North Zamboanga Exploration Tenements

At A Glance
Ownership TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc. – 100%
Location Tenements covering 1,240 square kilometers in the Zamboanga Peninsula.The tenements occupy the northeastern corner of the province closer to the boundary of Misamis Occidental province.
Business activities Gold and copper exploration
Logistics Within trucking distance of port facilities within the Zamboanga Peninsula

 

The North Zamboanga tenements consist of 11 permit applications covering 1,240 square kilometers or 161,953 hectares distributed northeast to east of TVIRD’s Balabag Gold -Silver Project.

The tenements occupy a highly mineral prospective region in southern Mindanao characterised by a highly complex syn- to post-collisional tectonic setting lying along and immediately east of the active Siayan-Sindangan Suture Zone (SSSZ). The initiation, activation and the sustained-prolonged movements along the major SSSZ fault zone have produces secondary northeast trending dilational structures and/or tension gashes and the emplacement of the plutono-volcanic rocks with associated magmatic and mineralized fluids. The geologic setting along this region have been favourable in hosting different styles of mineralization consisting of porphyry copper and gold, base metals and gold skarns and low to high sulphidation style of gold mineralization.

The current permit applications cover several mineral targets identified by a prior exploration program, numbering over 20 epithermal gold, copper and gold skarn, massive sulphide and porphyry copper-gold prospects. Reconnaissance work carried out to date has supported historical findings and has resulted in the discovery of additional prospects of interest. Indications of mineralization often occur on the surface and have been easily accessible.

Regional appraisal through airborne magnetic/radiometric survey was done for the whole northern tenements in 2009 to 2010. In 2011, VTEM survey was flown on 2 smaller areas with suspected VMS mineralization, namely (1) Canibongan at Roxas town and (2) Suricon’s White Eagle Mine at Dumingag.

Among the more prominent epithermal gold prospects in the North Zamboanga tenement package is the Bonbon area, which is covered by an 81 square kilometer (50 square mile) Exploration Permit Application. Bonbon is made up of a series of north-northwest trending quartz veinlets/stockworks in highly altered volcanic and intrusive rocks, spread over a 10-kilometer-long by 2-kilometer-wide area. Geologic mapping and sampling as well as geophysical surveys are planned to locate prospective drill targets.

The approval of required permits will enable TVIRD to fully explore its North Zamboanga Tenements. MPSA processing and approval are on hold due to the ongoing moratorium on new permit applications imposed by the Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). In March 2013, the DENR lifted the moratorium on application for exploration permits but retained the moratorium on MPSAs and financial or technical assistance agreements despite the signing of the much-awaited Executive Order by the President of the Philippines. To date, the timing as to the actual issuance of permits continues to be uncertain.

In July 2018, the DENR lifted the Moratorium on the acceptance, processing and/or approval of Exploration Permit applications. The order took effect in 10 August 2018.