The Mercedes project is located in northern Sonora, approximately 75 kilometers southeast of the city of Magdalena de Kino.
Meridian commenced exploration at Mercedes in 1999. An initial campaign of drilling in 2000 intersected some local high grade gold and silver values at the Mercedes, Tucabe and Klondike areas however in 2001 Meridian decided not to continue with exploration. In late 2004, Meridian optioned the Corona de Oro concession which covered the northern extension of the Mercedes vein and commenced a small diamond drill hole program. The program intersected spectacular Au and Ag values on the Corona de Oro concession including hole M-31 which returned 21 meters of 24.7 g/t Au and 215 g/t Ag. Since then at least an additional 200 drill holes have been completed at Mercedes with the vast majority on the Mercedes vein and lesser drilling at Klondike, Rey de Oro and Lupita.
The 2007 drilling campaign has focused on the Mercedes, Klondike and Rey de Oro veins, at least 40,000 meters of drilling will be completed. This drilling has resulted in a drill density of at least 60 X 60 meters on the Mercedes and Klondike vein deposits. This drilling will allow the calculation of an initial resource to be completed during the 1st quarter of 2008
The Mercedes project is located in a transition zone from the volcanic province of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the southern extension of the Basin and Range province. The veins hosting mineralization are hosted in Creataceous to lower Tertiary andesites belonging to the Older Volcanic Sequence of the Sierra Madres. The andesites are capped by a younger Tertiary sequence of rhyolitic ignimbrites that preominate the volcanic pile of the northern Sierra Madres.
Gold and silver mineralization at Mercedes are hosted in classic low sulphidation epithermal veins. The veins are structurally controlled and have various trends from N40 to 50W, E-W and N20-40E. The mineralization is predominantly oxide.
The Company has hired M3 Engineering and Technology Corporation (M3) out of Tuscon, AZ, with offices in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico as a project lead to assist in engineering design and project management. M3 with the assistance of other key technical advisors assisting in the areas of Metallurgical testing, Environmental, Mine engineering, and Social responsibility will provide a solid team for completion of the pre-feasibility and feasibility work. Conceptual design calls for underground access via a production-ready 1,500 meter decline with drill stations capable of supporting at least 100 holes totaling 12,000 meters.
Images:
