Arc Minerals Regulatory News (ARCM)

24 Aug 2009 07:00



24 August 2009 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Templar Minerals Ltd

('Templar' or 'the Company')

Initial Drill Results - Brazil Iron Ore Project

Templar Minerals Limited (AIM: TMP) is pleased to announce initial drilling and exploration results at the 390 square kilometre Rio Paranaiba project in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais ('the Project'). 

The Project represents a new iron ore discovery in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais. It is located 210km from the city of Divinopolis, a key manufacturing hub and steel production centre. The Project is 90km on paved road from the township of Patos De Minas and has excellent infrastructure including power and water access.

The Company's Consultant, Mr L.D.S. Winter, P.Geo. Reports that:

The 390 square kilometre Rio Paranaiba Project Area in Minas Gerais, Brazil is within the Tocantins Geotectonic Province of the Brasilia Fold Belt. This area is the type locality for the Araxa, Ibian and Canastra Groups of Neo Proterozoic age and they are now present as three stacked thrust sheets. The Lower Thrust Sheet hosts the Canastra Group metasedimentary sequence which in turn contains the iron-bearing units of interest. The iron-rich unit (or hematite-rich unit) is a hematite-rich phyllite which in turn rests on a quartzite horizon.

The work to date has indicated the presence of hematite-rich sediments over an east-west distance of approximately 40 km, a significant distance, and with thicknesses up to at least 40 m in surface exposures in a newly identified area.

Sampling by the Company at 20 locations,, within the Project area have been analyzed at the SGS Geosol Laboratory in Belo Horizonte. These samples gave iron ("Fe") grades in the range from 17% to over 65% with an average of 43% with low phosphorous grades in the 0.05% range. Thirty-two samples taken by A.L. Fleming averaged 65.2% Fe, 0.07% Phosphorous and Sulphur.  

A preliminary drilling program has been carried out through late June and July 2009.  A number of significant intercepts have already been recorded, with drill hole Number 8 at the Corral da Estrada prospect intersecting a 6 metre interval between 16 metres and 22 metres of hematite-rich sediment . Two further holes at the Perfis prospect, Numbers 4 and 7 have also intersected intervals of hematite-rich sediments. Hole Number 4 has intersected an 8 metre interval between 42 metres and 50 metres and hole Number 7 intersected a 17 metre interval, from 1.5 metres to 18.5 metres, of hematite-rich units. Drilling will continue based on the positive results to date. 

Three surface samples also showed enrichment in silver, cobalt, copper and zinc with one sample FRP144 reporting 14.8 parts per million (grams per tonne) of Silver, 0.3% Cobalt, 0.08% Copper and 0.09% Zinc. Further work is planned in this area to ascertain the significance of this anomaly.

Drilling to date has indicated that the iron rich mineralization sits within a structurally complex environment and significant faulting is evident in the areas drilled and appears to be disrupting some of the continuity of the hematite-rich sediments. It is considered that the objective of additional work is to determine the distribution of the iron-rich sediments and to clarify the structural situation.

The iron-rich sediments appear to be distributed over a very large area which is mainly soil, laterite and vegetation covered. To "look through" this cover, an airbourne and ground based magnetometer surveys are being commissioned to cover the high priority areas. 

Within the Rio Paranaiba Project area of influence and approximately 60 km north of Rio Paranaiba, Templar's joint venture partner holds 4 mining concessions covering approximately 80 square km. Within these concessions, a moderately hard hematite-rich sedimentary unit in the order of 25 m thick has been found to outcrop over a strike length of about 3 km.

Chairman David Lenigas commented;

'The initial results of the exploration program at Rio Parnaiba has confirmed the existence of hematite-rich iron mineralization below surface. The potential strike length of the iron rich mineralization has now been extended to some 40 kilometres and work programmes going forward will attempt to prioritise exploration targets over this significant distance.'

Competent Person

The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed by Mr Stewart Winter, Consulting Geologist, B.A.Sc., M.Sc., P.Geo. He is the Qualified

Person who has reviewed the field data. Mr. Winter has worked for over 50 years as a

geologist and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type

of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking, to qualify

as a Qualified Person for the purposes of this announcement.

Enquiries

Templar Minerals LimitedDavid Lenigas Tel: +44 (0)20 7016 5100 

Charles Wood Tel: +44 (0) 7971444326

Beaumont Cornish Limited

Roland Cornish / Rosalind Hill Abrahams Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 3396 

Commercial Terms on the Rio Paranaiba Iron Ore Project

The Project area is contained within 21 Mineral Licences and applications for Mineral Licenses covering approximately 39000 ha (390 km2) held in the name of Fernando Pereira da Rocha Thomsen ("Thomsen").

Pursuant to a Letter Agreement ("LA") dated 4 December 2008, Templar's 100% subsidiary, Paranaiba Minerals Ltd. ("Paranaiba" or the "Company") has the right to earn up to a 77% interest in the Project by making certain exploration expenditures over a 2 year period. All expenditures are in Canadian dollars.

The Company can earn a 50% undivided interest in the Project by making minimum expenditures of C$200,000 within 180 days of entering into a definitive Exploration and Option Agreement. The Company can earn an additional 27% interest for a total 77% interest in the Project by making additional expenditures of C$600,000 within 2 years of entering into the Exploration and Option Agreement. The total expenditures of a minimum of C$800,000 would earn the Company a 77% interest in the Project. To date, the Company has made exploration expenditures of over $C300,000 on geological mapping, sampling and drilling there meeting the requirements to own a 50% interest in the Project.

Upon successful completion of the Exploration and Option Agreement, a Joint Venture, Paranaiba 77%, Thomsen 23% would be formed.