TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vancouver-based Ventana Gold has initiated a scoping study on its La Bodega project, in Colombia, focusing on the high-grade, north-east-trending La Mascota zone, the firm reported on Thursday.

The La Mascota zone is an epithermal deposit and has been defined to a strike length of 800 m and a depth of up to 400 m downdip.

It remains open in all directions, and Ventana CEO Steve Orr said on Thursday that the company plans to accelerate the development of the zone.

The La Mascota scoping study will be completed in the third quarter of 2010, and will be followed by a full project feasibility study, he said.

La Mascota is one of two distinct deposits identified at the project – the second is the La Bodega zone, which is a porphyry-style near-surface deposit on the north-eastern property boundary and which Ventana suspects could be an extension of the Angostura deposit, which is being explored by fellow Canadian Greystar Resources.

Work to date has demonstrated the grade tenor at La Mascota to be higher and the deposit to be much larger than the La Bodega zone, Ventana said on Thursday.

“Initial metallurgical work indicates the ore chemistry at La Mascota is less complex than at the La Bodega zone and more amenable to conventional cyanide leach recovery.”

As part of the study, the company plans to publish an initial NI 43-101 resource statement for the drilled portion of both zones by the end of the first quarter of 2010.

Ventana's stock started the year at C$0,36 apiece, but has soared since then, as the company reported good-looking drill results from the La Bodega project and drew the attention of both analysts and investors.

It also received a boost in July with the news that Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista had acquired 9,5% of the company through his EBX Investment Group.

Shares in the firm rose another 5,4% on Thursday, to C$6,30 apiece by 15:59 in Toronto.

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