Puzzle me Drilling
posted on
Aug 24, 2021 10:44PM
Combining Classic Mineral Exploration with State of the Art Technology
Well- I guess we now know why they set up that hot dusty shack out at Sierra Vista. But, although new money is good and talk of drilling is good- there seems to be more spinning of questions than drills.
In paragraph #4 the NR states that "Drilling mobilization (Is that the same thing as drilling?) will begin immediately upon completing prerequisite State of Arizona archeological and vegetation surveys, which Liberty Expects to be complete in October. . . . The first round of drilling will begin as early as the next three months."
But the preceding paragraph states, "the Company will follow the recommendations of Mr. Guarnera’s technical report calling for a phased program of continued geophysical work, geochemical sampling and limited drilling."
So- which is it- drilling to start as soon as the required arch. and environmental work is done or- instead- to follow continued "geophysical work and geochemical- (read veggie) sampling"- which we know can and has taken months- and even years- to collect, process and analyze. Geophysical work can mean IP and even ZTEM studies- all time consuming and costly enough to use up all the available funds- before you even get to the drilling.
So- this all requires clarifification and explanation.
As for Red Rock Canyon itself- it has been gone over by many- many times- and rejected many times. It has been already been drilled by many- and- except for the very initial drilling- all subsequent efforts have been fruitless. Most of the studies that Guarnera found in state archives were there because Jim Briscoe put them there. This area is hardly new virgin territory. Phelps-Dodge long ago drilled and explored the Canyon and rejected it and even Jim Brisco did some drilling there to no avail. The consensus was and is that while yes- there is gold in Red Rock Canyon- it is most likely in small pockets and not disseminated- and- in the end- not commercially viable.
And so this raises the question as to why the need for this Rube Goldberg means of parlaying funds to enable ultimately drilling at Hay Mountain itself. Board Director Gordon said- "If our work on development of Red Rock Canyon is successful, it would be expected to result in an increase in the value of the Company’s assets and help to put the Company in position to seek the financing necessary to begin additional exploration and development work on potential copper deposits at our Hay Mountain Project.”
But if we now have this money- why use this questionable mechanism to try to parlay it into funds to eventually drill Hay Mountain. If unsuccessful- it will be an opportunity squandered. And the chance for a relatively "quick killing" is considered quite low by competent geologists.
Why not, instead, directly use these funds to begin drilling the Hay Mountain Primary Targets. That's what we've already explored. That's where we can be most confident of success- with the congruently positive results from geological sampling, geochemical sampling, and geophysical studies including most especially ZTEM. The targets have been pinpointed, the required archeological and environmental studies have already been done and the permits are in place. It is drill ready- and- more importantly success is as nearly assured as is geologically possible. It is the target we have all been betting on all these years- not some serially rejected low probability outlier like Red Rock Canyon from out in left field. Why bet on Red Rock Canyon? I'd rather put my money on Hay Mountain.