Santa Fe Gold Corporation (OTCBB: SFEG.OB), formerly AZCO Mining, focuses on producing revenue from precious metal holdings while creating a portfolio of quality exploration and development projects that will ensure future profits. The company has two active properties and two future projects planned, all located within the southwest United States. The two active properties include the Summit silver-gold project and the Ortiz gold project, while the company sold the rights of Black Canyon Mica project, and continues working on their Micaceous Iron Oxide (MIO) project.
Their largest project is the Summit silver-gold project, which includes 117 acres of patented mining claims and 520 acres of unpatented mining claims located near southwestern New Mexico in Grant County. Research was conducted to project possible revenues and production of the area, as management concluded that – with current silver and gold prices – the deposit would create the basis for an economically viable underground mining operation. The process involves underground mining of mineralized material from the Summit property at a rate of 400 tons per day (120,000 tons per year), and trucking of the material 57 miles to the Lordsburg mill site where metallurgical processing would take place.
The Ortiz Mine Grant is located in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. The company holds exclusive rights to the mine and engages in the exploration, development and mining of gold and other precious metals on the 57,267 acres of property. Previous drilling of the mine indicated approximately 2 million ounces of gold in several deposits. Further research demonstrated that there are favorable deposits located in the area, but extraction calls for high-pressure grinding rolls with gravity recovery and contract mining for great success. The capital cost, assuming contract mining, was estimated at $38.2 million.
Santa Fe Gold believes that there is great potential to produce micaceous iron oxide (MIO) located on a property that totals 523 acres and consists of 31 patented mining claims in western Arizona. The property is one of the largest in the world and is unique to North America. MIO is an uncommon flake-like form of crystalline hematite (Fe203) valued for the anti-corrosive properties it contributes to coatings formulated to protect structural steelwork. The material is recognized as eco-friendly, and is utilized in coating systems on many of the world’s largest bridges, oil rigs, production platforms, transmission towers, pipelines, industrial plants and superstructures.
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