The Kara Beldyr ore area (prospective area)

 Licenses 

 License КZL 00384 BE for gold exploration and mining at Kara-Beldyr gold area in the Republic of Tyva was obtained on 2008.06.26 for the period to 2027.02.2027. The area of the license block is 34.0 km². 

Geographic and Economic Setting 

These gold occurrences are located in the Eastern part of the Tyva republic close to the river Kaa-Cheem (also called Little Yenisey). The distance to the capital of the republic, Kyzyl, is 170 km. 

 The area is located in the mountainous tajga area. The highland relief is a very hilly terrain. The maximum absolute altitude, 1750 m is located in the outer north-western point, the lowest - in the southeast (in the creek mouth of Kara Beldyr 1067.5 m).  

 The working area has a milder and wetter climat, compared to the rest of the republic, with relatively low rainfall during the warm period. The snow melts away in late April and settles at the end of October. The zone with perennial frost covers the northern slopes above 1000 m. 

 The area is economically underdeveloped. The nearest community, the village Sizim is located 65 km from the base station. The shortest road from the town of Kyzyl to the workplace is 200 km, of which 65 km by forest roads, which are difficult to use during the rainy season. 

Geology of the Subsoil License Block 

Stratified formations in the site area are represented by terrigene and carbonate-terrigene-volcanic deposits.  

 Igneous formations, which occupy a major part of the area, are part of the Kaahem megapluton formed by intrusive rocks of subvolcanic, quartz-diorite-plagiogranite and granite-quartz-syenite complexes.  

 Kara-Beldyr gold ore field was identified in 1988 by a geological survey at 1:50,000 scale. Structural geology plays the main part in control, distribution and localization of mineralization. Gold mineralization is associated with quartz diorites. Intensive postmagmatic activity led to the formation of mineralized skarns in tectonically weakened zones and diorite-beresites with impregnated and vein-impregnation mineralization within the diorite mass. 

 Mineralization is hydrothermal and medium-deep in its genesis. Two mineralogical types were identified: gold-skarn and gold-beresite. The ore-hosting rocks are hydrothermally altered skarns in the former case and metasomatites (beresites, beresitized rocks) in quartz diorites in the latter case. 

 Mineralization is inclined towards zones of major northeast-striking faults and is manifested to the maximum in areas where these faults cross tectonic fractures extending in the sublateral, rarely northwestern direction. Linear stockwork-like metasomatic ore zones are formed within these joints. The largest ore bearing zone is traced for 2.3 km along the strike and is 100-400 m wide. The Gordeyevskoye and Ezen prospects are identified within this zone. 

 Gordeyevskoye prospectis gold-beresite. Seven gold orebodies 80-180 m long, 1-16 m wide and with gold grades up to 18 g/t have been identified in the Gordeyevskoye prospect. 

 The ore is oxidized on the surface. The oxidation zone is well defined to a depth of 40 m and fragmentarily defined to a depth of 85 m. 

Primary ores are formed by pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, arsenopyrite, enargite, arsenoferrite and sometimes by fahlore and bismuth minerals. Free gold is observed only in quartz veins and veinlets in the form of individual grains not more than 0.5 mm in size, as well as in the form of microscopic gold precipitated inside and around the pyrite grains. 

 In the Ezen prospect,gold-beresite and gold-skarn mineralization are spatially combined. Gold mineralization consists of an area of mineralized garnet skarn in the southeastern end of the largest xenolite of territory genic carbonate rocks. Ore mineralization is controlled by a local zone of intense crushing and cataclastic  alteration. It presents itself as hearths, impregnation of malachite, limonite with relicts of primary pyrite and chalcopyrite. The total amount of metallic minerals is 10-15%. In the polished sections and heavy mineral fractions appear solid gold, silver, pyrite, chalcopyrite, magnetite, azurite, chrysocolla, barite, sometimes even molybdenum gloss, pure copper. Gold occur in size from a few hundredths to 0.5 mm in different forms in the cracks of the non-metal mass, limonite, malachite. The most promising object in the Ezen area is beresit-gold mineralization. Gold grades in mineralized beresites in the central part of the area may be up to 34.3 g/t. The spatial and genetic combination of the two mineralization types, as well as their localization in one ore-controlling structure, allows for their evaluation as a single gold project. 

 Two gold and 2 gold-copper orebodies up to 100 m long, up to 7 m wide and with gold grades up to 9.5 g/t have been identified in the Ezen prospect. 

Previous Studies and Resources 

Total inferred resources of Kara-Beldyr ore field are 42.5 t. Exploration is currently going on in the license area. Current estimates have identified about 17 tons of gold in categories C₁ and C₂.  

Production 

Development of a Feasibility Study of Mining Parameters is planned in 2012 to evaluate the economic feasibility of building a mining and processing facility using a combination of gravity-flotation and cyanide leaching processes. 

Kara-Beldyr Q1, 2012 Drilling Results

Kara-Beldyr Q3, 2011 Drilling Results.