ECR Minerals Regulatory News (ECR)

2 Mar 2005 07:01

Mercator Gold PLC02 March 2005 Georgian House, 63 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5BB Tel +44-7786 486645 Fax +44-20-76380756 ANNEAN JOINT VENTURE DRILLING RESULTS SURPRISE, JESS AND MAID MARION LONDON - 2 March 2005 - Mercator Gold plc (AIM: MCR, MCRW) as operator of theAnnean Joint Venture announces that on-going drilling continues to intersectsignificant high-grade gold mineralisation within broad zones of anomalous goldat resource-extension targets in the Yaloginda region near Meekatharra, WesternAustralia. Highlights • Hole 04SUDD010 drilled from within the existing Surprise open pit intersected 2m @ 22.7 g/t Au from 73m down-hole, about 80m below surface. Hole 04SUDD010 and hole 05SUDD016, both drilled from the same collar position but in different directions within the Surprise pit, returned 141m @ 0.84 g/t Au and 177m @ 0.66 g/t Au, respectively. • Initial drilling at Jess, the third of three resource-extension targets being drilled in the Yaloginda region, has provided initial encouragement, demonstrating zones of anomalous gold, including 8m @ 1.9 g/t Au from 106m downhole, 8m @ 1.2 g/t Au from 118m and 8m @ 0.9 g/t from 133m. Drilling is continuing to test potential for high-grade shoots. • At Maid Marion, a brownfields exploration target 15km north of Meekatharra, the Company has drilled 93 air-core regional targeting holes, of which 13 holes returned gold grades over 0.5 g/t. These results, when combined with drilling data by previous operators, demonstrate a major corridor of gold mineralisation stretching for more than 8km between Maid Marion and Five Mile Well. One diamond core hole drilled to test the continuity of mineralisation, to test an IP anomaly and to obtain structural geology data, returned six significant intersections including 2m @ 15 g/t Au from 93m downhole. • The Company has completed a £1.25 million share placement to institutional clients of Ocean Equities Ltd and Phillip Securities (UK) Ltd, which boosts treasury and allows the Company to maintain an aggressive drilling programme at Bluebird, Surprise, Jess and Maid Marion within the Annean Joint Venture Area. Surprise drilling Surprise is the second of three resource-extension targets in the Yaloginda mine area, immediately south of Meekatharra, Western Australia, to be drilled by Mercator. The Company considers that each target has the potential to contain in excess of 500,000 ounces of high-grade gold. The targets are locatedwithin 4km of the St Barbara Mines Limited's Bluebird mill that is currently on care and maintenance. - 2 - Complete drill results for Holes 04SURCDD010, 04SURCDD13 and 05SURCDD016 arepresented in Table 1 below. (These results include the completion of Hole04SURCDD13 that stopped at Christmas, with progress results announced in aJanuary press release.) Holes 04SURCDD010 and 05SURCDD016 were collared on the haul road within theexisting small Surprise open cut and were drilled towards 247 degrees and 222degrees respectively at -60 degrees oriented to go down at least 100m of hostporphyry before passing out into country high-Mg basalt on the west side of theporphyry. Whilst drilled partly within the host rock, these holes are drilledacross the gold-bearing sub-horizontal quartz veins. Hole 04SURCDD013 includes 6m @ 2.38 g/t Au, hole 04SUDD010 2m @ 22.73 g/t Au,and hole 05SUDD016 8m @ 2.7 g/t Au. The average grade of the complete Hole04SUDD010 is 141m @ 0.84 g/t Au and for 05SUDD016 177m @ 0.66 g/t Au. Theseresults demonstrate that Surprise has widespread anomalous gold, and within theanomalous zones are substantial high-grade sections, such as those intersectedin 04SURCDD012 with 15m @ 45.1 g/t Au from 127m down-hole (announced January). The Company is currently involved in a comprehensive analysis of the Surprisedrill results in the context of past drilling. Future drilling will targetrepetitions of the two high-grade zones already recognised, and the depthextensions of the porphyry plunging 