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Cerro Chorcha Copper Property

CERRO CHORCHA COPPER DEPOSIT

Property and Ownership

Dominion's Arrival at Chorcha

 

Dominion & Bellhaven Geologists at North-South Stockwork

 

Drill Pad Preparation

 

Drill Hole G95-8 244m of 0.53% Cu inc. 45m of 1.12%Cu

 

Intense Vein Breccia

 

Quartz Magnetite Stockwork

 

On March 6, 2007, Dominion signed an Exploration and Development Agreement with Bellhaven Copper and Gold, Inc. for collaboration on the highly prospective Cerro Chorcha Copper Project in Panama. Under the agreement, Dominion has the option to acquire up to a 75% interest in Cuprum Resource Corporation ("Cuprum"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bellhaven, which owns 100% of the Cerro Chorcha Project. Upon completion of all commitments detailed below, Dominion will have an effective 65% interest in the Cerro Chorcha Project. Dominion has agreed to make the following payments and expenditures:

 

  • Pay $500,000 to Bellhaven (paid) and issue 4 million common (restricted) shares of Dominion (4 million shares issued in escrow to be released over a 3-year period);
  • Pay to Bellhaven an additional $1.5 million over the next three years on the anniversary date of March 7th (the first tranche has been paid);
  • Spend a total of $15 million in exploration and development work over the next 36 months including $2 million within 12 months, an additional $7 million within 24 months and an additional $6 million by the end of 36 months; and,

Upon delivery of a bankable feasibility study within 36 months, Dominion will earn an additional 10% for a total possible 75% interest in the Cerro Chorcha Project. If the bankable feasibility study is delayed, Dominion can continue to maintain this agreement by spending a further $1 million each 6 months until a bankable feasibility is delivered.

Dominion and Bellhaven also have a signed exploration agreement with the local indigenous people, the Ngöbé people. The annual exploration expenditure was recently negotiated and stands at $287,800. This exploration agreement is the first of its kind in the area and allows Dominion and Bellhaven to conduct exploration while contributing to local social programs. The agreement also provides continuity agreements beyond exploration into extraction.

The Cerro Chorcha Project consists of a metallic mineral exploration concession valid for 4 years with extensions available for another four years. The Project consists of 24,241.91 hectares in five rectangular blocks located in Chiriqui and Bocas Del Toro Provinces, about 290 kilometres west of Panama City and 66 kilometres from the Costa Rican border.

The Project is accessed by an all-weather road that passes through the north western portion of the Concession, on one side of the Continental Divide. The land route from Panama City (located about 290 kilometres away) requires 8 hours of road travel, mostly along a paved four and two lane highway and then 24 kilometres of dirt road to the village of Soloy. The main exploration target (the Guariviara Zone) is located on the other side of the mountain range and is accessible by a one hour helicopter ride from Panama City or on foot. From the village of Soloy to the camp at the Guariviara Zone requires 1.5 days of travel by foot.

The Project is located in steep mountain terrain and is covered with high altitude rain forest with annual rainfall estimated to be 6 metres. Temperatures in the high altitude zone average 20 to 25o Celsius with the occasional skiffs of snow at higher altitudes. Work can be conducted year round.

Geology and Mineralization
The Cerro Chorcha Project is an advanced porphyry copper prospect located in the western cordillera of Panama, roughly 35 kilometres west of the world-class Cerro Colorado porphyry copper deposit which contains a measured and indicated resource of over 1.75 billion tonnes grading 0.64% copper with a 0.5% cutoff.

The porphyry copper (gold, silver, molybdenum) mineralization, thought to be between three and five million years old, occurs predominantly within a composite intrusion consisting of quarts diorite and diorite. The intrusive rocks have been affected by phyllic hydrothermal alteration producing quartz-magnetite-sulphide stockworks and sheeted veins zones accompanied by widespread sericite. This phyllic alteration assemblage is a good indicator of potentially economic copper mineralization and contains within it most of the mineralization encountered to date. Widespread propylitic alteration of both intrusive and nearby volcanic rocks surrounds the phyllic center. An east-northeast trending mineralized zone has been truncated by a north-northwest trending post mineral fault zone which appears to have uplifted the northeast side of the deposit and exposed it to erosion. On the northeast side, geochemistry, magnetics and one drill hole suggest that a small, barren core may be surrounded by relatively high grade mineralization. Surface rock chip geochemistry shows strong copper and gold anomalies over the zone and an irregular ring of molybdenum anomalies at its periphery.

The known hydrothermal alteration and copper mineralization at the Cerro Chorcha Project covers a minimum of 2.5 square kilometers and is contained within diorite-quartz diorite exhibiting pervasive silicification, phyllic alteration, quartz stockwork veining, and local potassic alteration (secondary biotite). Copper mineralization (chalcopyrite and bornite) is associated with abundant magnetite (2% to 4% in phyllic altered rock, 10% to 15% in quartz stockworks) and lesser pyrite. The mineralization on the southwest side of the fault remains relatively unexposed by erosion and has not been well explored by drilling. At the surface, this part of the mineral complex is highly anomalous in molybdenum, but only weakly indicated by copper and gold. Volcanic rocks cover a segment of this portion of the mineralization.

Past Exploration
Between 1969 and 2006, at least $5.3 million has been spent on the exploration and development of the Cerro Chorcha Project.

Asarco Exploration Company of Canada Ltd. ("Asarco") discovered the Guariviara Zone of the Cerro Chorcha Project in 1969 during a regional stream sediment program. By 1976, Asarco had conducted sampling (over 400 samples collected and assayed), mapping, and trenching, successfully outlining porphyry copper mineralization grading greater than 0.2% copper over an area of 600 by 300 metres. Mineralization intervals ranged from 12 metres to as much as 95 metres of copper grading 0.34% to 2.05% copper.

From 1990 to 1992, Consultores Geologicos SA collected an additional 45 samples, confirming Asarco's discovery. In 1993, the original Guariviara Zone was grouped with additional concessions to create the current 24,350 hectare Cerro Chorca Project, now held by Geo-Minas, SA through an agreement between Consultores Geologicos SA and GeoRecursos International SA ("GeoRecursos"). In 1993 additional work conducted included a grid cut with a 1,600 metre baseline and north-south cross lines spaced at 200 metre intervals. Sixty-seven soil and 30 rock samples were taken along the grid and another 64 rock chip samples were taken as part of a regional prospecting program. In 1994 and 1995, GeoRecursos and Arlo Resources ("Arlo") expanded the grid, performed geochemical, geological and magnetic surveys and regional prospecting work. GeoRecursos and Arlo completed 27 helicopter-supported diamond drill holes on the Guariviara Zone for a total of 5,765 metres. The first 7 holes (1,037 metres) all intersected porphyry copper mineralization. The next 6 holes (1,329 metres) confirmed stockwork and disseminated porphyry copper mineralization and, in addition, identified a zone of supergene enrichment. The third group of drill holes (14 holes totalling 2,876 metres) extended the strike length of the mineralization to 1 kilometre and extended the width of the mineralized zone to 500 metres.

In 1997 and 1998, Cyprus Mineral de Panama ("Cyprus") obtained an option on the property and expanded the grids, refined the geology of the deposit, mapped and sampled outlying zones, conducted airborne radiometric and magnetic surveys and drilled an additional 9 diamond drill holes totalling 1,271 metres. The drilling extended the northern and southern limits of the mineralization. After Cyprus left Panama, the concessions remained dormant until they were officially cancelled April 15, 2004.

In summary, the database for the Cerro Chorcha Project includes 3,350 stream sediment, soil and rock samples and 4,268 samples of split diamond drill core from 7,036 metres of drilling in 35 diamond drill holes. Drilling was conducted on the main Chorcha body.

Significant drill results are detailed below:

 

Drill Hole NumberFromToIntervalCopper (%)Gold (g/t)Comments
G94-13.093.990.90.650.07Bottomed in mineralization
G94-1A6.0301.0295.00.510.03Bottomed in mineralization
G94-21.547.946.40.820.08 
G94-2A6.0191.0185.00.550.07Bottomed in mineralization
G94-32.0241.0239.00.660.05Bottomed in mineralization
G95-87.6253.0245.40.530.170.99% Cu, 416 ppb Au from 41.0 to 99.0 m
G95-94.6277.8273.20.600.131.64% Cu, 203 ppb Au from 103.0 to 125.0 m
G95-109.1318.2309.10.780.072.67% Cu, 144 ppb Au from 97.0 to 126.0 m
G95-153.0210.3207.30.590.010.83% Cu from 3.0 to 90.0 m, 1.04% Cu from 148.0 to 175.0 m
G95-163.0167.0164.00.630.030.78% Cu from 9.0 to 90.0 m
G95-1913.7335.0321.30.660.151.16% Cu from 31.0 to 44.1 m
G95-218.0365.0357.00.540.081.48% Cu, 301 ppb Au from 88.0 to 112.0 m
G95-252.7524.6521.90.360.031.01% Cu, 0.27 g/t Au from 2.7 to 42.0 m
C98-2956271.9215.90.340.051.09% Cu, 0.64 g/t Au from 264.0 to 271.0 m

In 2005/2006, Bellhaven collected continuous, one-metre channel samples from a northeast striking zone of quartz-magnetite stockwork which had been recently exposed near the centre of the deposit. In March 2006, Bellhaven reported results from two trenches in the stockwork zone which returned an average grade of 1.89% copper, 1.44 grams of gold per tonne, and 23.28 grams of silver per tonne over a total of 61 meters.

Subsequent investigation of the area has revealed two structurally controlled stockwork districts within the main porphyry body, one striking Northeast-Southwest ("NE zone") and another striking North-South. Additional trench results from the NE striking zone and the North-South striking zone included a continuous 166 metres of 0.63 grams of gold per tonne, 0.56% copper and 6.61 grams of silver from the NE zone and 86 metres of 1.15 grams of gold per tonne, 0.23% copper and 16.61 grams of silver per tonne from the North-South zone.

Exploration by Dominion
An 11 hole - 3,300-metre diamond drill program on the Cerro Chorcha property commenced in mid-June 2007 and is expected to be completed within 90 days. The drill program will test high-grade copper-gold-silver mineralization associated with the structurally-controlled quartz-magnetite stockwork within and to the east of the main porphyry copper deposit. A drill and exploration base camp has been completed on site. Structural mapping and channel sampling of the structurally-controlled quartz-magnetite stockwork that hosts the high-grade copper-gold-silver mineralization continues to add potential tonnage to the deposit and to the Company's understanding of the area. Concurrent with the drill program, several of the regional geochemical anomalies occurring throughout the 242 square kilometre concession will be investigated.

Mineral Resource
In 2006 Peter Folk, P. Eng., has calculated a NI 43-101 compliant inferred mineral resource at Cerro Chorcha of 134,924,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.48% Cu and 0.059 g/t Au (using a 0.2% Cu cut-off grade) or 70,464,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.68% Cu and 0.095 g/t Au (using a 0.4% Cu cut-off grade).

Bellhaven and Dominion management consider these estimates to be both relevant and reliable.

Technical Reports (NI-43-101)
The 43.101 reports on the Cerro Chorcha Property are available to be downloaded from the following link.

Technical Reports (NI-43-101) - PDF (6.8MB)

Technical Reports (NI-43-101) 2008 - PDF (6.8MB)

Please see the November 7 '05 Technical report filing and the amendment (additions) to it in the July 12 '06 Technical Report filing.

Gold at Cerro Chorcha
Continuous, one-meter channel samples were collected by Bellhaven from a NE-striking zone of quartz-magnetite stockwork which had been recently exposed near the center of the deposit. In a press release dated March 6, 2006, Bellhaven reported results from two trenches in the stockwork zone which returned a total of 61 meters at an average grade of 1.89% Cu, 1.44 g/t Au, and 23.28 g/t Ag.

Subsequent investigation of the area has revealed two structurally controlled stockwork districts within the main porphyry body, one striking Northeast-Southwest and another striking North-South. Gold results from continuous two meter channel sampling of the two zones have been released (February 21, 2007) and include 94 meters of 1.03 g/t Au from the NE-SW zone and 64 meters of 1.45 g/t Au from N-S zone. Both surface trenches are located approximately 75 meters north of the 2006 stockwork channel sampling

Regional Activity

Cerro Colorado Copper Deposit - 33 kilometres east of the Cerro Chorcha property
The Cerro Colorado copper deposit is one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world with resources, estimated by previous owners, of 1.75 billion tonnes at an average grade of 0.64% copper (at a 0.5% cutoff). Based on the results of a feasibility study carried out by Kvaerner in 1998, this deposit could be economically developed into a large scale, open-pit operation with a 12 year mine life and production costs of $0.49 per pound with the then average copper price of approximately $1.10 per pound. The current ownership status and near term prognosis for the Cerro Colorado deposit is unclear at this time.

