2001-2003 Phelps-Dodge Drilling

(last updated 04/08/2009)

During 2001 to 2003, PD Peru drilled 61 reverse circulation and 24 diamond drill holes for a total of 11,380 m, with 4,203 samples analyzed. Table 1 shows a summary of the results of the PD Peru drilling campaigns from 2001 through 2003. Table 2 shows all the drill collar information for each of the Phelps-Dodge drill holes. Drill hole locations are shown on Figures 1 and 2. The exploration campaigns defined mineralized zones in two areas referred to as the Haquira West and Haquira East targets.

Four RVC drilling programs were completed by PD Peru during 2001, 2002, and 2003. The PD Peru RVC drill holes are labelled by the prefix of ‘HAC’ and include holes numbered from HAC-01 through HAC-055. Several holes were re-drilled or twinned and are labelled by a suffix of “A”. Andes Drilling S.A. was contracted for the first two programs (15 holes for 2,112 m), and AK Drilling was contracted for the two programs in 2003 (46 holes for 5,809 m). Flowing water was an issue at and below 90 m for many of the drill holes, but sample recovery was generally greater than 85%; holes that had bad recovery were terminated and in most cases re-drilled. Drill holes with poor recovery that were not re-drilled include HAC-07 and HAC-17. Sample intervals were 3 m below the casing.

Two core rigs, a Boyles 37 and an UDR 650, completed the PD Peru diamond drilling on the project. The PD Peru diamond core holes are denoted by the prefix HAD and include holes numbered from HAD-01 to HAD-23. Twenty-four holes for a total length of 3,460 m were drilled during the fourth quarter of 2003; due to poor recovery, HAD-04 was re-drilled as HAD-04A. All core was HQ-size (6.35-cm diameter).

The distance between the ground surface and the top of the interior drill platform was measured. This distance plus the length of core tubing that sticks out above the drill platform was considered the length of the core run completed. Once the core barrel was removed from the drill hole, the space between the top of the drill core and the top of the core barrel was measured. This length was subtracted from the length of the core barrel to obtain the true length of the drill core and to calculate the linear recovery of the sample.

Table 1: Haquira Drill Hole Summary.

Table 2: 2001 to 2003 Phelps-Dodge Drill Hole Collar Information.