undiscovered high-grade feeder structures of known mineralized zones
  2. Structural offsets of known ore deposits and recognized productive stratigraphic horizons
  3. Bulk-tonnage deposits in other stratigraphic horizons suggested by extensive areas of jasperoid and other alteration outcropping on BCE property

 

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Copper Springs, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu(-Mo)

Partnership Status: Geo Minerals lease/option agreement

Land Position: 5,056 acres; 216 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims and one Arizona Mineral Exploration Permit

Property Location: Globe-Miami mining district; Gila County, Arizona, northeast of Pinal Mountains

 

· Supergene and hypogene porphyry copper-molybdenum mineralization targets in south-central portion of world-class (production and resources of ~16 Mt copper) multi-porphyry-center Globe-Miami mining district

 

· Tertiary faults have dramatically dismembered and extended district — a cluster of large porphyry Cu(-Mo) systems centered on a Laramide-age granitic pluton

 

· Fault-bound deposit pieces include: Pinto Valley, Cactus-Carlotta, Copper Cities, Miami-Inspiration, and Old Dominion (BHP, Quadra, Freeport-McMoRan, others)

 

· Approximately 60% of district remains covered by post-mineral sedimentary and volcanic rocks

 

· Multi-year district-scale structural reconstruction by BCE geologists has resulted in new understanding of district’s mineralizing systems, structure, and the location of several yet-undiscovered portions of the porphyry centers hidden beneath post-mineral cover rocks

 

· Copper Springs target is fault-displaced middle-to-upper portion of large productive porphyry center

 

· Drill sites selected to test target area, and first-stage drill test permitting complete

 

· See also Jasper Canyon project description

 

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Courtland-East, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu-Au

Partnership Status: Under lease/option agreement

Land Position: ~2,242 acres; 18 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims, five Arizona Exploration Permits

Property Location: Courtland-Gleeson district; Cochise County, Arizona; approx. 30 miles north of Bisbee; southeast of Dragoon mountains

 

· Historic district with high-grade copper-gold replacement and skarn deposits district similar to those seen in nearby Bisbee district and high-grade replacement ores of Pima, San Manuel, and Silver Bell districts — all of which were later recognized to be associated with nearby porphyry copper systems with undiscovered porphyry source

 

· Historic Courtland-Gleeson deposits are fault-bound (rootless); porphyry source as-yet undiscovered

 

· Multiple generations of faults have dramatically dismembered and rotated stratigraphy to steep angles

 

· New district interpretation by BCE geologists brings refined perspective on mineralizing systems, structure, and presumed location of porphyry source beneath post-mineral cover rocks within BCE land position

 

· New geophysical data (seismic and NSAMT) supports BCE structural interpretation

 

· Drill sites permitted and ready to drill

 

· Preliminary 2008 drill hole results interpreted to be consistent with structural model; hole cased for continued drilling in 2009

 

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Hardshell Skarn, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu-Au-Ag

Partnership Status: Wholly owned by BCE and available for partnership

Land Position: 293 acres; 16 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims

Property Location: Sunnyside area; Santa Cruz County, Arizona; Patagonia Mountains

 

·         High-grade copper-gold-silver skarn target located in historic mining district between Sunnyside porphyry copper system and Hardshell silver-copper-manganese replacement deposit (both with historic mineral resources defined by Asarco in 1970’s exploration)

 

·         Historic high-grade drill intercepts of polymetallic skarn in Paleozoic carbonate rocks along BCE property boundary

 

·         Significant thicknesses of silicified and altered Paleozoic carbonate section outcropping on BCE property, with series of faults stepping the unit up across BCE ground and presenting opportunity to test multiple prospective stratigraphic levels

 

·         BCE geochemical and structural interpretation defines property as key intermediate piece between drill-defined deep skarn environment and the shallow, distal styles of mineralization represented by Hardshell

 

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Jasper Canyon, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu(-Mo)

Partnership Status: BCE wholly owned and available for partnership

Land Position: ~3,186 acres; 160 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims

Property Location: Globe-Miami mining district; Gila County, Arizona, northwest end of Globe Hills

 

· Supergene and hypogene porphyry copper-molybdenum mineralization targets in northeast portion of world-class multi-porphyry-center Globe-Miami mining district

 

· Tertiary faults have dramatically dismembered and extended district — a cluster of large porphyry Cu(-Mo) systems centered on a Laramide-age granitic pluton

 

· Fault-bound deposit pieces include: Pinto Valley, Cactus-Carlotta, Copper Cities, Miami-Inspiration, and Old Dominion (BHP, Quadra, Freeport-McMoRan, others)

 

· Approximately 60% of district remains covered by post-mineral sedimentary and volcanic rocks

 

· Multi-year district-scale structural reconstruction by BCE geologists has resulted in new understanding of district’s mineralizing systems, structure, and the location of several yet-undiscovered portions of the porphyry centers hidden beneath post-mineral cover rocks

 

· Jasper Canyon targets are fault-displaced upper portion of productive porphyry center

 

