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OVERVIEW
| |  | Coneto de Comonfort,
Durango, Mexico |
Coneto is a gold-silver mineral exploration project centrally positioned in the 'Mexican Silver Trend', in the Mesa Central on the eastern side of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains. The largest silver-gold mine in the world - Fresnillo - is located in this trend. In the states from Chihuahua through to Guanajuato, this trend hosts many other major deposits, including Guanajuato, Real de Angeles, San Agustin, Zacatecas, La Colorada, La Preciosa and La Pitarrilla.
The infrastructure is excellent. The village of Coneto de Comonfort, adjacent to the mining camp, is on the national electric grid and provides local services and labour. There are about 4000 people in the municipal area. A paved road leads to the center of the Coneto project and there are many gravel access roads. The nearest major highway is 35 kilometres to the east. The city of Durango is about 100 kilometres south of Coneto. Orex has 100% ownership of 15,900 hectares (40,700 acres) of mineral concessions at Coneto.
MINING HISTORY
 | | | Coneto - Historic Mine Workings |
With a history of more than 400 years, Coneto has been a mining camp since the days of the Conquistadores. Over 40 veins of silver and gold have been documented in the Coneto mining camp, some over 20 metres wide and extending more than a kilometre in length. Very little diamond drilling has occurred on the property. However, drilling records from the 1970's yielded grades of 2.35 g/t gold and 224 g/t gold for a silver equivalent of 365 g/t over 3.15 metres in Loma Verde, part of the western vein system. The central vein system was also mined in the 1970's by private companies. No modern exploration has occurred in the mining camp. Mining on several veins has only gone as far as the water table, yet the veins continue below that level.
Silver-equivalent determined as silver grade plus 60 times gold grade, the 10-year average metal price ratio on the London Metal Exchange. This also assumes 100% recovery, and does not include a contribution from base metals, nor fluorite.
| |  | | Coneto - Mine Portal |
DISTRICTS
CENTRAL
The central vein system was mined by private companies for silver and gold most recently in the 1970s, but closed in the early 1980's due to a drop in silver prices. The Palma and the Sauce veins were mined down to the water table.
EASTERN
The eastern vein system has been mined to extract 'flourite' from the Durazno and Impulsora veins. In places the vein is 20 metres thick. These operations mark a high level in the epithermal vein system. The eastern vein system shows an increase in sulphides and precious metals with depth.
WESTERN
The western vein system was drilled with one hole in the late 1970s, in the Loma Verde vein. Gold and silver results were strong and a follow up program was planned, but never executed.
Additional vein systems are located in target areas to the north (la Bufa, Cerro Prieto), the south (Calaveras, Colemanito, Promentorio) and west (Naga Nega).
GEOLOGY
| |  | | Coneto - Historic Mine Workings |
The area exhibits an extensive system of hydrothermal alteration indicative of the presence of mineralization. Low to intermediate-sulphidation epithermal silver-gold quartz veins are in a window of Tertiary age lower volcanic group andesites, the same rock formation which hosts other similar silver-gold deposits. The mineral zonation shows that Coneto is high in the epithermal system and that the system is preserved. In this type of deposit, the top is fluorite rich, zoning to precious metals followed by base metals. Similar deposits in Mexico have mineralized vertical extents in the 300 to 600 metres range.
CURRENT OREX PLAN
The initial Orex program consisted of detailed structural geology mapping and geochemical sampling in the areas around Estrellas-Calaveras, Colimanito, Descubridora, Bufa, Promontorio, Promontorio Sur, Loma Verde, Sauces-Palma, Durazno and Impulsora. A Phase-I reconnaissance diamond drilling program of 5,000 metres in 21 holes has been initiated.
Exploration objectives for Orex's Coneto project are similar to "La Preciosa", our sister project for Orko Silver Corp. The target we are exploring for is a deposit size of more than 100 million ounces of silver equivalent.
MAPS
click to enlarge
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