The Altıntepe (‘Gold Hill’) gold project is located near the town of Fatsa close to the Black Sea coast of northern Turkey.

Figure 1. Mineralized outcrop at Altıntepe

Since fully exercising its option to acquire 100% of the project from Teck Resources ('Teck') in April 2008, Stratex has completed a total of 4,752.5 m diamond drilling across the property, realising an in-house JORC-compliant resource (based on the cross-sectional method) of 472,318 oz oxide gold (Table.1). The bulk of the contained gold is in the Çamlık East and Kayatepe deposits.

Table 1. Altıntepe oxide Au resource (0.2 g/t Au cut-off)

Category	Tonnes*	Grade (g/t Au)	Gold (oz)
Measured	287,333	1.78	16,453
Indicated	9,287,370	0.87	259,661
Inferred	3,523,434	1.73	196,204
Total	13,098,137	1.12	472,318
* Using SG of 2.14 t/m3

 

Project upside: The oxide resource also includes 2,371,689 oz silver, equivalent to approximately 21,300 oz gold at spot prices of $800 for gold and $12 for silver and a silver recovery of 60 %, giving a total of approximately 493,600 oz of oxide Au + Au(eq). A further 101,695 oz Au and 7,300 oz Au(eq) have been identified in sulphide material, giving a total Altıntepe oxide plus sulphide resource of approximately 602,500 oz Au + Au(eq).

 

 

N.B. To use this function you will need to download Google Earth, available free at earth.google.com. The application may take a few mintues to load.

 

NTF Joint Venture

On 27th April 2010, the Company announced the closure of a joint-venture production agreement with major Turkish construction and contract mining company NTF following the announcement of an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 15 June 2009. This agreement sets out the terms under which Stratex will work with NTF to develop the Inlice and Altintepe gold projects towards feasibility and production.

Following the successful completion of the production joint venture agreement, NTF has paid Stratex a purchase fee of US$1 million and will own 55 % of the new gold mining company NS Madencilik into which Inlice has already been vended and is being earned-in to.

In parallel with the Inlice project development, NTF will continue to finance scoping and pre-feasibility studies at the Altıntepe gold project to a level of US$500,000.  Subject to the outcome of these studies, NTF will then have the option to require Stratex to put Altıntepe into the NS Madencilik joint venture under which NTF can earn an interest of up to 55% of Altıntepe by expending a further US$2 million on a full feasibility study.  SRK has already provided a review of past drilling and submitted recommendations for further drilling, and a baseline environmental study has been underway for a period of six months under the direction of Golder Associates, an international mining consultancy.

To date the following work has been completed at Altıntepe:

• Environmental baseline study well-advanced by Golder Associates at Altıntepe

• Review of past drilling and recommendations for infill resource drilling completed by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd

Should NTF decide not to proceed beyond the commitment of US$500,000 to the Altıntepe scoping and pre-feasibility studies, the project will remain with Stratex.

Teck retain an underlying 1.5% Net Smelter Return (‘NSR’) royalty from any future production. A portion of the property is also held by a third party that holds a NSR royalty of 2.5 % which can be reduced to 1.25 % by a payment of US$ 750,000.

For information on how the joint-venture agreement affects Inlice, please go to the Inlice project page.

 

Prospect Geology

Geological mapping by Stratex and logging of historical drill core from 30 drill holes (from a total Odyssey Resources drill programme of 79 holes) indicated that the prospect is underlain by an advanced argillic lithocap extending over an area of at least 8 square kilometres (Fig.2). High-sulphidation epithermal gold mineralization is an integral part of the lithocap and consists of wide zones dominated by silica alteration – Çamlık and Çamlık East.

 

Figure 2. Simplified geological map of the Altıntepe prospect illustrating key mineralized zones

In places, this is accompanied by intermediate-sulphidation epithermal gold mineralization (Fig. 3) (Extension Ridge, Kayatepe, Sinan and Orta) that occurs as a series of linear, fault-controlled veins and related stockworks.

Figure 3.  Mineralized intermediate-sulphidation breccia (cm-scale)

 

Exploration

 

Çamlık East

Resource and exploration drilling at Çamlık East commenced in Q4 2007. Fifteen drill holes yielded best intersections of 62.60 m at 3.08 g/t Au, and 106.60 m at 1.29 g/t. The total oxide gold resource for Çamlık East currently stands at 142,207 oz Au (Table.2).

Table 2: Oxide gold resource at Çamlık East (0.2 g/t Au cut-off)

Category	Tonnes*	Grade (g/t Au)	Gold (oz)
Indicated	3,521,672	1.09	123,603
Inferred	528,206	1.09	18,604
* Using SG of 2.14 t/m3

The following cross-sections show the sub-surface extension of mineralization at Çamlık East , based on outcrop mapping and drilling intersections (Fig. 4 and Fig. 5).