· Adjacent drill hole demonstrates BCE interpretation of shallow cover with porphyry related mineralization at depth

 

· See also Copper Springs project description

 

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Mesa Well, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu(-Mo)

Partnership Status: BCE wholly owned and available for partnership

Land Position: 3,872 acres; seven Arizona Exploration Permits

Property Location: South of Klondike district; Graham County, Arizona; Pinaleño Mountains western flank

 

· Property lies along regional trend of porphyry copper mineralization extending from Safford district (Freeport-McMoRan) to San Manuel district (BHP-Billiton)

 

· Adjacent to Klondike district, a past producer of copper, lead and zinc mineralization from skarn and replacement deposits in limestones and porphyry-like occurrences

 

· Tertiary faults identified across area have dismembered and extended a Laramide-aged intrusive complex, exposing a dike swarm adjacent to BCE property, tilting young sedimentary rocks to steep angles, and offsetting the deeper portion of system to area beneath BCE property position along low-angle fault

 

· BCE geologists have constrained fault vector and offset, and interpret observed porphyry-related alteration, significant geochemical anomaly, and remobilized copper on Mesa Well project land interpreted to indicate location of productive portion of porphyry center beneath low-angle fault on BCE property

 

· Preliminary 2008 drill results interpreted to be consistent with structural model; holes cased for continued drilling in 2009

 

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Middle Mountain; Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu(-Mo)

Partnership Status: Inmet Mining Corp. /Geo Minerals Ltd. option agreement

Land Position: ~7,066 acres; 44 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims, 11 Arizona Exploration Permits

Property Location: southeast of Florence in Pinal County, Arizona; west of Ninetysix Hills

 

· Lies along broad belt of porphyry-copper mineralization that stretches from Globe-Miami (Phelps Dodge, BHP-Billiton) westward through the deposits at Ray (Asarco), Florence-Poston Butte (permitted by BHP in the 1990’s), and beyond


· Extensive area of intense alteration representing the upper portions of a large, sulfide-rich zone of hydrothermal alteration outcropping within BCE land position in granitic rocks intruded by Laramide-aged stocks and dikes


· BCE geologists have recognized multiple lines of evidence that suggest the area has undergone extreme degrees of crustal extension and rotation, with crustal blocks having been rotated 90 degrees or more, and prospective environments for copper mineralization located within the Middle Mountain property beneath gravel cover


· 2008 drilling intersected what is interpreted to be the extension of a sulfide-rich, outer portion of a porphyry copper system; additional sites are permitted and continued drilling is slated for 2009

 

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Mineral Hill, Wyoming

Target Commodity: Cu-Au-Ag

Partnership Status: Golden Predator lease/option agreement

Land Position: ~1,117 acres; 60 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims (additional claims subject to pooling agreement with neighboring claimant not included)

Property Location: Mineral Hill/Hurricane gold mining district; Black Hills; Crook County, Wyoming

 

· Targets are epithermal-style gold deposits and porphyry copper-gold mineralization associated with a Eocene-aged alkaline igneous complex

 

· District mineralization provides evidence for multiple magmatic events, including the emplacement of a prominent central breccia pipe

 

· Intense hydrothermal alteration developed in portions of igneous complex along with gold-bearing quartz veins

 

· Placer gold deposits broadly developed in and around the Mineral Hill intrusive complex, and many historic mines and prospects are distributed throughout the district

 

· Drilling by BCE in late 2007 intercepted porphyry-style copper-gold mineralization in an area of stockwork K-silicate and quartz-sulfide veins

 

· Additional drilling slated for 2009 to better define zones of copper-gold mineralization

 

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Park – Sayler, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu(-Mo)

Partnership Status: BCE wholly owned and available for partnership

Land Position: 152 acres; one Arizona Exploration Permit

Property Location: Sacaton-Casa Grande area; Pinal County, Arizona

 

· Property encompasses approximately one-quarter of Asarco drill-defined Park-Sayler orebody: 200 million-ton, 1% copper resource (historic non-NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate) located between ASARCO-defined Sacaton ore body and Santa Cruz deposit

 

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Red Hills, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu(-Mo)

Partnership Status: Inmet Mining Corp. /Geo Minerals Ltd. option agreement

Land Position: ~7,461 acres; 248 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims, four Arizona Exploration Permits

Property Location: east of Florence, Pinal County, Arizona; west of Tortilla Mountains

 

· Lies along broad belt of porphyry-copper mineralization that stretches from Globe-Miami (Phelps Dodge, BHP-Billiton) westward through the deposits at Ray (Asarco), Florence-Poston Butte (permitted by BHP in the 1990’s), and beyond

 

· Upper portions of a porphyry copper system outcrops at surface just east of BCE land position as veins with copper oxide-minerals and intense quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) alteration developed in and around a swarm of Laramide porphyry dikes that cut older Precambrian granites (Unites States Geological Survey records report historic non-43-101 compliant resource of 20,000,000 short tons with 0.8 percent copper, with a broader resource of 500,000,000 short tons with 0.1 percent copper)

 

