Canabrava - VMS Project

The Canabrava VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) Project comprises 28,500 hectares of exploration claims and licenses that covers strike extensions of the Palmeirópolis Deposits, which are a series of zinc, lead, copper and silver sulphide ore bodies discovered by the CPRM (Brazilian Geological Survey) in the 1970's. Lara has been gradually acquiring mineral rights along this trend over the last two years as it sees considerable potential to discover additional mineralization using modern geophysical methods and that the base metal focused exploration work of the 1970's may have under-estimated the gold and silver potential of the district.

Exploration Work

We believe that modern geophysics will be able to identify additional ore bodies and that combined with higher metals prices will be enough to make Palmeirópolis and the old Billiton targets economically feasible. Lara started regional mapping, rock chip and soil geochemistry in late 2007 (see maps below) in parallel with adding to and consolidating its land position.
In early 2009, airborne geophysics defined twenty-three new targets on the project. 2,870.8 line kilometres of VTEM (helicopter-borne time domain electromagnetic) geophysics were flown over the belt, covering a 645.6 square kilometre area at a 250 metre line spacing. Of the twenty-three new targets, ten are considered priority one, five as priority two and eight as third priority. Stream sediment geochemistry was also completed over the whole belt. Planned follow-up comprises soil sampling grids, terrestrial geophysical surveys (magnetic and time domain electromagnetic) and detailed geological mapping over the target areas to define drill targets.

Work at Canabrava is being conducted by Votorantim Metais Zinco S.A. (“Votorantim”) under the terms of an option and earn-in agreement whereby Votorantim can earn an initial 55% interest in the project, by funding $2.5 million of exploration expenditures over a three year period.

Geology and Mineralization

The region lies within the Brasiliano Fold belt, a Proterozoic-age mobile belt that extends up through central Brazil. The Palmeirópolis deposits are hosted by a Mid-Proterozoic greenstone belt of the same name, comprising a meta-volcano-sedimentary sequence of bimodal volcanics (basalt-rhyolite), overlain by cherts, banded iron formations and pelitic and volcanoclastic sediments. Metamorphic grade is amphibolites facies and the sequence is also intruded by granites. Massive sulphide mineralization is stratabound, hosted by the basal volcanics and has been interpreted as volcanic massive sulphide type (VMS) due to the well-developed alteration zones underneath the ore bodies. The ore bodies are highly deformed.

CPRM Palmeirópolis Deposit

This deposit is likely to be one of several deposits in the inventory of the CPRM that will be offered for public tender in the coming months. Lara has been monitoring this process closely and hopes to eventually participate in the tender.

Details of the Palmeirópolis deposit are in the public domain, published in a CPRM report from the year 2000 "Zinco, Chumbo e Cobre de Palmeirópolis Estado de Tocantins". The report shows that the CPRM drilled some ~32,000m of diamond core at Palmeirópolis in the 1970's, of which ~26,000 was used to define four ore bodies (C1 to C4) with a total resource of 5.5Mt at an average grade of 5.28% Zn+Pb, 0.83% Cu and 23.95 g/t Ag. These resources are historical and not National Instrument 43-101 compliant, however they are considered material to the prospectivity and thus value of the adjacent Lara properties.

Click on thumbnail to enlarge

This photo gallery has no pictures.