BUILDING A MID TIER MINING COMPANY
Exeter Resource Corporation is a Canadian publicly traded company focussed on the discovery, evaluation and development of mineral deposits in South America. Gold is and will remain Exeter’s commodity focus. At October 31, 2008 the Company had cash reserves of C$23 million, reserves considered sufficient to continue drilling on the Company’s Caspiche and Cerro Moro projects. Exeter will closely monitor its financial position so that a cash reserve sufficient to endure as a viable company is maintained.
The Caspiche Project in Chile (option to own 100% from Anglo American Chile Limitada) is a gold-copper porphyry, a type of deposit common to many of the world's largest open pit gold-copper mines. It is located 15 kilometres (8 miles) south of Kinross Gold's Refugio mine (+6 million ounce gold resource), and 10 kilometres (6 miles) north of the very large Cerro Casale gold-copper deposit (24 million ounce gold resource), jointly owned by Kinross-Barrick Gold.
From December 2007 to May 2008, Exeter drilled a series of long diamond and reverse circulation drill holes to better define the May 2007 discovery of gold-copper mineralization on the property. That drilling outlined a large area of potentially ore grade mineralisation when compared to the nearby Cerro Casale and Refugio projects. The deepest drill hole intersected mineralization down to +800 metres (+2600 ft.), indicating that the mineralized volume is very substantial by industry standards.
Drilling at Caspiche commenced again in October 2008, with a minimum 9300 metre (30,500 ft.) program to establish an initial NI43-101 compliant resource statement by Q2-2009. The Company will endeavour to provide timely drilling updates as results come to hand. The near term objective is to develop a minimum 10 million ounce gold equivalent resource on the property (including a significant credit for by-product copper). Caspiche continues to attract the attention of major mining companies and, subject to market conditions, we intend to aggressively pursue alternatives for maximising shareholder value.
The Cerro Moro Gold-Silver Project in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina is 100% owned by Exeter, with the Santa Cruz Government Mining Company, Fomicruz S.E. entitled to a 5% interest on completion of mine permitting. Following the onset of the credit crisis, drilling was focused on the very high grade Escondida veins, which Exeter believes a more modest scale mining operation could be established sooner with the possibility of increasing the resource base and the throughput over time.
Cerro Moro benefits from being high grade and near the port of Puerto Deseado, where substantial infrastructure is available. It is also within an established mining district with nearby operations owned by AngloGold Ashanti, Pan American Silver, Coeur d’Alene and Minera Andes/Hochschild.
The initial NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate based on the 464 holes drilled to date is scheduled to be released in Q2-2009. The Company's aim at Cerro Moro is to establish resources sufficient to rapidly initiate mine development studies, initially on the high grade Escondida vein system. Given the success of drilling to date, Exeter is optimistic that the property could be developed as a long term, very profitable, moderate scale mine.
The Don Sixto Gold Project is located in Mendoza Province, Argentina (Exeter option to own 100%). Following detailed drilling conducted through 2005 - 2006, the Company announced a NI43-101 compliant estimate of gold resources in 2007. At a 0.5 g/t gold cut-off grade the "measured and indicated resource" is 925,000 ounces of gold (20.48 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.40 g/t gold) and the "inferred resource" is 334,000 ounces of gold (9.29 million tonnes at a grade of 1.12 g/t gold). At a higher, 1.0 g/t gold cut-off grade, the "measured and indicated resource" is 9.34 million tonnes at a grade of 2.23 g/t gold, for 670,000 ounces, and the "inferred resource" is 3.14 million tonnes at 1.98 g/t gold, for 200,000 ounces.
In June 2007, the Mendoza government passed legislation that severely restricts mining in Mendoza. Exeter immediately suspended exploration on the Don Sixto property and filed an action in the Supreme Court to have the legislation declared unconstitutional. The Company will continue to work with all levels of government, industry, unions and other interested parties to demonstrate that the project, if economically viable, could be developed responsibly and on a sustainable basis. Internal scoping studies are expected to resume should the new provincial government, elected in October 2007, follow through on statements in support of amended legislation.
Exeter has other drill ready gold-silver targets in prospective regions of Patagonian Argentina and Chile that are currently on hold. The Company gained a broad foothold in the region through separate strategic alliances with Cerro Vanguardia S.A. (an AngloGold Ashanti subsidiary), and Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Chile.
Exeter is well positioned for success. Our projects are proving to be uniquely valuable, and our strategic agreements with major companies provide a "pipeline" of growth opportunities.