Beowulf Mining PLC Regulatory News (BEM)

22 Jul 2009 07:00



Beowulf Mining Plc

("Beowulf" or the "Company")

Metallurgical studies commence at the Lulepotten copper-gold deposit

Highlights:

Lulepotten has an estimated JORC-compliant inferred resource of 5.4m tonnes at 0.8% Cu and 0.3g/t Au.

A number of potential customers have expressed an interest in Beowulf's projects including the Lulepotten project.

Resultant products from the studies will be made available to potential buyers for quality testing.

Beowulf (AIM: BEM; Aktietorget: BEO), the AIM and Aktietorget traded mineral exploration company which owns several exploration projects in Northern Sweden, is pleased to announce that it has commissioned its initial metallurgical tests on ore grade material from its 100%-owned JORC-compliant Lulepotten copper-gold deposit in the Arjeplog County region of Northern Sweden, from MINPRO AB's research laboratory at Stråssa, Central Sweden. The resultant products will be made available to potential buyers for quality testing.

Lulepotten currently forms the largest copper deposit within the Company's Ballek project area covering close to 11,000 hectares. As announced on 16 September 2008, the deposit has an estimated JORC-compliant inferred mineral resource of 5.4 million tonnes grading 0.8% Cu and 0.3g/t Au, representing a total of 43,000 tonnes of contained copper metal and 52,000 ounces of contained gold using a cut-off value of 0.3% for copper. Further drilling is expected to significantly increase the resource.

Diamond drilling by the Swedish Geological Survey (SGU) in the 1960's and 1970's identified fracture-hosted copper-gold sulphide mineralisation at the Lulepotten deposit. Re-evaluation of the drilling data in 2008 by Beowulf's PLUS-quoted joint venture partner Agricola Resources plc (PLUS: AGRI) ("Agricola") suggested that the drilling had intersected locally significant thicknesses and grades of copper-gold mineralisation that may have sufficient continuity to be amenable to economic extraction through a bulk mining method. Initial diamond drilling completed by Agricola in 2008 confirmed a number of further copper prospects within the Ballek project area located in close vicinity to the Lulepotten deposit.

Sections of selected ore-grade drill core extracted from the Lulepotten deposit and aggregated into a 50kg sample, have been sent to MINPRO AB's research laboratory in Sweden for metallurgical studies. Initial mineralogical studies will be followed by grinding of the sample into different size fractions. These will form raw concentrates from which a final concentrate will be selected for further analysis and evaluation. It is anticipated that the first results from these studies will be available in September 2009.

It is intended that the products obtained from these studies can also be tested for their commercial quality by potential clients. 

The test results will provide the basis for a preliminary economic evaluation study of the project, following which pilot plant studies could then be planned.

Clive Sinclair-Poulton, Chairman of Beowulf commented: 

"We anticipate that the results from MINPRO AB's studies will demonstrate the commercial aspects of the Lulepotten copper-gold project. A number of prospective clients have expressed an interest in our projects, and the results of this study will help them to assess this particular one. Rapid commercialisation of our various highly prospective iron ore deposits in Northern Sweden also remains a key priority."

Dr Jan Ola Larsson (Fil. Kand, PhD, DIC), has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this announcement in his capacity as a qualified person, as required under the AIM rules. Dr Larsson is Technical Director of the Company and has over 30 years relevant experience within the natural resources sector. He also is a Competent Person according to the Swedish Mining Society.

22 July 2009

Enquiries:

Notes to editors:

Beowulf's Ballek Project comprises four licences that cover 11 copper prospects, including the Lulepotten copper-gold deposit. The Lulepotten copper-gold mineralisation is localised along the contact between a granitoid and a package of intercalated mafic to felsic volcanic rocks and sedimentary units, which have all been metamorphosed and strongly foliated. The mineralisation occurs in a series of sub-parallel structures that follow the local fabric, which strikes southwest-northeast and dips steeply to the northwest. Sulphide mineralisation within the deposit comprises irregular veinlets and disseminations of chalcopyrite plus bornite, with lesser pyrite. Mineralisation is mainly developed within the metavolcanic and metasedimentary sequence but also locally occurs within the adjacent granite. 

During the period 1960 to 1978, 104 diamond drill holes were completed over the deposit area for approximately 22,265 metres of drilling on a nominal 50 metre by 50 metre grid spacing. These drill holes, core from which is currently stored at the SGU core archive at Malå, effectively tested the mineralised structure to a depth of about 250-300 metres below surface, and over a strike length of about 1,500 metres. Only a single hole has tested the structure at depth (600 metres below surface) and results indicate that the mineralisation extends down-dip.

The mineralisation is open along strike and at depth and the prospective strike length of the mineralised structure is approximately 5,000 metres. Geological and geophysical targets with similar characteristics to the known mineralisation have been identified both to the north and southwest of the deposit, along the same geological structure that hosts the mineralisation. The Ballek Project is subject to a Joint Venture with Agricola Resources plc, the details of which are outlined on Beowulf's website (www.beowulfmining.com).