Within the Liam Regional Venture Area, the oldest volcanic units are those of the Tacaza Formation which in turn are overlain by the Late Miocene Alpabamba volcanics consisting of bedded, felsic to andesitic tuffs and lavas and associated re-worked units. It is the Alpabamba units which host the Cerro Crespo-Queshca gold-silver mineralization.

Cerro Crespo butte is a high-level, complex, hydrothermal vent system located on the southern side of the maar-like crater and exhibiting several felsic diatreme/brecciation events. At a depth of 150 to 200 m some of these diatreme/breccia zones become narrow, fault-controlled feeder zones.

MINERALIZATION
The Soteco Joint Venture initially identified the Liam area as a zone of high sulphidation type epithermal gold-silver mineralization and in particular that the Cerro Crespo butte could represent a vent related diatreme-type body.

Subsequently Misosa ( Minera del Suroeste S.A.C.) mapped and sampled in detail Cerro Crespo and Queshca and then carried out an initial diamond drilling program at Cerro Crespo. Detailed mapping and sampling in 2002 and 2003 resulted in the collection of 410 channel samples mainly on the top of Cerro Crespo and on its northern and eastern flanks. The mapping identified the various breccia units, while the sampling identified five areas, from northwest to southeast and referred to as Areas A, B, C, D, and E, of gold-silver mineralization with grades ranging from anomalo ........

Crespo is a high sulphidation epithermal deposit and will be mined utilising open-pit methods with an average daily production of 6,850 tonnes and a stripping ratio of 1.15:1. Drilling and blasting will be carried out directly by Hochschild with earthworks being developed by contractors.

- subscription is required.