Ariquemes Tin Exploration Project
Tin mineralization was discovered at Ariquemes in 1987 and mining operations have since generated >300,000t of tin. The Company has acquired a highly prospective set of applications and approved exploration licences total 293,500 ha – a dominant land position.
Meridian has signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Orosur Mining Inc. The Agreement provides a mechanism for a staged earn-in by Orosur into the extensive Ariquemes land package. Geophysical and geochemical datasets highlight highly prospective signatures consistent with the tin-bearing granites within the Ariquemes area.
The Company welcomes the partnership with Orosur, which will allow it to pursue its particular strategic focus on its Cabaçal Cu-Au Project in the state of Mato Grosso while retaining exposure to Ariquemes’ long-term potential upside.
Orosur Mining is a TSXV and AIM listed company with a head office in Canada. It has interests in the Anza gold exploration project in Colombia (run in partnership with Newmont and Agnico Eagle), and has a strong technical management team, led by CEO Brad George, who has 30 years’ experience in global mineral exploration, development and financing with a long history in South America.
Meridian leveraging the JV with Orosur to explore the Ariquemes Tin area and maintain funding for core assets
Opportunity to utilize modern exploration and production techniques in region known for artisanal tin-production
Potential for near mine discovery within existing mining district
Dominant land position with Brazil’s 2nd largest tin district
Significant exploration opportunity in largely unexplored surrounding area
Meridian leveraging the JV with Orosur to explore the Ariquemes Tin area and maintain funding for core assets
The Ariquemes project is located in the Ariquemes tin district, approximately 300 kilometres north of the Meridian’s Cu-Au polymetallic project at Espigão d’Oeste.
The Ariquemes tin district is located approximately 300 kilometres north of the Meridian’s manganese project at Espigão and has produced approximately 3% of the world’s tin over the last 30 years.
Following the initial discovery of mineralization by a woodcutter clearing trees for a road, the region was soon home to thousands of artisanal miners (called garimpeiros). These early miners worked the alluvial and colluvial mineralization using an array of basic recovery techniques achieving modest recoveries (~50%). At its peak the region was producing more than 30,000 tonnes of tin per annum.
The Ariquemes Project is located within the “Rondoniano San Ignácio / Jamari Domain”
The Domain formed through successive accretion of arcs, ocean basin closure and final oblique microcontinent–continent collision.
Older basement rocks were affected by later collision-related deformation and metamorphism during the Sunsás Orogeny (1.25–1.00 Ga). The tin mineralization event is particularly associated with the Neo-Proterozoic “Younger Granites” of Rondônia.