Following in the Footsteps of the Great Gold Explorers of the American Southwest
WHAT ARE WE AIMING TO ACCOMPLISH ?
“We firmly believe that Oro Cruz has exploration potential for more than a million ounces. We’ll explore the property using modern geological theory and high tech methods of exploration, and see what we can do.
In addition, a sweetener at Oro Cruz is that there are existing heap leach pads from the historical American Girl Mining Joint Venture operations. We’ve just recently taken some surface grab samples from those leach pads and the results were very encouraging. The samples averaged greater than half a gram gold.
And as you know, in that part of the world, for instance over at Equinox’s Mesquite operations, their cut-off grades are substantially less than half a gram. Despite that, Mesquite produces between 115 – 130,000 ounces of gold annually. They have profitable operations even with those low grades.
So, at Oro Cruz, we’re going to go in and look at the existing heap leach pads and do some sonic drilling there to see whether or not we can establish a resource for those. If successful, this would be the “cherry on top” for us.” Dale Wallster, CEO
The Oro Cruz Gold Project covers most of 3 separate, formerly-producing gold mine areas:
Oro Cruz | American Girl/American Boy | Padre y Madre
In Imperial County, California, approximately 22.5 kilometres (14 miles) southeast of the operating Mesquite gold mine of Equinox Gold Corp, Southern Empire’s Oro Cruz Project has the potential to re-establish gold production from a moderate tonnage oxide gold deposit. As part of the larger American Girl Mining Joint Venture (“AGMJV”) operations (1987-1996; Hecla and predecessor companies), the Oro Cruz gold deposit was the site of significant definition drilling and underground development.
Following development, the Oro Cruz open-pit and underground mines operated successfully for only one year (producing about 61,000 ounces of gold) before collapsing gold prices caused the entire operation to be shuttered and decommissioned.
Today, our wholly-owned Oro Cruz property hosts a remaining historical inferred mineral resource (reported in 2011) estimated at 341,800 ounces gold, based on 4,386,000 tonnes averaging 2.2 grams gold per tonne at a cut-off grade of 0.68 g Au/t. The underground infrastructure at the site, including a 2.4 kilometre haulage ramp, sublevels and draw points, remains in excellent condition and the open pit was abandoned just after stripping was completed prior to the start of Stage II pit expansion.
Southern Empire is currently finalizing U.S. Federal and California exploration permits that will allow 65 exploration, confirmation and metallurgical drill holes at Oro Cruz to support a new resource estimate, and to also test the potential of waste rock and decommissioned heap leach piles on the property to yield residual gold production.
ORO CRUZ FLY-BY VIDEO
See Oro Cruz property and the surroundings in the fly-by video
ORO CRUZ LiDAR Underground Survey
See Oro Cruz historic underground left in pristine condition as discovered by the latest survey
WHY DO WE LIKE IT?
NEAR EQUINOX GOLD’S OPERATING MESQUITE MINE
- Equinox Gold’s operating Mesquite Mine is 22.5km/14 miles to the northwest
- Estimated 2020 production of 120-130,000 oz. of gold
- Mesquite’s mine life estimated to 2025, with the newly annouced resources extended to 2027 or further
EXELLENT PROPERTY ACCESS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
- Local skilled workforce available
- Yuma, Arizona (population 98,000) is 25km/15.5 miles to the southeast
- Existing paved highway and hard-packed secondary roads
- 92 kV power transmission line crosses the property
HISTORIC PRODUCTION & EXISTING RESOURCE DATA
- Located in Caborca-Mojave Gold trend that sees lot of current production
- Formerly producing gold mine; as recent as 1995-1996
- Past gold production was from oxide ores
- Historic resource of 341,000 oz. at 2.2 g/t Au
LOCATED IN THE CABORCA-MOJAVE GOLD TREND
HISTORICAL HIGH-GRADE OXIDE GOLD
Historical resource of 341,800 ounces gold at 2.2 g Au/t*, based in part on:
Southern Empire Legal Disclaimer
This website is owned and operated Southern Empire Resources Corp. Where we say “we”, “us”, “our”, the “Company”, or “Southern Empire”, we mean Southern Empire Resources Corp. and/or one or more or all of its affiliates, as may be applicable. By using this website, you agree to the following terms and conditions.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This website contains “forward-looking information” which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of the Company and its projects, the future price of gold, silver or other metal prices, exploration expenditures, costs and timing of future exploration, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of mining operations, environmental risks, reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims, limitations of insurance coverage and regulatory matters.
Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, general business, economic, and competitive uncertainties; lack of production; limited operating history of the Company; the actual results of current exploration activities; ability to obtain exploration and drilling licenses or permits; the Company may lose or abandon its interest in the properties; ability to retain qualified personnel; the ability to obtain adequate financing for exploration and development; volatility of commodity prices; environmental risks of mining operations; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, including but not limited to environmental hazards, cave-ins, pit-wall failures, flooding, rock bursts and other acts of God or unfavourable operating conditions and losses.
Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including the determination of mineral reserves or resources, if any, the results of exploration and drilling activities, the availability and final receipt of required approvals, licenses and permits, that sufficient working capital is available to complete proposed exploration and drilling activities, that contracted parties provide goods and/or services on the agreed time frames, the equipment necessary for exploration is available as scheduled and does not incur unforeseen break downs, that no labour shortages or delays are incurred and that no unusual geological or technical problems occur. While the Company considers these assumptions may be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information for a variety of reasons.
These forward-looking statements are based upon management’s beliefs, estimates and opinions. Following listing on the Exchange, the Company intends to discuss in its quarterly and annual reports referred to as the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis documents any events and circumstances that occurred during the period to which such document relates that are reasonably likely to cause actual events or circumstances to differ materially from those disclosed in this website. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company’s business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Other than as required by law, the Company does not intend and undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect, among other things, new information or future events.
Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
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Other materials on this website not originally produced by us (some audio, video, trademarks, et al) are copyrighted by their respective creators/owners and appear here either by permission, example or as public domain reference material.
NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INTERNET SOFTWARE OR COMPUTER VIRUSES
Due to technical difficulties inherent in the Internet, Internet software or transmission problems could produce inaccurate or incomplete copies of information contained on this website. Computer viruses or other destructive programs may also be inadvertently downloaded from the website. The Company shall not be liable for Internet software, computer viruses or destructive programs and recommends that you install appropriate anti-virus or other protective software.
NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LINKED WEBSITES
The Company provides links to third party websites for your convenience only and the inclusion of these links does not imply that the Company monitors or endorses these websites. Accordingly, the Company accepts no responsibility for such websites.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
In general, you may visit this website (the “Site”) without providing any personal information. However, in order to benefit from certain features of this Site, you may need to provide personal information. For example, if you sign up for our email list, we will ask you for your email address so that we can send you email notices when we post news releases or new content on this Site. You may unsubscribe from these messages at any time by using the unsubscribe feature in the message (if provided) or by contacting us as described below. In some cases, we may offer you the option of sending a link to one of our news releases or other content to a friend or family member by email. These messages are sent to your friend or family member from your email account and the Company does not collect, use or retain any personal information in connection with this feature.
By providing the email address of your friend or family member, you represent to us that you have a personal or family relationship with the individual and have consent from the individual to provide his or her email address to us for this purpose. We may also collect and use personal information for other purposes with your consent or as permitted or required by law.
We share personal information with third parties (including affiliates acting in this capacity) that perform services on our behalf, such as information technology, data hosting, analytics, graphic design, video production, and email services provider or similar services, or that otherwise to collect, use, disclose, store or process personal information on our behalf for the purposes described in this statement. These third parties may be located in Canada and the U.S. and your personal information may be processed in these countries for the purposes described in this statement. Reasonable contractual other measures we may take to protect your personal information while processed or handled by these third parties are subject to applicable foreign legal requirements, for example lawful requirements to disclose personal information to government authorities in those countries.
Personal information may also be used and disclosed to parties connected with the proposed or actual financing, securitization, insuring, sale, assignment or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets, for the purposes of evaluating and/or performing the proposed transaction. Our assignees or successors may use and disclose your personal information for similar purposes as those described in this statement.
We may disclose personal information for other purposes with your consent or as permitted or required by law.
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The Company takes reasonable steps to protect your personal information using physical, electronic and procedural security measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information in our custody or control, which may include safeguards to protect against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. Authorized employees, agents and mandataries will have access to your personal information as necessary to fulfil their job requirements.
The file containing your personal information will be maintained on our servers or those of our service providers and will be accessible at our offices. You may request access to or correction of your personal information, or make other inquires about our personal information handling practices, by writing to lubica@smp.gold. Your right to access or correct your personal information is subject to applicable legal restrictions. We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.
We may revise this privacy statement from time to time. If we intend to use or disclose personal information for purposes materially different than those described in this statement, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals, if necessary, including by revising this statement. We encourage you to visit our Site frequently to obtain the current version. By continuing to access this Site or provide personal information following any changes to this statement you agree to accept any such changes.
In 2011, Lincoln Mining Corporation reported a historical inferred resource estimate totaling 341,800 ounces gold based on 4,386,000 tonnes averaging 2.20 grams gold per tonne (“g Au/t”) at a cutoff grade of 0.68 g Au/t (4,835,000 tons at 0.07 ounces gold per ton; “oz Au/ton”). This historical inferred resource estimate is disclosed in a technical report dated April 29, 2011 prepared for Lincoln Mining Corporation by Tetra Tech Inc. and is available on SEDAR. The historical mineral resource estimate, termed “inferred mineral resource”, which is a category set out in NI 43-101, was based on previous drill hole, underground channel samples and blasthole assays, and calculated using ordinary kriging to estimate gold grades in 10 foot x 10 foot x 5 foot blocks. Accordingly, Southern Empire considers this historical estimate reliable as well as relevant as it represents key targets for exploration work by Southern Empire. The Qualified Person of the Oro Cruz Technical Report has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource and Owl Capital is not treating this historical estimate as current mineral resources.
HISTORICAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE – ALL ZONES
Including Oro Cruz Deposit
Resource Category
Tonnage (tonnes)
Average Gold Grade (g/t)
Cutoff Gold Grade (g/t)
Contained Gold (oz)
Inferred
3,978,000
2.2
0.68
341,800
Historical 2010 Resource: 341,800 ounces gold at 2.2 g Au/t
- Down dip extensions remain untested
- 431 surface RC holes, 60 underground core holes
- 13,628 blast holes, 2,960 underground channel samples
- 17,586 assay data points
- Over 2 km of underground declines, crosscuts, drawpoints and manways in place, requiring minimal rehabilitation
- Stripping for open pit expansion partially complete
- Existing historical heap leach pads
- Adjacent active third-party aggregate/asphalt batch plant operation
Southern Empire Legal Disclaimer
This website is owned and operated Southern Empire Resources Corp. Where we say “we”, “us”, “our”, the “Company”, or “Southern Empire”, we mean Southern Empire Resources Corp. and/or one or more or all of its affiliates, as may be applicable. By using this website, you agree to the following terms and conditions.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This website contains “forward-looking information” which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of the Company and its projects, the future price of gold, silver or other metal prices, exploration expenditures, costs and timing of future exploration, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of mining operations, environmental risks, reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims, limitations of insurance coverage and regulatory matters.
Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, general business, economic, and competitive uncertainties; lack of production; limited operating history of the Company; the actual results of current exploration activities; ability to obtain exploration and drilling licenses or permits; the Company may lose or abandon its interest in the properties; ability to retain qualified personnel; the ability to obtain adequate financing for exploration and development; volatility of commodity prices; environmental risks of mining operations; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, including but not limited to environmental hazards, cave-ins, pit-wall failures, flooding, rock bursts and other acts of God or unfavourable operating conditions and losses.
Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including the determination of mineral reserves or resources, if any, the results of exploration and drilling activities, the availability and final receipt of required approvals, licenses and permits, that sufficient working capital is available to complete proposed exploration and drilling activities, that contracted parties provide goods and/or services on the agreed time frames, the equipment necessary for exploration is available as scheduled and does not incur unforeseen break downs, that no labour shortages or delays are incurred and that no unusual geological or technical problems occur. While the Company considers these assumptions may be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information for a variety of reasons.
These forward-looking statements are based upon management’s beliefs, estimates and opinions. Following listing on the Exchange, the Company intends to discuss in its quarterly and annual reports referred to as the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis documents any events and circumstances that occurred during the period to which such document relates that are reasonably likely to cause actual events or circumstances to differ materially from those disclosed in this website. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company’s business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Other than as required by law, the Company does not intend and undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect, among other things, new information or future events.
Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
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Data is provided by stockdio.com for information purposes only, and is not intended for trading purposes. The Company shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Quotes delayed 20+ minutes.
WEBSITE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT
All materials (graphics, icons, HTML, javascripts, color schemes, multimedia, logos, photographs, copywriting, et al) that appear on this website are the property of the Company and copyrighted by same.
Other materials on this website not originally produced by us (some audio, video, trademarks, et al) are copyrighted by their respective creators/owners and appear here either by permission, example or as public domain reference material.
NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INTERNET SOFTWARE OR COMPUTER VIRUSES
Due to technical difficulties inherent in the Internet, Internet software or transmission problems could produce inaccurate or incomplete copies of information contained on this website. Computer viruses or other destructive programs may also be inadvertently downloaded from the website. The Company shall not be liable for Internet software, computer viruses or destructive programs and recommends that you install appropriate anti-virus or other protective software.
NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LINKED WEBSITES
The Company provides links to third party websites for your convenience only and the inclusion of these links does not imply that the Company monitors or endorses these websites. Accordingly, the Company accepts no responsibility for such websites.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
In general, you may visit this website (the “Site”) without providing any personal information. However, in order to benefit from certain features of this Site, you may need to provide personal information. For example, if you sign up for our email list, we will ask you for your email address so that we can send you email notices when we post news releases or new content on this Site. You may unsubscribe from these messages at any time by using the unsubscribe feature in the message (if provided) or by contacting us as described below. In some cases, we may offer you the option of sending a link to one of our news releases or other content to a friend or family member by email. These messages are sent to your friend or family member from your email account and the Company does not collect, use or retain any personal information in connection with this feature.
By providing the email address of your friend or family member, you represent to us that you have a personal or family relationship with the individual and have consent from the individual to provide his or her email address to us for this purpose. We may also collect and use personal information for other purposes with your consent or as permitted or required by law.
We share personal information with third parties (including affiliates acting in this capacity) that perform services on our behalf, such as information technology, data hosting, analytics, graphic design, video production, and email services provider or similar services, or that otherwise to collect, use, disclose, store or process personal information on our behalf for the purposes described in this statement. These third parties may be located in Canada and the U.S. and your personal information may be processed in these countries for the purposes described in this statement. Reasonable contractual other measures we may take to protect your personal information while processed or handled by these third parties are subject to applicable foreign legal requirements, for example lawful requirements to disclose personal information to government authorities in those countries.
Personal information may also be used and disclosed to parties connected with the proposed or actual financing, securitization, insuring, sale, assignment or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets, for the purposes of evaluating and/or performing the proposed transaction. Our assignees or successors may use and disclose your personal information for similar purposes as those described in this statement.
We may disclose personal information for other purposes with your consent or as permitted or required by law.
The Company uses cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and maintain statistics relating to this Site, including the number and frequency of visits, the average length of visits and which pages are viewed during a visit as well as the types of browsers and the Internet Protocol Addresses of visitors’ computers. This information is used to analyze and improve our Site content and performance. You may be able to set your browser to reject cookies, or to notify you when a cookie is set. If you choose to reject cookies, some areas of this Site may not function properly.
The Company takes reasonable steps to protect your personal information using physical, electronic and procedural security measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information in our custody or control, which may include safeguards to protect against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. Authorized employees, agents and mandataries will have access to your personal information as necessary to fulfil their job requirements.
The file containing your personal information will be maintained on our servers or those of our service providers and will be accessible at our offices. You may request access to or correction of your personal information, or make other inquires about our personal information handling practices, by writing to lubica@smp.gold. Your right to access or correct your personal information is subject to applicable legal restrictions. We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.
We may revise this privacy statement from time to time. If we intend to use or disclose personal information for purposes materially different than those described in this statement, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals, if necessary, including by revising this statement. We encourage you to visit our Site frequently to obtain the current version. By continuing to access this Site or provide personal information following any changes to this statement you agree to accept any such changes.
All units metric. Reported tonnage and grade figures are rounded from raw estimates to reflect the order of accuracy of the estimate..
Table derived from the NI 43-101 Independent Technical Summary Report, September 30, 2019 – Qualified Person, Frank Hrdy, P.Geo. CanMine Consultants.
In 2011, Lincoln Mining Corporation reported an inferred resource estimate totaling 341,800 ounces gold based on 4,386,000 tonnes averaging 2.20 grams gold per tonne (“g Au/t”) at a cutoff grade of 0.68 g Au/t (4,835,000 tons at 0.07 ounces gold per ton; “oz Au/ton”).
This historical inferred resource estimate, prepared for Lincoln Mining Corporation by Tetra Tech, Inc., is disclosed in a technical report dated April 29, 2011that was filed on SEDAR on May 6, 2011 where it is available for review. This historical mineral resource estimate, termed “inferred mineral resource”, which is a category set out in NI 43-101, was based on previous drill holes, underground channel samples and blasthole assays, and calculated using ordinary kriging to estimate gold grades in 10 foot x 10 foot x 5 foot blocks.
Accordingly, Southern Empire considers this historical estimate reliable as well as relevant as it presents key targets for exploration work by Southern Empire. Frank Hrdy, the Qualified Person of Southern Empire’s current Oro Cruz Technical Report, has not done sufficient work to classify the historical resource estimate as a current mineral resource and Southern Empire is not treating this historical estimate as current mineral resources.
APPROVAL FOR DRILLING RECEIVED
In a press release dated August 31, 2023, the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has officially granted approval for Southern Empire’s subsidiary, SMP Gold Corp., to proceed with mineral exploration activities on public lands within its wholly owned Oro Cruz Project, located in Imperial County, California.
David Tupper, Southern Empire’s VP of Exploration, expressed his enthusiasm for this development, stating, “Receiving the BLM’s approval for our planned Oro Cruz exploration is a major step forward for us. This approval brings us much closer to achieving our goals of drilling the high-grade, oxide gold zone of the Cross Mine, which has not seen gold production since 1996. Additionally, it allows us to establish the necessary surface infrastructure to access the underground workings, which are in excellent condition.”
On September 1, 2023, the BLM issued a Decision Record (DR) based on information provided by an Environmental Assessment conducted in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and a signed Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). This decision effectively approves the proposed exploration activities, known as the “Proposed Action,” outlined in Southern Empire’s Plan of Operations for the Oro Cruz Project and detailed in the Environmental Assessment/Mitigated Negative Declaration (EA/MND), which was jointly prepared in coordination with the Imperial County Planning Department (ICPD), the lead agency for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) permitting process for the Oro Cruz Project.
The BLM’s approval of the Proposed Action permits the following activities within the Oro Cruz Project area:
- Establishment of up to 65 drill pads in seven drill target areas.
- Reverse Circulation (RC) and/or core drilling of up to 65 drill holes.
- Improvement and construction of access roads.
- Creation of a staging area at the Cross Mine underground portal for infrastructure required to support future underground drill programs.
It is important to note that the Proposed Action will take place on lands administered and managed by the BLM, specifically within a 257-hectare (635-acre) area of the larger ~184,000-acre Picacho Area of Critical Environmental Concern. This region encompasses significant cultural and biological resources, as well as the historic Cargo Muchacho – Tumco Mining district. The actual surface disturbance resulting from the Proposed Action will be limited to approximately 8.3 hectares (20.5 acres), with most of the proposed drill sites situated within areas previously disturbed by the historical American Girl Mining Joint Venture operations, which concluded in 1996.
The EA/MND thoroughly assessed the potential impact of the exploration activities on the environment and established environmental protection measures to avoid or mitigate any conflicts with, and undue degradation of, natural, cultural, and historic resources associated with the Proposed Action.