45 degrees to south. Jess drilling Jess is the third of the Company's resource targets in the Yaloginda mine area.Four reverse circulation holes of a ten hole programme have been completed.Holes 04JSRC002 and 04JSRC010 intersected mineralisation as indicated in theTable 2 below. Hole 04JSRC010 did not reach target depth as the rig suffered amechanical problem, but returned several notable intersections, including 8m @1.94 g/t Au, and substantial widths of low grade mineralisation. The Jess results provide initial encouragement, demonstrating wide zones ofanomalous gold. The company intends to complete its planned programme to testpotential for high-grade shoots. Maid Marion drilling At Maid Marion, the Company drilled 93 air-core holes as a regional targetingtool, with 13 holes returning gold grades over 0.5 g/t. These results, whencombined with drilling data by previous operators, demonstrate a major corridorof gold mineralisation stretching for 8km between Maid Marion and Five MileWell. One diamond core hole has been drilled at Maid Marion to test the continuity ofmineralisation, test an IP anomaly and to obtain structural geology data. Hole05MMDD001 had six significant intercepts including 2m @ 15 g/t Au from 93m downthe -60 degrees angled hole. This and other intersections in the hole are inbanded iron formation and mafic schist. The Maid Marion results, detailed in Table 3 below, provide significantencouragement, demonstrating substantial anomalous gold and the potential forhigh-grade shoots. - 3 - Future Exploration Mercator has entered a contract with Mt Magnet Drilling Pty Limited for them tosupply not less than 12,000 metres of reverse circulation and diamond coredrilling during 2005. The next programme of drilling is scheduled to commence in April, and will include: •Drilling for deep resource extensions at Bluebird; •On-going exploration of and deep target testing at Surprise; •Detailed exploration at Jess; •Systematic RC and air-core drilling of anomalies at Maid Marion, and deep drilling beneath known mineralization; •Testing of regional exploration targets including Cassia and Tuckanarra. Institutional Share Placement The Company recently completed a £1.25 million share placement to institutionalclients of Ocean Equities Ltd and Phillip Securities (UK) Ltd, which booststreasury and allows the Company to maintain an aggressive drilling programmeunder the Annean Joint Venture Area. Ocean Equities Ltd has been appointed joint broker to the Company and has introduced a number of new institutional shareholders to the Company, includingArtemis Investment Management Limited, which last week notified the Company of an interest in 3,750,000 Ordinary Shares, representing 5.24 per cent of the Company's issued Ordinary Share capital. Corporate Developments Dr Susan Vearncombe has been appointed as an executive director of Mercator Gold plc. - ends - Tables referred to above follow._________________________________________________ Information releasesMercator operates a continuous disclosure policy with respect to explorationresults. Company news releases are based on technical information approved bythe Company's Exploration Director, Julian Vearncombe BSc (Hons), PhD, FGS,RPGeo, FAIG. Note to editorsUnder the terms of the Annean Joint Venture, Mercator has the right to earn 70%interest in the Meekatharra properties from St Barbara Mines Ltd by spending atotal of AUD$8 million (approx GBP3.1 million) on exploration. Mercator hasspent the first AUD$1 million and has elected to proceed towards the first stepof earning 45% with a minimum expenditure requirement of AUD$2 million before3rd March 2006. - 4 -Table 1: Surprise results Surprise Intercepts Hole_ID From_m To_m Interval_m Au_g/t Au_g*m/t Easting Northing RL 04SUDD010 27 29 2 4.59 9.18 642789 7045349 41404SUDD010 37 41 4 0.84 3.36 642784 7045346 40404SUDD010 54 55 1 0.71 0.71 642777 7045343 39104SUDD010 64 66 2 6.57 13.14 642772 7045341 38204SUDD010 73 75 2 22.73 45.46 642768 7045339 37404SUDD010 85 86 1 2.6 