Categories: Base Metals / Precious Metals
Topics: General Base Metals / General Precious Metals

Orestone Mining (TSX-V: ORS) CEO David Hottman on Commencement of Drilling at the Resguardo Copper-Gold Project in Chile

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the CEO of Orestone Mining (TSX-V: ORS)(OTC: ORESF), Mr. David Hottman. David, how are you today, sir?

David Hottman: Very good, Gerardo.

Gerardo Del Real: Exciting times. Copper is flirting with $3 a pound. Gold is above $1,800, looks like convincingly. You have commenced drilling on a project that I know you've done a lot of work developing, the Resguardo project in Chile. Initial program of 1,200 meters, is that accurate? In three holes?

David Hottman: That's correct, yes. We've basically got a big target that is offset from some previous open pit and underground mining. It's a big IP anomaly. We're putting the initial three holes down to 400 meters, but we do have 600 meters of casing on site so if we like what we see, we can push holes deeper. Certainly we're going to be expanding the program on a moment's notice if we really get into something that we like.

Gerardo Del Real: Now the drilling is RC drilling. I imagine that the results, hopefully if the labs aren't backed up, should come back fairly quickly. I see that you anticipate to finalize the program here by month end.

David Hottman: Yes, that's correct. The drill program, the drilling portion will be done by month end. The assays should start trickling in probably the first week in August. We'll get the first hole back and then every four or five days after that until complete. 

Something that you mentioned at the beginning that kind of wraps this all together is with gold over $1,800 and copper flirting with $3, they're both in a bull market. What better time to drill into a big, huge potential deposit then right now when we're in a bull market?

Gerardo Del Real: Agreed. You did quite a bit of work, as I mentioned, to develop these targets. Before I let you go, Dave, can you explain to everyone why you're so excited about the potential of this project, especially relative to your market cap?

David Hottman: Right. As I mentioned, there's previous mining of oxide copper. It was 1 to 7% copper with 0.5, 0.6 gram gold. We did a series, or basically a geophysical, an IP program, induced polarization, which indicates that there is a very strong anomaly or there's metal in the ground that is holding a charge. Also, with low resistivity means the metal in the ground is allowing electricity to flow through as well. We've got a target that's 1.5 kilometers long, so almost a mile long, between a quarter and a half a mile wide for those listeners in the States of yours. It's a huge target and it is just offsetting of this surface and underground production.

It would be the explanation for the deposition of mineralization that was produced, especially because that mineralization that was produced was in skarns, mantos, and breccias. Now, those are different styles of systems where mineralization is. A skarn is cooked up, juiced up rock. Breccia is a lot of force and liquids flowing around. The other one, mantos, that's a flat-lying zone that you could have mineralization half a mile away or a mile away, and it comes up through the earth and then it flows down the right rock type.

The key to wrap all of that into one sentence is there's a big system with lots of heat and lots of juice and lots of metal floating around to make the type of deposits that were previously mined. Right now we have a huge target that we're drilling. We're well advanced on the first hole and should end it there without discussing what we're seeing in the first hole.

Gerardo Del Real: David, exploration companies that have success with the drill bit are being richly rewarded. You have the right share structure. You have a tiny market cap. I'm looking forward to the assays and if anything comes up between now and then you give me a call, okay?

David Hottman: I will. Yes, that's the last point. The market cap is $6 or $7 million. A big discovery, $50, 100, 200 million dollar market cap's not out of the question. There's room to move on the upside here very powerfully.

Gerardo Del Real: You've done it before. Fingers crossed.

David Hottman: Great. Thank you, Gerardo.