AVM.L Regulatory News (AVM)

6 Feb 2008 07:01

Avocet Mining PLC06 February 2008 EXPLORATION UPDATE AVOCET RECEIVES POSITIVE GOLD GRADES IN DRILLING AT MANGKALUKU, SOUTH SULAWESI, INDONESIA Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") announces positive gold grades inscout drilling from the Mangkaluku prospect in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Sinceannouncing significant gold trenching results on 30 August and 22 November 2006,the Company has gained a 90% effective beneficial interest in a 181 km2 KuasaPertambangan Explorasi or national exploration license covering the SouthSulawesi prospects. Avocet has now completed 12 drill holes (1,832 metres) evaluating the two mostsignificant vein systems, which strike ENE over a distance of 600 metres withwidths of up to 200 metres and NNE over a length of 500 metres with widths of upto 100 metres. Drill hole locations are laid out in the figure that can befound in the announcement on the Company's website. Table 1 summarises the significant intercepts from this scout drillingprogramme, which include 2m @ 117 g/t Au from 34 metres depth (MLD005) and 12m @3.51 g/t Au from 117metres (MLD007). Native gold is visible in seven of thetwelve holes. These results are highly encouraging and warrant follow-up withbroad infill drilling to define the resource potential at Mangkaluku. Furtherdrilling work will remain subject to the usual permitting processes. A review of drill core has identified at least four phases of veining hosted byphyllic-altered monzodiorite. Two phases of sheeted quartz-arsenopyrite+/-carbonate veining are clearly associated with gold mineralisation. These veinsoccur as narrow, high grade sets (notably 2m @ 117 g/t Au) that bulk out towider, but lower grade zones enveloping narrow internal waste zones (including12m @ 3.51 g/t Au). Jonathan Henry, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "These encouraging results highlight the potential of the Mangkaluku prospectand are a further demonstration of our exploration team's ability to find highlyprospective gold projects. We look forward to the next phase of work at SouthSulawesi, and at the other projects where we have recently announced successfuldrilling results, as part of our strategy of significantly growing the Company'sresource base." For further information please contact: Avocet Mining PLC Buchanan Communications Financial PR ConsultantsJonathan Henry, Chief Executive Officer Bobby MorseMike Norris, Finance Director Robin Haddrill020 7907 9000 020 7466 5000www.avocet.co.uk www.buchanan.uk.com Ambrian Partners Limited JPMorgan CazenoveNOMAD and Joint Broker Lead BrokerRichard Brown Michael Wentworth-StanleyRichard Greenfield Sam Critchlow020 7776 6400 020 7588 2828www.ambrian.com www.jpmorgancazenove.com Notes to Editors Avocet is a mining company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange(Ticker: AVM). The Company's principal activities are gold mining andexploration in Malaysia (as 100% owner of the Penjom mine, the country's largestgold producer), and Indonesia (as 80% owner of the North Lanut gold mine andBakan project in North Sulawesi). The Company has a number of other advancedmining and exploration projects in South East Asia. All references to resources and exploration results have been approved forrelease by Mr Peter Flindell, BSc (Hons) MAusIMM, Chief Geologist for Avocet,who has more than 