· New structural work by BCE geologists demonstrates that Tertiary faults have dramatically dismembered and extended district, rotating the mineralized crustal blocks ~90 degrees

 

· BCE has interpreted the location of deeper levels and more prospective portions of the porphyry copper system to lie beneath gravel cover rocks on the BCE land position

 

· 2008 drilling intersected 210 feet (64 meters) of exotic copper mineralization and was terminated before reaching bedrock due to loss of drill circulation; continued drilling at this and other sites is slated for 2009

 

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Richmond Mountain, Nevada

Target Commodity: Au+base metals

Partnership Status: Eldorado Gold Corporation lease/option agreement

Land Position: ~4,730 acres; 231 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims

Property Location: Eureka mining district; southeastern Eureka County, Nevada

 

·         Located in district of combined production and reserves of approximately 5.5 million ounces of gold with substantial silver, lead and zinc

 

·         Two styles of mineralization dominant in district: (1) polymetallic (± gold) system(s) developed in skarn and replacement bodies adjacent to early Cretaceous igneous intrusions, and (2) younger Carlin-style mineralization that overprints the older polymetallic mineralization

 

·         Extensive research by BCE geologists has constrained petrologic, geochemical, and structural control on spatial distribution of both mineralization types; both projected within BCE land position

 

·         BCE has proposed a two-phase exploration program slated for 2009-2010

 

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Silver Bell West, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu

Partnership Status: Geo Minerals lease/option agreement

Land Position: ~3760 acres ; 188 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims

Property Location: Silver Bell mining district; Silver Bell Mountains, approximately 30 miles northwest of Tucson, Arizona

 

· Property immediately adjacent to operating Silver Bell Mine (a 75% / 25% Asarco/Mitsui partnership), which has produced more than 84 Mt at an average grade of 0.76 percent copper from skarn, secondary enrichment blankets and porphyry ores since the discovery of mineralization in 1865, and reports reserves greater than 185 Mt at 0.61 % Cu (Long, 1995)

 

· Multiple stratigraphic units favorable for development of skarn mineralization and porphyry-style copper mineralization are recognized within the BCE land position, where a series of normal faults have down-dropped target rocks and lie beneath younger cover

 

· BCE is currently targeting two areas for exploration:

(1)   Paleozoic carbonate units likely to host copper-rich skarn mineralization that underlie outcrops of copper-mineralized Laramide intrusive rocks and copper-gold mineralized Mesozoic sedimentary rocks in the contact aureole

(2)   Trends of porphyry copper and skarn mineralization that project beneath cover rocks

 

· Ten drill sites in have been permitted, and first-round drilling is scheduled to begin in 2009

 

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Superior West, Arizona

Target Commodity: Cu-Au-Ag

Partnership Status: Freeport-McMoRan Exploration Corporation earn-in joint-venture agreement

Land Position: ~5,195 acres; 256 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims, and 14 additional adjacent claims (280 acres) by option agreement

Property Location: Pioneer mining district; Pinal County, Arizona, approximately three miles west of Superior and 50 miles east of Phoenix

 

· District is setting of the Magma Vein (a copper-silver-gold vein that produced 25 million tons of ore with >4% Cu), and the giant Resolution Copper deposit (~1.3 billion tones containing 1.5% copper)

 

· BCE is targeting two styles mineralization at Superior West: (1) the faulted, displaced and concealed western extension of the Magma Vein, and (2), the yet-undiscovered porphyry copper system that served as the source for the Magma Vein

 

· Reinterpretation of district structure and mineral/metal zoning patterns by BCE geologists predict location of porphyry source beneath younger cover rocks on the BCE property position

 

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Yerington, Nevada

Target Commodity: Cu-Au-Ag

Partnership Status: Entrée Gold Inc. joint-venture agreement

Land Position: ~4,350 acres; 214 U.S. unpatented lode mining claims

Property Location: Yerington district; Lyon County, Nevada

 

· Supergene and hypogene porphyry copper mineralization targets in southern portion of multi-porphyry-center Yerington mining district

 

· Tertiary faults have dramatically dismembered and extended district — a cluster of large porphyry Cu(-Mo) systems centered on a Jurassic-age granitic pluton

 

· Fault-bound deposit pieces include: past-producing Yerington and McArthur mines (Anaconda), and the undeveloped Bear-Lagomarsino and Ann Mason deposits

 

· Much of district remains covered by post-mineral sedimentary and volcanic rocks

 

· Extensive geologic work in the district by Anaconda geologists in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s produced highly-constrained structural and geologic models for the district, and these provide effective exploration tools and have helped illuminate additional targets for exploration

 

· Dike swarms and skarn deposits in southern part of Yerington district highlight presence of another, yet-undiscovered, porphyry center

 

· Multiple lines of geologic evidence supported by a refined structural interpretation points to structurally offset porphyry center under volcanic and sedimentary cover on BCE property

 

· BCE has permitted a series of drill holes across the property position, and is slated to begin drilling in 2009

 

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Bronco Creek Exploration Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurasian Minerals Inc. (TSX.V:EMX)