WORK BY KINGS MINERALS, 2004-2006

On July 22, 2004, Kings Minerals NL of Brisbane, Australia (ASX:KMN) announced a Joint Venture with Wheaton River Minerals Ltd., subsequently acquired (2005) by Goldcorp Inc., which granted Kings the right to earn a 51% interest in San Anton by reimbursing $US510,000 to Wheaton River and by spending a minimum of $US1,000,000 on exploration in the first year and a total of $US3,000,000 over the first two years.

Kings subsequently embarked on an aggressive program of exploration which focused on the Cerro del Gallo gold-silver  (+copper, +/-molybdenum) prospect.  This work included a high resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey over the entire project area; the acquisition and interpretation of ASTER satellite imagery; a ground 3D IP survey centered on Cerro del Gallo; the acquisition of historic data from previous exploration companies and integration of this data into Kings’ datasets; a program of measuring the orientation of quartz-sulphide veins on and around Cerro del Gallo, and multiple phases of diamond core and reverse circulation drilling.

In January 2006, Kings initiated a process to transfer their 51% share of the San Anton Property into a North American listing as a way of surfacing the value of the Cerro del Gallo asset.  This process culminated late in the year with the formation of San Anton Resource Corporation, a TSX listing (December 12, 2006), and a $Cdn17.25 million financing placed largely with institutional investors in Canada and the U.S. 

In December 9, 2004, Kings Minerals commenced a limited Phase 1 validation and verification drill program which involved 3 RC holes for 335.28m. A Phase 2 delineation drilling program entailing 79 RC and 8 core holes for a total of 19,410.96m, was launched in April 2005 and completed in December 2005. 

In December 12, 2005, Kings announced that it had received confirmation from Goldcorp that it had earned its initial 51% interest in the San Anton project.

Upon completion of the Phase 2 drill program, Kings Minerals engaged Golder Associates Pty. Ltd. of Brisbane, Australia, to prepare an updated resource estimate for the Cerro del Gallo deposit.  This estimate was released by Golders in February 2006 and subsequently made compliant with NI 43-101 (October 2006). 

Early in 2006 Kings Minerals initiated a Phase 3 resource delineation and metallurgical test work drilling at Cerro del Gallo. This program concluded in December 2006 for an additional 37,845.81m in 142 holes.