Cerro Petaquilla Copper Deposits - Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. - 150 kilometres east of the Cerro Chorcha property
In the mid 1990's, the Minera Petaquilla, S.A. Copper Project was ranked as one of the top 5 copper projects in the world. Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver based exploration company developing this copper/gold deposit in Cocle Province, east central Panama. The Minera Petaquilla, S.A. copper/gold project is a joint venture with Teck Cominco Limited (right to acquired 26% interest) & Inmet Mining Corporation (48%). In the 1998 AMEC Engineering (formerly H.A. Simons) feasibility study (completed for the joint venture partners under the direction of Teck) the Minera Petaquilla S.A. project was estimated to contain a mineable reserve of 1.115 billion tonnes grading 0.50% copper, 0.09 g/t gold, 0.015% molybdenum, as well as recoverable silver. In January 2007, Petaquilla Minerals, Inmet, and Teck Cominco announced a proposed $1.7 billion development of this deposit which, based on the previous studies, is expected to have a 23 year mine life producing over 9.4 billion pounds of copper, 1.37 million ounces of gold, 24.1 million ounces of silver and 131.1 million pounds of molybdenum.

Potential
Dominion believes that the Cerro Chorcha property is an exciting prospect with the potential to significantly expand the current 134 million tonne resource. The mineralization is currently open-ended both at depth and in lateral extent with a large portion of the historical drilling terminating in mineralization (including drill hole C98-29 which stopped in 1.37% copper at 271.9 metres depth). The significant depth of this deposit is shown in drill hole G95-25 which assayed 0.39% copper over the entire 524.6 metre depth of the drill hole and terminated still in copper mineralization.

A limited field investigation by Dominion observed the northeast and north-south striking stockwork zones which appear to be over 100 metre in width. From limited exposure, it appears that the north-south stockwork zone may have a strike length of over 700 metres. Previous regional work (limited to a small portion of the property) has included airborne magnetometer and radiometric surveys, which have revealed multiple areas of interest within the Chorcha concessions including two large elliptical multiphase diorite-quartz diorite-monzodioritic 'batholiths' roughly 10 kilometres in diameter. Within each of the intrusives, numerous anomalies occur coincident with many of the geochemical anomalies. Limited rock, soil and stream surveys have been conducted and highlight the main Chorcha body as well as producing numerous copper, molybdenum and gold anomalies.

The Chorcha concession batholiths resemble the Petaquilla deposit area which has multiple targets of copper-gold porphyries as well as gold targets like Molejon. Given that other porphyry copper districts in Panama contain multiple mineralization systems such as at Petaquilla, the Company believes that additional discoveries in the Cerro Chorcha district are likely. In addition, Dominion believes that the strongly anomalous stream sediment samples (>200 ppm Cu) collected by ASARCO, which drain an area of 8 to 12 square kilometres within the Chorcha concession, are too large and numerous to be explained by a single mineralized system.

Dominion believes that the upside potential at Cerro Chorcha could be as much as 800 million tonnes of mineralization, with numerous additional exploration targets within the large 242 square kilometre concession.

Program
Dominion is planning a $8 million exploration program to re-establish and expand on the historical work and to bring the inferred mineral resource into the indicated category. Dominion is seeking permits for a road to the property which would reduce drilling costs.

 

Geological work
Assays
Geophysics
Drilling (15,000m of helicopter supported drilling)
Fuel and camp
Camp equipment
Contracting services
Office and administration
Vehicles
Miscellaneous (satellite/mine imagery)
Facilities
Total
$500,000
$350,000
$300,000
$6,000,000
$200,000
$50,000
$380,000
$60,000
$45,000
$65,000
$50,000
$8,000,000
Designed by Sherly Ho Design and Associates