development.
Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”). We are obligated to pay a maintenance fee
$140 per claim per year for each existing claim.
Unpatented mining claims are “located” or “staked” by individuals or companies on particular parcels of
federal public land upon which the individual or company asserts the right to extract
deposit. Mining claims may be one of two types: lode and placer. Lode claims are claims on land where
mineral deposits have been discovered encased in or surrounded by hard rock, such as veins, fissures, lodes
ies. Placer
surface.
the deposit.
ers.
minerals.
.
records.
claims.
U.S.
Property”).
water.
County.
agreement.
economically insufficient placer mineralization.
holdings.
bedrock.
Effective
April
1,
2011,
we
acquired
five
lode
mining
claims
covering
the
former
Van
Deemen
gold
mine
located
within
the
area
of
our
existing
claims
in
the
northern
Black
Mountains
in
Mohave
County
through
a
10
-
year
lease
agreement
with
La
Cuesta
International,
Inc.
We
are
required
to
make
rental
payments
every
six
months,
beginning
upon
signing
of
the
lease,
in
an
amount
of
$5,000
for
each
of
the
first
two
six
-
month
periods,
$7,500
for
each
of
the
next
two
periods,
and
$10,000
per
period
thereafter.
Upon
commencement
of
any
commercial
mineral
production
on the
leased property,
we
must
pay
the
greater
of
2%
of
the
net
smelter
returns or
$10,000 during
each
calendar
qu
arter
in
which
we
produce
and
sell
ores
and
minerals
from
the
property
in
commercial
quantities.
In
addition
to
the
five
leased
claims,
we
have
located
and
recorded
18
lode
claims
covering
areas
surrounding
the
leased
Van
Deemen
mine
claims.
Active load
claims in Mohave county as of 2013 total 48; with 15 claims
recorded in 2009, 24 recorded in 2010, and 9 recorded in 2011.
This does not include the five lode mining
claims leased form La Cuesta International, Inc.
Based
on historical
information
we have
obtained, the
Van
Deemen
area was initially
explored for
gold
in the
1930s and
1940s.
In the
1970s,
the
area
was
actively
explored
for
copper,
with
the
greatest
focus
of
copper
exploration
occurring
east
of
the
old
Pope
Mine
about
2.5
miles
north
of
the
V
an Deemen.
Since
the 1980s,
the
area has
been
explored
primarily
for
gold.
From
1983
to
1985, Amselco
Exploration
Inc.
conducted
the
first
serious
exploratory
drilling
for
gold
on
the
Van
Deemen
prospect.
Amselco
completed
13
drill
holes
in
1983
and
nine
d
rill
holes
in
1985.
Red
Dog
Mining
also
completed
a
brief
phase
of
shallow
air
track
drilling
in
1985
in
the
zone
of
gold
mineralization
identified
by
Amselco.
The
area
was
then
acquired
by
Fischer
-
Watt
Gold
Co.
in
late
1985.
In
1986
and
1987,
Fischer
-
Watt
Gold
Co.
and
Arizona
Star
Resources,
through
a
joint
venture,
conducted
a
more
complete
evaluation
of
the
property.
Drilling
results
from
the
Fischer
-
Watt
and
Arizona
Star
work
reported
gold
mineralization
in
three
small
open
pits
occurring
in
low
angle
f
aults
with
associated
quartz
-
sericite
-
hematite
-
pyrite
-
clay
alteration.
The
Black
Mountains
Property
is
underlain
by
three
basic
rock
units
or
“packages”
of
rocks.
The
oldest
rock
unit
consists
of
Precambrian
schist
and
gneissic
rocks
which
are
the
recons
tituted
(metamorphic)
equivalents
of
former
shale,
siltstone,
and
volcanic
rocks.
The
next
youngest
rock
unit,
which
is
believed
to
be
of
Laramide
(Upper
Cretaceous/Lower
Tertiary)
age,
comprises
a
suite
of
granitoid
plutonic
rocks
that
intrude
the
Precamb
rian
strata
and
that,
in
large
part,
consist
of
alaskite
and
subordinate
pegmatitic
masses.
The
youngest
rock
unit
is
a
succession
of
volcanic
rocks
of
intermediate
composition.
This
unit
forms
a
partial
cover
over
the
older
units
and
has
been
dated
in
age
as
Miocene
(Middle
Tertiary).
The
property
exhibits
features
of
a
metamorphic
core
complex.
These
features
include
the
somewhat
arch
-
like,
cross
-
sectional
(east
-
west)
profile
of
this
area
of
the
Black
Mountains,
detached
cover
rocks,
a
preponderance
of
s
hallow
-
dipping
penetrative
structures
(foliations)
in
the
plutonic/metamorphic
basement,
and
the
composition
of
the
plutonic
rocks.
Our
2010
mapping
revealed
that
a
portion
of
the
section
of
metamorphic
rocks
(schist, etc.) that
separates
the
plutonic rock
s
of
the
core from
the cover
rocks
(known
as
the
carapace)
is
also
detached
and,
throughout the
property, variously rests on plutonic
rocks
and other
sections
of the carapace.
This
is
commonly referred to as a detachment
(or
decollement)
zone.
This
detachm
ent
zone
contains
evidence
of
mineralization
including
gold,
copper,
molybdenum
and
other
minerals.
Based
on
the
presence
of
gold
producing
mines
in
the
Black
Mountains
area
and
the
data
we
have
collected,
we
believe
deposits
of
precious
and
base
metals
ma
y
exist
within
the
Black
Mountains
Property.
Our
current
exploration
efforts
are
primarily
focused
on
the
establishment
of
gold
reserves
with
a
secondary
focus
on
copper
and
other
minerals.
We
cannot
assure
that
we
will
establish
the
existence
of
such
rese
rves
or
that,
if
such
reserves
are
established,
we
will
be
able
to
commercially
exploit
such
ore
deposits.