20 years experience in the field of activity concerned and isa Competent Person as defined by the JORC Code (2004). He has consented to theinclusion of the material in the form and context in which it appears. Table 1: Significant drill hole intercepts at Mangkaluku, South Sulawesi North Hole East RL Azimuth Dip Depth From To Interval Grade Comments ID (m) (m) (m) (m) (0) (0) (m) (m) (m) (g/t Au) MLD001 182109.8 9666032.3 313.5 145 -60 175.0 2.00 6.00 4.0 1.45 14.00 16.00 2.0 0.59 28.00 29.00 1.0 0.56 66.00 76.00 10.0 1.14 84.00 85.00 1.0 0.75 101.00 103.00 2.0 1.39 127.00 128.00 1.0 1.25 133.00 138.00 5.0 0.85 165.00 166.00 1.0 0.96 MLD002 182220.2 9666062.5 311.6 138 -60 180.1 12.00 14.00 2.0 0.66 53.00 54.00 1.0 0.66 109.00 110.00 1.0 2.67 MLD003 182148.5 9666137.6 288.1 142 -60 192.0 0.00 2.00 2.0 0.57 61.00 62.00 1.0 0.57 70.00 71.00 1.0 0.66 90.00 92.00 2.0 2.23 101.00 102.00 1.0 0.57 132.00 133.00 1.0 0.93 184.00 186.00 2.0 1.42 MLD004 181849.9 9665902.8 263.7 118 -62 132.0 11.00 12.00 1.0 1.76 16.60 17.50 0.9 7.39 25.00 27.00 2.0 3.20 38.00 39.00 1.0 1.48 46.00 47.00 1.0 1.79 63.00 64.00 1.0 1.46 67.00 73.00 6.0 3.89 incl. 1m @ g/t Au from 71m 82.00 83.00 1.0 1.64 109.00 113.00 4.0 0.42 119.00 120.00 1.0 1.09 MLD005 181472.0 9665989.0 366.1 138 -62 133.8 34.00 36.00 2.0 100 uncut grade of 117 g /t Au 63.00 71.00 8.0 0.84 114.50 115.00 0.5 23.3 118.00 120.00 2.0 1.18 MLD006 181892.4 9666000.2 278.6 140 -60 192.1 1.00 6.00 5.0 2.48 incl. 1m @ 7.05 g/t Au from 5m 14.00 16.00 2.0 1.21 38.00 39.00 1.0 0.51 42.00 43.00 1.0 1.37 68.00 70.00 2.0 0.62 76.00 78.00 2.0 0.91 90.60 91.60 1.0 2.17 98.00 100.00 2.0 2.33 104.00 108.00 4.0 1.40 116.00 117.00 1.0 1.22 121.00 123.00 2.0 2.45 128.00 135.00 7.0 1.85 incl.1m @ 8.28 g/t Au from 134m 138.00 140.00 2.0 1.04 143.00 147.00 4.0 1.44 150.00 161.00 11.0 2.65 incl. 1m @ 10.5 g/t Au from 157m MLD007 181983.1 9666001.2 290.0 135 -60 171.2 8.00 10.00 2.0 0.69 38.00 39.00 1.0 3.52 69.00 74.00 5.0 0.93 87.00 91.00 4.0 1.40 102.00 106.00 4.0 0.89 111.00 114.00 3.0 2.20 117.00 129.00 12.0 3.51 incl. 2m @ 12.6 g/t Au from 117m 135.00 137.00 2.0 1.62 151.00 153.00 2.0 2.06 167.00 171.20 4.2 0.97 MLD008 182044.5 9665951.4 257.9 135 -60 97.0 16.00 18.00 2.0 18.2 35.80 40.30 4.5 5.72 incl. 1m @ 15.9 g/t Au from 35.8m 49.00 50.00 1.0 0.87 56.00 65.00 9.0 3.91 incl. 4m @ 8.04 g/t Au from 61m 95.00 96.00 1.0 18.6 MLD009 181795.0 9665812.6 276.5 125 -60 95.7 12.00 13.00 1.0 2.93 50.00 54.00 4.0 0.76 63.00 65.00 2.0 2.43 MLD010 181919.0 9665870.0 258.5 129 -59 146.3 0.00 1.90 1.9 1.56 14.00 17.00 3.0 0.86 62.80 64.40 1.6 1.25 MLD011 181383.0 9665939.0 385.0 138 -62 163.2 10.00 11.00 1.0 8.24 28.00 29.00 1.0 1.19 68.00 70.00 2.0 1.26 99.00 102.00 3.0 2.83 112.00 118.00 6.0 3.24 incl. 2m @ 8.16 g/t Au from 112m MLD012 181775.0 9665995.0 291.0 105 -60 153.3 12.00 13.00 1.0 1.65 21.00 22.00 1.0 0.80 56.00 57.00 1.0 1.06 64.70 66.00 1.3 6.33 91.00 92.20 1.2 9.71 95.10 96.00 0.9 1.08 103.00 108.00 5.0 0.70 126.30 127.10 0.8 16.2 135.00 135.90 0.9 16.9 143.00 145.00 2.0 4.58 149.00 153.30 4.3 0.49 Note: Individual gold assays have a top cut of 100 g/t Au and a lower cut of 0.5 g/t Au for intercept calculations. Maximum internal waste allowed is 2m and minimum mineralised interval is 0.5m. All holes are drilled from surface using conventional triple-tube diamond drilling techniques. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange