High-Grade Gold, Platinum and Palladium Project in Brazil
   
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Serra Pelada

 

  • Location (click to view more)

    Serra Pelada is situated in the mineral prolific Carajas region near the towns of Curionopolis and Parauapebas, Para State, northern Brazil, where access and infrastructure are excellent. There are no weather impediments in the area where Serra Pelada is located.


     

  • History (click to view more)


    Serra Pelada Garimpo, 1983
    Discovered in 1979, Serra Pelada hosted the largest ever gold rush in Latin America. During the 1980s, up to 80,000 garimpeiros (artisanal miners) produced an estimated 2 million ounces of gold plus platinum and palladium, from a 400m x 300m x 100m hand dug open pit. Garimpeiro production declined due to pit wall collapse and flooding causing the cessation of bedrock mining since the late 1980s. 

    Vale, which held the underlying title to Serra Pelada until 2007, explored the area from 1980 to 1998, completing more than 200 drill holes in the Serra Pelada mineralised system.

     

     

    850.425/90 - Area A showing collars of Vale's historical drilling (black), Colossus' Phase I drilling (red), and Colossus' Phase II drilling (aqua)
    850.425/90 - Colossus concession showing collars of Vale's historical drilling (black), Colossus' Phase I drilling (red), and Colossus' Phase II drilling (aqua)
    COOMIGASP, a registered Brazilian cooperative company, was granted Exploration License 1485 (DNPM process 850.425/90) by the Ministry of Mines & Energy in February, 2007. This 100 hectare license is centered on the Serra Pelada pit.

    In July 2007, COLOSSUS and COOMIGASP formed a partnership to develop the remaining bedrock mineralisation at Serra Pelada. Under the terms of this joint venture, COLOSSUS will manage and operate the project, earning a majority interest by funding exploration and paying COOMIGASP a premium for the gold reserve established by the joint venture. Details of this agreement may be found in Colossus Minerals Prospectus on www.sedar.com. COOMIGASP will separately develop the 'monteira' (tailings and waste from the Serra Pelada garimpo), with initial financial and technical assistance from COLOSSUS.



    774 Hectares of additional ground contiguous to Serra Pelada
    774 Hectares of additional ground contiguous to Serra Pelada
    In March 2010, the Company successfully acquired 774 Hectares of additional ground contiguous to Serra Pelada. The ownership structure of the total land package remains 75% to Colossus and 25% to Coomigasp.
     
  • Geology (click to view more)

    The Serra Pelada deposit is hosted by Archaean metasediments of the Rio Fresco Group which unconformably overlain by greenstone belts and gneissic basement, intruded by several ages of mafic-ultramafic and granitoid plutons.

    High-grade gold-platinum-palladium mineralization is hosted mainly by fine-grained carbonaceous rocks, but also occurs in iron oxide-rich breccias and silicified zones (Grainger et al, 2002). The deposit is oxidized to depths of more than 300m. Consequently, sulfides are lacking and gold and PGE's occur mainly as metals and alloys (Cabral et al, 2002).

    The Central Mineralized Zone at Serra Pelada was mined along about 350m of strike length to depths of about 110m. Vale drilling in this area encountered some remarkable intersections. For example drill hole FD-0032, 43m. (from 40m) assaying 4709g/t gold, 204g/t platinum and 1174g/t palladium (Cabral et al, 2002).

     

     


    Long-section of the
    Historical Pit
    Vale drilling confirmed that gold-platinum-palladium mineralisation extends under the pit and for more than 450m strike length to the western boundary of 850.425/90. In these areas, mineralisation has been encountered at depths of 150-350m and constitutes the prime target of the COLOSSUS-COOMIGASP joint venture.

    Tallarico (2000) and Vale (2006) modeled the Central Mineralized Zone as arcuate in form, with a steeply dipping eastern margin and more shallowly dipping limbs to the west.

     

     

    Cross-Section 75NE
    Drill Section 00
    The highest grades of gold, platinum and palladium occur in the moderately to steeply dipping parts of the central zone which is up to 150m in vertical extent and in places more than 50m wide.

     

     


    Only known photo of mineralized column at Serra Pelada
    Vale (2006) and COLOSSUS interpret the Central Mineralized Zone as occupying the hinge zone of a reclined syncline which plunges gently to the southwest. Additional noble metal mineralization occurs to the east and west of the central zone.

    The geochemical character of Serra Pelada mineralisation (Cabral et al, 2002; Grainger et al, 2002) is consistent with its deposition by progressive reduction of highly oxidized brine(s) in a structurally controlled hydrothermal plumbing system postdating the main regional deformation of the Rio Fresco Group.

     

  • Proposed Development Plan (click to view more)

     

    3D Site Plan
    3D Site Plan
    In order to further define the Serra Pelada deposit an underground exploration development program was initiated in mid 2010. Colossus is advancing the development of a 3,500 metre underground decline, which will provide access for underground exploration and definition drilling, as well as provide access to the orebody for eventual production. The development will also allow for a bulk sample to be collected and sampled to better define the gold and PGM grades of the deposit.

     

    General Site Plan
    General Site Plan
    Earthworks on site infrastructure is largely complete with the camp site, maintenance facilities, administrative offices and camp kitchen currently in operation. Plans for the engineering and design of the mill facility are advancing and construction of the gravity plant is expected to be complete in the second half of 2012.

    Development Milestones:

    Objective Target
       
    Commence Phase IV - 25,000 metre surface drilling program COMPLETE
    Complete construction of 6-building accommodation complex COMPLETE
    Commence underground diamond drilling program 4Q 2011
    Extract initial bulk sample from the CMZ 2H 2012
    Complete dewatering to 320 metres 2H 2012
    Complete gravity processing plant construction 2H 2012
    Initital 43-101 Outlining 12 Months Probable Reserves
    Commercial production
    1Q 2013
    2013

Information presented as of September 20, 2011


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