In accordance with federal and state laws related to environmental protection, cultural resource preservation, and land use planning, the BLM has determined that the Oro Cruz Project’s Proposed Action, as described in the Plan and the EA/MND, complies with all applicable regulations and will not result in unnecessary or undue degradation. Furthermore, the BLM has recognized that the Oro Cruz Project is “reasonably incident” to mining activities and will meet the required protection and reclamation standards specified in the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA).
This approval marks a significant milestone for Southern Empire Resources Corp. as we continue our commitment to responsible exploration and sustainable resource development. We look forward to advancing our efforts at the Oro Cruz Project and are dedicated to protecting the environment and respecting the rich cultural heritage of the region while doing so. Stay tuned for more updates as we progress on this exciting journey.
Summary of Significant Events:
Pursuant to a Purchase and Sale Agreement and subject to Exchange acceptance (received on March 4, 2021), acquired additional mineral dispositions for the Oro Cruz Project by purchasing mining claims overlying the former gold producing American Girl Mine (see Southern Empire news
release dated September 14, 2020) for cash consideration of US$330,000.
Highlights of this acquisition were:
- Gained 100% ownership of seven privately-owned, patented lode mining claims and ten federally-administered claims
- The addition of contiguous holdings totaling 116 ha (287 acres) that include much of the formerly producing American Girl gold mine operations that produced more than 500,000 oz gold from four underground and four open pit deposits
- Allows additional exploration potential for underground high-grade, oxide gold mineralization
- The acquired claims are subject to no royalty interests
- The acquired claims partially cover historical mine waste dumps which may, at current gold prices, present an opportunity to develop a resource
Completed a 925 line-kilometre, low-level magnetic and radiometric airborne survey over the Oro Cruz property.
Completed an initial 20-hole sonic drilling program; ten holes each on the American Girl and Padre y Madre historical heap leach pads at the Oro Cruz Project.
Completed a 75 square kilometer airborne LiDAR survey of the Oro Cruz Project.
Completed a safety survey of the Oro Cruz Cross Mine underground workings.
Completed a drone-borne LiDAR survey of the Oro Cruz Cross Mine underground workings.
Completed a 10 line-kilometre Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical survey over the Oro Cruz gold deposit by Zonge International.
Initiated a complete review and compilation of the geophysical, LiDAR and geological databases by Condor Consultants and identified a number of previously untested gold targets along the southeast plunging extension of the Oro Cruz zone.
Initiated extractive metallurgical test work on sonic drill samples collected from the historical Padre y Madre and American Girl heap leach pads.
Completed significant archaeological, biological and cultural field studies at the Oro Cruz Project, as required for the Exploration Plan of Operations (“EPO”), the National Environmental Protection Act (“NEPA”) and the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) permitting prior to the start of surface and underground exploration including extensive planned drill programs.
Submitted the EPO for the Oro Cruz Project to the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management(“BLM”) on September 28, 2020.
On November 16, 2021, received a positive decision letter from the BLM determining that the Oro Cruz Project EPO was administratively and technically complete and consistent with U.S. federal regulations, allowing for initiation of the NEPA environmental review process.
The BLM published a notice of intent in the U.S. federal register
and issued a press release on March 4, 2022 related to environmental permitting of Southern Empire’s proposed surface exploration activities. These BLM actions officially notified the public of the BLM’s intent to complete an environmental review that will analyze potential impacts to the
natural, cultural and recreation resources from the proposed exploration activities and initiate federal NEPA permitting processes. In addition, as required by CEQA, the Imperial County Planning Department (ICPD) has formally started analysis of the Oro Cruz project through the preparation of an initial study (IS).
Entered into an Amendment Agreement to amend the terms of the Ronald K. Netolitzky Option Agreement. Option payments totalling $240,000 have previously been paid and pursuant to the terms of the Amendment Agreement, Southern Empire exercised its option to acquire a 25-per-
cent interest in the Oro Cruz property by issuing a total of 2,000,000 common shares to Netolitzky, at a deemed price of $0.10 per share, in lieu of the final two option payments totalling $200,000.