Butte Valley Prospect, White Pine County, Nevada (Copper)
The Butte Valley porphyry copper prospect is located in eastern Nevada approximately 40 miles north of Ely in north-central White Pine County. Quaterra has acquired approximately forty-five square miles of mineral rights by optioning and staking a total of 1,483 unpatented U.S. lode claims.
Butte Valley was discovered in the 1960s through the drilling of a large magnetic anomaly. The sulfide system, which covers an area of at least two square miles, is totally blind and is buried below approximately 2,000 feet of gravels and a gravity slide block. Seventeen widely spaced holes were drilled, the last in 1980. Multiple targets exist, but one of the most compelling is a high-grade copper-magnetite skarn that could be present in reactive rocks below the level of historic drilling.
Quaterra plans a comprehensive program of data compilation and geophysics to define targets for several deep drill holes, both within and adjacent to the area of historic drilling.
The Butte Valley prospect is a large, partially explored porphyry copper system in a mining-friendly state with well-developed infrastructure, and offers Quaterra the opportunity to gain 100% ownership. The property is prospective for both high-grade skarn and chalcocite-enriched porphyry copper mineralization.
Quaterra initially acquired 41 unpatented lode mining claims covering the core of known mineralization from a prospecting syndicate and staked additional claims. The Company can earn a 100% interest in the claims by making annual payments totaling US$1 million over a 10-year period and paying a 2.5% NSR royalty on production from these claims and contiguous claims staked by Quaterra. One per cent of the royalty may be purchased at any time by paying $1 million to the syndicate.
