Depressed Mariana Resources hopes autumn drill results from Santa Cruz in Argentina will confirm bonanza silver grades at depth.

Sydney-based Mariana, which recently raised £1 million privately at 10p, can earn 70 per cent of the Sierra Blanca project at Santa Cruz by paying £1 million over five years and has applied for licences over another 120,000 hectares on its own.

Chaired by Australian entrepreneur and cycling enthusiast John Horsburgh, the AIM-listed company says impressive grades of 1,095 grammes of silver per tonne of ore over 8.8 metres have been found nearby, and Horsburgh says a Mariana exploration man recently found a surface silver outcrop grading 7,000 grammes a tonne.

He suggests this could be a ‘company maker’ and insists Santa Cruz is in one of Argentina’s mining-friendly provinces. However, he counsels caution ahead of the first drilling results, which are expected in late October or early November.

Meanwhile, Mariana, whose managing director is seasoned South America hand John Sutcliffe, is also involved in a potentially promising copper project at La Borita in Argentina and in copper and gold projects at Buenaventura and Perro Chico in Chile.

There are hints that the Oxeana group might come aboard later at Buenaventura, where Mariana can earn 80 per cent by taking the project to a bankable feasibility study, if a worthwhile discovery is proved. As yet, the shares have performed poorly, falling from their 20p float price in 2006 to 9p today, valuing the company at £4.9 million.

Good drilling results from Santa Cruz later this year could change the market’s view.

Growth Company Investor is the UK’s leading authority on small-cap and AIM companies. You can gain immediate access to all the recent share recommendations with no obligation, with a free 30-day trial. Click here to join today.

Mariana Resources	AIM	£1.97m	3.62p	0.00p
Click here for interactive charting
Other company articles:
Argentine cheer for Mariana			11/09/2008
Silver hopes stir Mariana			15/07/2008
Argentine cheer at Mariana			18/09/2007
Mariana on expansion trail			31/05/2007
Newcomer - Mariana Resources			19/05/2006