 

Figure 4. Cross-section of the central part of the Çamlık East Zone

Figure 5. Cross-section of the Çamlık East Zone, 100 m east of Fig. 3.

 

Çamlık

Resource and exploration drilling at Çamlık commenced in Q1 2008. Four drill holes yielded best intersections of 89.50 m at 0.60 g/t Au, and 131.20 m at 0.40 g/t. The total oxide gold resource for Çamlık currently stands at 123,603 oz Au (Table.3).

Table 3. Oxide gold resource at Çamlık (0.2 g/t Au cut-off)

Category	Tonnes*	Grade (g/t Au)	Gold (oz)
Indicated	3,643,746	0.45	52,871
* Using SG of 2.14 t/m3

 

Kayatepe

Mapping and sampling at Kayatepe identified a silicified zone that is exposed along a strike length of 500 m and 100 m in width. Within this zone, subsequent drilling has defined a relatively higher grade oxide section measuring approximately 400 m by 50 m. Twelve drill holes have yielded best intersections of 45.50 m at 3.64 g/t Au and 120.80 m at 2.35 g/t Au. The total oxide gold resource at Kayatepe currently stands at 132,602 oz Au.

Table 4: Oxide gold resource at Kayatepe (0.2 g/t Au cut-off)

Category	Tonnes*	Grade (g/t Au)	Gold (oz)
Measured	287,333	1.78	16,453
Indicated	1,431,841	1.54	71,214
Inferred	702,660	1.98	44,935
* Using SG of 2.14 t/m3

 

The following cross-sections shows the sub-surface extension of mineralization at Kayatepe , based on outcrop mapping and drilling intersections (Fig. 6).

 

Figure 6.  Cross-section of hole ST-KT-DD-01, Kayatepe Zone

Sinan, Orta and Karakısla Zones

Three further zones of mineralization, Sinan and Orta (Fig. 2), were identified towards the end of the exploration programme although have not been drilled. The 500 m-long Orta Zone (Fig. 7) is located between Extension Ridge and Kayatepe and comprises extensive silica-pyrite mineralization associated with quartz-vein stockwork and hydrothermal breccias. The Sinan Zone appears to be an 800 m north-eastward extension of Çamlık East. Although poorly exposed, the average width of the Sinan Zone appears to be 50-60 m. Karakıla is a further high-sulphidation target in the western part of the property.

Figure 7. On-site strategy meeting, Orta Zone

 

Preliminary Metallurgical Testwork

Preliminary cyanide-leach test work has been completed by Wardell Armstrong International Ltd on oxide samples from all five main zones. Carbon-in-leach (CIL) tests on material ground to less than 75 micron and bottle roll tests on material crushed to less than 12 mm indicate the potential for high gold recoveries from all material, although a lower recovery (68.5 %) was recorded for the leach tests on coarse material from Extension Ridge (Table.5).

Table 5: Altıntepe Metallugical Testwork

Zone	CIL (<75 microns)	Bottle roll (12 mm)
Camlık	96.40 %	95.00 %
Camlık East	94.10 %	96.50 %
Karakısla	92.80 %	96.60 %
Kayatepe	91.80 %	86.70 %
Extension ridge	87.50 %	68.50 %

 

Leaching rates were high and both cyanide and lime consumptions were low to moderate. This reinforces earlier bottle roll and column leach tests carried out on oxide material from Çamlık East at the Kappes Cassidy & Associates Research Lab in Reno, Nevada, U.S.A. (commissioned by Odyssey Resources). Very high gold recoveries were obtained, ranging from 91.4 % to 97.9 % with low sodium cyanide and lime consumption even for low grade ore material. The test work thus suggests that the oxide material from Altıntepe is amenable to processing by low-cost heap leaching methods, a key factor that considerably enhances the potential economic viability of the project.

 

History

In April 2007 Stratex entered into an option agreement to acquire 100 % of the Altıntepe project from Teck Cominco’s Turkish subsidiary, Teck Cominco Arama ve Madencilik San. Tic. A.S. (TCAM). Altıntepe was previously the focus of exploration by Odyssey Resources through a joint venture with TCAM.

  

In August 2008 Stratex fully excercised its option agreement with TCAM to acquire 100 % of the property by completing a total of 4,752.5 m diamond drilling. TCAM has waived any right to earn-back into the project and merely retain an underlying 1.5 % Net Smelter Return (‘NSR’) royalty from any future production whilst Stratex, now the sole owner, has exclusivity of any desicions regarding future direction of the project. A portion of the property is also held by a third party that holds a NSR royalty of 2.5 % which can be reduced to 1.25 % by a payment of US$ 750,000.