GoldQuest: “Area of much interest” not worth digging yet

Santo Domingo.- GoldQuest mining company president Julio Espaillat said the southwestern Hondo Valle community of Las Tres Palmas forms part of San Juan province, not Elias Piña, and denied media reports it discovered gold and copper.

"The only true thing is the finding of 400,000 ounces of gold which I have reported in other occasions in the previously cited places," the executive said and reiterated his previous statements on ongoing searches at Las Tres Palmas, located within Jose del Carmen Ramirez National Park.

Quoted by hoy.com.do, Espaillat said the 400,000 ounces of gold are within two square kilometers, a proportion he affirms is too small to feasibly exploit.

He said the fact that Hondo Valle’s surveys report some 231 meters 2.42 grams-per-ton of gold and 0.44% copper, "is only interpreted as an area of much interest, but by no means a mineral deposit exists as has been reported."

"I insist that this is only considered a good indication. In no way can we speak of a deposit or mineral deposit because they are terms reserved for when you know the volume and the mineral resource," added Espaillat.

The Mining Agency issued GoldQuest the concession to exploit Las Tres Palmas on November 2005, which covers Hondo Valle, Los Tomates, La Escandalosa and La Higuera, all within the National Park.