2.6 642763 7045336 36404SUDD010 89 94 5 1.17 5.85 642760 7045335 35904SUDD010 98 100 2 3.94 7.88 642756 7045333 35204SUDD010 120 124 4 0.91 3.64 642746 7045328 33204SURCDD013 121 127 6 1.61 9.66 642724 7045277 38004SURCDD013 132 137 5 12.11 60.55 771278 8454329 44704SURCDD013 143 149 6 2.38 14.28 642740 7045272 36504SURCDD013 157 163 6 0.86 5.16 642749 7045269 35605SUDD016 10 15 5 1.95 9.75 642797 7045350 42705SUDD016 30 32 2 1.42 2.84 642791 7045342 41105SUDD016 37 38 1 7.31 7.31 642788 7045340 40605SUDD016 49 50 1 1.28 1.28 642784 7045335 39605SUDD016 56 57 1 0.5 0.5 642782 7045332 39005SUDD016 61 62 1 0.63 0.63 642780 7045331 38605SUDD016 66 67 1 0.54 0.54 642778 7045329 38105SUDD016 70 75 5 1.69 8.45 642776 7045326 37605SUDD016 79 85 6 1.78 10.68 642772 7045323 36805SUDD016 88 89 1 3.04 3.04 642770 7045320 36305SUDD016 92 99 7 1.02 7.14 642767 7045317 35705SUDD016 100 104 4 1.04 4.16 642765 7045315 35105SUDD016 106 107 1 0.58 0.58 642763 7045313 34705SUDD016 113 114 1 2.72 2.72 642761 7045310 34205SUDD016 119 120 1 0.53 0.53 642758 7045308 33605SUDD016 123 124 1 1.55 1.55 642757 7045307 33305SUDD016 133 138 5 1.09 5.45 642752 7045302 32305SUDD016 147 149 2 1.86 3.72 642748 7045297 31205SUDD016 155 156 1 0.65 0.65 642745 7045294 30605SUDD016 164 172 8 2.7 21.6 642740 7045289 296Note: for hole 04SURCDD013 results to depth 137 metres were announced in Januaryin an earlier press release. Table 2: Jess results Jess Intercepts Hole_ID From To (m) Interval Au_g/t Au_g*m/t Easting Northing RL (m) (m)04JSRC002 22 24 2 1.31 2.62 642486 7044607 45304JSRC010 81 85 4 2.6 10.4 642505 7044478 40404JSRC010 99 102 3 2.01 6.03 642500 7044487 39004JSRC010 106 114 8 1.94 15.52 642498 7044492 38304JSRC010 118 126 8 1.23 9.84 642494 7044499 37304JSRC010 133 141 8 0.96 7.68 642490 7044508 362 - 5 - Table 3: Maid Marion results Maid Marion Intercepts Hole_ID From_m To_m Interval_m Au_g/t Au_g*m/t Easting Northing RL 04MMAC016 34 35 1 1.01 1.01 657097 7070595 47004MMAC018 19 20 1 0.97 0.97 657200 7070545 48304MMAC019 35 36 1 8.3 8.3 657233 7070523 46904MMAC021 32 33 1 0.66 0.66 657311 7070478 47204MMAC046 60 64 4 0.9 3.6 657780 7071131 44604MMAC060 11 15 4 1.98 7.92 657963 7071714 48904MMAC060 17 18 1 1.25 1.25 657961 7071715 48504MMAC061 57 58 1 0.6 0.6 658286 7071637 45004MMAC061 67 68 1 5.73 5.73 658282 7071640 44204MMAC064 41 43 2 0.75 1.5 658424 7071562 46404MMAC072 20 22 2 0.78 1.56 656790 7070289 48204MMAC075 77 79 2 0.54 1.08 656903 7070253 43204MMAC077 23 27 4 0.5 2 657002 7070196 47804MMAC084 49 51 2 3.56 7.12 658482 7071812 45704MMAC091 44 45 1 6.41 6.41 656754 7069875 46105MMDD001 86 90 4 1.04 4.16 658681 7071774 42405MMDD001 93 95 2 15.00 30.00 658679 7071776 41905MMDD001 103 104 1 4.63 4.63 658675 7071778 41005MMDD001 139 142 3 3.62 10.86 658659 7071788 37905MMDD001 142 143 1 3.08 3.08 658658 7071788 37705MMDD001 148 149 1 1.49 1.49 658655 7071790 372 Notes on tablesThe drill assay tables is in this press release are based on compositing triggervalue = 0.5 g/t Au, minimum composite length 0.2m, and maximum width of internalwaste 2m. Intercept coordinates represent the x-y-z centroid position of thecomposited drill-hole intercept. Easting refers to the Australian Map GridAMG'84 block 50 easting coordinate, and northing the AMG'84 block 50 northingcoordinate. Assay method is Genalysis 50g fire assay (FA50/AAS). The surface RLat Yaloginda near Meekatharra is about 470m with modest variations within thearea. For more information Mercator Gold plc www.mercatorgold.com Patrick Harford, Managing Director Tel: +44 (0) 7786 486645Terry Strapp, Chairman Tel : +61 (0) 8 9322 7422 Beaumont Cornish LimitedRod Venables / Roland Cornish Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 Ocean Equities LtdGuy Wilkes / Will Slack Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7786 4370 Phillip Securities UK LimitedNick Bealer Tel: +44 (0) 20 7553 8281 Parkgreen CommunicationsJustine Howarth / Ana Ribeiro Tel: +44 (0) 20 7493 3713 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange