Consequently, Mansfield clearly sees the potential this year to outline a one-and-a-half to two million ounce gold resource at its most advanced project, the Lindero Property. Obviously, this scenario promises to build considerable intrinsic value into the Company’s still undervalued share price.  

 

However, what really makes Mansfield a stand-out among its many peers is a rare and potent blend of substance and “sizzle”. In other words, not only is the Lindero Deposit a likely catalyst to high share price multiples. But so too is the Company’s gold-copper Rio Grande Property. In fact, this multi-phase mineral assemblage offers investors “home run” potential for a world-class discovery. Such a finely calibrated risk/reward formula is sure to attract the type of shareholders whose investment strategies are as shrewd as they are speculative.

 

Indeed, such compelling dynamics make Mansfield one of SmallCapMedia’s favourite natural resource stories for 2005 and beyond. Henceforth, we will explain why these two flagship projects — along with an attractive portfolio of other Argentinean properties —are full of genuine promise, rather than mere hype. (Indeed, it is probably the Company’s low-key approach to doing business that explains why its share price is not yet on-par with more promotional-minded mining juniors that have similarly advanced-stage projects).

 

First, let’s discuss the Lindero Property which, by itself, has the very real potential to present Mansfield’s shareholders with a handsome windfall. Like all of the Company’s properties, it is located in northwestern Argentina — a geologically fertile and under-developed frontier territory with very little mining history. Yet, this region’s geology is structurally not unlike Nevada — the world's third most prolific gold territory. Hence, Mansfield has spent a whole decade doggedly exploring for “company maker” deposits in the rural backwaters of this increasingly mining-friendly Latin American nation. And it’s a testament to the Company’s vision and business acumen that it has weathered a prolonged mining recession to emerge with projects of the caliber of Lindero and Rio Grande.

 

Since it was discovered by Mansfield in 1999, the Lindero Property has been extensively explored and developed. And much of the credit for proving the existence of a potentially economic million-ounce-plus gold resource is owed to Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Limited — the world’s largest mining multinational. Realizing the property’s potential in 2002, Rio Tinto struck a deal with Mansfield to earn-in on the project by way of a series of work programs.  At least US$1,500,000 was spent outlining an impressive gold resource.

 

A total of ten holes comprising 3,278 metres were drilled. Then Rio Tinto undertook a costly reverse economic study. This included the design of a three-dimensional model of the deposit that revealed its known parameters, as well as the location of the greatest concentrations of gold. This allowed Rio Tinto to outline an “inferred” resource estimate of approximately 109 million tonnes of 0.57 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold. In turn, this translates into an inferred mineral inventory of two million ounces of gold, with the scope for some modest expansion. (This resource estimate is not yet compliant with the relatively new National Policy 43-101 guidelines — a Canadian federal government recognized standard of a “measured resource”).

 

However, global mining powerhouses tend to have a strategic focus on deposits with a minimum threshold of at least four or five million ounces. So Rio Tinto returned the property to the Company in March 2003. But Mansfield’s management was far from discouraged. The Company’s deep-pocketed partner had just gifted it with a wealth of invaluable data to form the basis of a pivotal scoping study.

 

So in September, 2003 Mansfield commissioned an independent resource estimate that was audited by Roscoe Postle Associates Inc., an international geological engineering firm. In Roscoe Postle’s opinion, a preliminary cut-off grade for a deposit of this type — that was amenable to cost-efficient open pit mining methodology — would be 0.6 g/t of gold, giving the deposit a resource of 29 million tonnes grading 1.08 grams/tonne (1,037,000 ounces of gold). Another consulting group, Kappes Cassiday Associates (KCA) which specialize in the metallurgy of heap leach gold deposits, also calculated a recovery rate for the ore of around 70% to 75%. In other words, KCA has concluded that a profitable mining operation is within Mansfield’s reach.

 

Mansfield’s savvy management team, nonetheless, believes that there still exists the likelihood of increasing this inferred gold inventory to as much as two million ounces. This would be achieved by lowering the cut-off grade to 0.4 g/t. Though incremental, this lowered threshold for ore-grade rock stands to make the logistics favouring a gold mine all the more attractive.

 

Lowering the cut-off grade may be accomplished through the execution of a rigorous pre-feasibility study where all the costs of producing are defined.  Once factored-in, stockwork mineralization promises to sweeten the overall ore grade.  The next phase of drilling at the deposit, consisting of another 5,000 metres, should go a long way towards better outlining its overall size and grade distribution.  

 

Equally important, the presence of stockworks mineralization is further evidence that the deposit offers the prospect for low-cost, heap leachable processing of open-pittable bulk tonnage ore. These key logistics paints an even more favourable picture in support of an economically viable mining operation.

 

Mansfield has thus been inspired to focus this year on completing a pre-feasibility study (a preliminary blueprint for a mine) to groom the deposit for a prospective buyer — likely a mid-tier mining company. This benchmark development would in essence facilitate the upgrading of the Lindero Deposit’s mineral inventory from an “inferred” category to a “proven and probable” status. Again, Mansfield would need to ensure that its assessment is National Policy 43-101 compliant prior to seeking an official stamp of approval for its final resource calculations.

Moreover, an adjacent discovery only two kilometres to the east, known as the Arizaro Zone, also shows considerable promise for further bolstering the Lindero Property’s collective mineral inventory. Early-stage exploration at Arizaro involving 93 grab samples returned values averaging 0.49% copper, though some ran as high as 2.7% copper. Meanwhile, gold values averaged 1.09 g/t. And two test holes that were drilled by Rio Tinto in 2003 comprising 629 metres included highlights of 20 metres of 1.197 g/t gold equivalent and 10.95 metres of 1.530 g/t gold equivalent.

Now let’s move on to the Rio Grande Property. This is where the Company’s story really begins to heat up. Discovered by Mansfield in early 2000, the Company’s wholly-owned project area is seated along the same regional structural trend as the Lindero Deposit and the adjoining Arizaro Zone. Another value driver for Mansfield is the fact that the deposits are only seven kilometers apart, meaning that they could both be serviced by the same mill.

 

To date, the Rio Grande Property has been shown to host a cluster of half a dozen porphyry/iron oxide-copper-gold discovery zones. The story also gets more enticing with the recent discovery of a new style of mineral-laced rock — structurally-controlled, silver-gold stockworks mineralization.

 

Mansfield and its new joint venture partner, Antares Minerals Inc., are already working hard to better understand the relationship between all of the property’s various mineralized structures or discovery zones. Notably, they mostly cluster in the expansive four-square-kilometer project area like gem stones on a necklace.  

 

A well-financed Canadian mining junior, Antares is run by a very successful team of explorationists who benefit from enviable technical expertise. And this industrious, well-respected company now has an option to earn an initial 50% interest in the Rio Grande project by completing work expenditures totaling US $3,000,000, as well as issuing 900,000 shares and making payments of US $700,000 over a four-year period. An additional 10% interest may be earned by incurring further work expenditures of US $1,500,000 over 18 months. Encouragingly, Antares is estimating they have spent at least US $600,000 to date.

 

This is all very good news for Mansfield. It means that an impressive war chest is now at the Company’s disposal. And these exploration dollars are already generating the desired results. A recent 3,000-metre trenching program conducted by Antares has now been completed. And the first round of assay results is already confirming the potential for economic mineral grades within the cluster of half a dozen known copper-gold oxide zones on the property. Detailed analysis of a ground I.P. survey (a sub-surface scan) also attests to the fact that the oxide-sulphide mineralization runs to a depth of at least 200 metres.

 

Thus, an emerging picture of this large zone of hydrothermal alteration — that covers an area of 2 kilometres by 1.9 kilometres — suggests that a deep high-grade keel of mineralization bisects widely disseminated, veinlet-controlled stockworks zones. Mansfield’s management therefore believes that a 200-million-tonne mineral inventory is not an unrealistic target. And Antares appears to be in accord. That is why an aggressive and ambitious 2005 drill program is planned to extensively drill the mineralization with a view to revealing its bulk tonnage potential.

 

Meanwhile, the “wild card’’ at the Rio Grande Property presents itself in the shape of a very large geochemical anomaly anchoring the southern portion of the discovery area. It is so large that it dwarfs the rest of the deposits all amassed together. Early stage trenching, test pitting, as well as two exploratory drill holes, suggest the potential for a very large, low-grade gold-copper porphyry deposit. In fact, this target area is beginning to reveal a geological “footprint” that is comparable to the 545-million-tonne Bajo de la Alumbrera copper-gold deposit — Argentina’s largest mine. It also has geological similarities to the 366-million-tonne similarly-mineralized Candelaria deposit in neighboring Chile.

 

An ongoing program consisting of geological mapping, as well as ground I.P. and resistivity surveying, is expected to reveal a number of compelling drill targets. Indeed, the discovery of a large tonnage porphyry deposit could easily turn the Rio Grande Property into a world-class find. Such a development would surely make Mansfield the toast of Canada’s investment community.

 

Elsewhere in this remote region of Argentina, the Company owns a 100% interest in several other highly prospective properties. They include the El Camino Property which is a gold-copper oxide prospect. Past exploration work conducted by Teck Corporation (a former joint venture partner, now named Teck Cominco Ltd.) included 719 metres of drilling over four holes and some trenching. This work has to date indicated that the mineralized zones encountered are anomalous in gold, silver, copper zinc and lead. A total of eight separate showings occur within a 3-kilometre by 700-metre area. All are very amenable to geochemical sampling with a view to identifying a number of high-priority drill targets.  

 

Then there is the Catua Property in which Antares has an option to earn an initial 50% interest by completing work expenditures totaling US $2,000,000. Notably, grab samples have been demonstrated to run as high as a very impressive 5% copper. Not surprisingly, Antares has already commenced a ground I.P. geophysical survey at this near-surface copper oxide discovery. This field work is designed to assist in understanding the orientation of the high-grade copper mineralization at depth. It should also help to identify drill targets.

 

Mansfield also has high hopes for its Aguas Calientes Property. Some 1,300 metres of drilling spanning 13 holes conducted by a previous joint venture partner identified a silver-gold mineralized structure that is open for further expansion in three directions. One of several mineralized zones identified to date benefits from a strike length of at least one kilometre that is exposed on surface. Gold values in this zone range from 0.5 g/t to 3.3 g/t. Grab samples from a second zone average 2.0 g/t to 5.0 g/t, while silver values predominantly range from 40 g/t to 100 g/t. A third more recently discovered zone has returned values of up to 14 g/t of gold. The Company is seeking a joint venture partner to further explore this property.

 

Of several other early-stage prospects, the final one that we have singled out for a mention is the La Frontera Property. This is a silver-gold discovery that was made by Mansfield in early 2000 in a region where there is no evidence of previous exploration. Exposed and inferred mineralization covers an area measuring 100 metres by 1,200 metres. Significantly, silver grab sample values run to “bonanza” grades of up to 4,000 g/t with gold credits of up to 4.1 g/t. Mansfield’s management suggests that this high-grade epithermal vein system is drill-ready. Hence, a joint venture partner is being sought. 

 

On a corporate note, Mansfield obviously benefits from a strong management team. It includes brothers Gordon and John Leask, who together have close to half a century's worth of experience in the mining business. Moreover, Gordon Leask has presided over the Company for over a decade, during which time he has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to developing top-tier projects in one of the world's last under-explored mineral belts.

 

The Leasks are also joined by Dr. Murray Hitzman, a director and technical advisor, whose distinguished career includes serving as an Advisor to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in Washington. As an exploration geologist, Dr. Hitzman also played a leading role in the discovery of the Lisheen zinc-lead-silver deposit in Ireland. He was awarded the Chevron Corporation Chairman's Award for his contribution to this significant discovery.

 

From a technical perspective, Mansfield has a favourable share structure with approximately 25.74 million shares outstanding (about 31.63 million fully diluted). In a business where share dilution is always a major concern, investors can take heart from Antares’ involvement in the Rio Grande and Catua projects. This situation should preclude the need for Mansfield to top up its treasury with any major financings any time soon.

Furthermore, the Company’s share price has initiated a clear uptrend since the start of 2005 in anticipation of Antares’ aggressive work program at the Rio Grande Property. And the advent of positive news flow in the coming months from both the Rio Grande and Lindero projects should act a catalyst to the sustained ascendancy of Mansfield’s share price in 2005 and beyond.