Management
Doug Sanders, President
A. Blair Dunn, Legal Counsel
Directors
Doug Sanders, Chairman
Advisors to the Chairman include experts in Financial Management, Contracts, Law, Mining Operations, Metallurgy, Communications, and Logistics
The El Capitan Story… Turning the Page
The El Capitan mine, located in south central New Mexico, has a long and rich history. While the El Capitan deposit comes with metallurgical challenges, the near-surface, pervasive nature of this deposit—all of which occurs above the regional water table—provides the potential for both low mining costs and a long life of operation.
ECPN represents an early-stage operating mining company with multiple potential revenue sources—precious metals (PMs: gold and silver), platinum group metals (PGMs), rare earth elements (REEs), and iron ore deposits. This deposit discovery is supported by almost 13,000 feet of successful core and reverse-circulation drilling within a 200-acre resource block. The El Capitan deposit has been known as a potential iron ore resource for several decades. The U.S. Bureau of Mines drilled approximately 140 shallow holes through the outcropping, shallow-dipping magnetite skarn deposit in 1944 and 1948. Small-scale iron ore production totaled approximately 250,000 tons in the years 1961-1988.
In 2002 El Capitan Precious Metals, Inc. conducted a ground magnetic survey and drilled six shallow holes. Only low precious metals values had been obtained from the deposit, by “standard” fire assay over the years, and, in May of 2004, El Capitan Precious Metals, Inc. submitted a few samples of magnetite iron skarn to a metallurgical laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah. The lab separated the samples into magnetic and non-magnetic fractions and reported significant gold and platinum results on the non-magnetic fractions using their proprietary caustic fusion assay method. These results prompted a 32-sample surface sampling and assay program conducted in January of 2005. The lab reported potential ore-grade gold and platinum results on all 32 samples which prompted El Capitan Precious Metals Inc’s management team to undertake three stages of diamond core, open-hole rotary, and reverse circulation drilling. This drilling program outlined 141 million tons of Measured Resource with a gold equivalent grade of 0.044 opt. Since that time, through an additional study, the Measured Resource has increased significantly and an abundance of Precious Metals (PMs) and Rare Earth Elements (REEs) have been identified.
Turning the Page…
Today, under new management that recognizes the urgency to capitalize on the strength in the iron ore market, efforts are finally focused on “getting into business.” Buttressed by the Gamba Analytical Report (available on the ECPN website, along with Maria Gamba’s resume) and continual assays by in-house and independent labs, the Company is entering the initial production stage. In addition to iron ore production, considerable attention is being given to the PMs, PGMs, and REEs.