ECR Minerals Regulatory News (ECR)

22 Jun 2005 07:00

Mercator Gold PLC22 June 2005 MEEKATHARRA DRILLING RESULTS ("Mercator or "the Company") LONDON - 22 June 2005 Mercator Gold plc (AIM: MCR) as operator of the AnneanJoint Venture with St Barbara Mines Limited (SBM) announces interim results fromits drilling programme near Meekatharra, Western Australia, including theSurprise target at Yaloginda. Surprise, Surprise Extended and Jess At the previously-mined Surprise open pit and Surprise Extended area south ofthe pit, the Company has completed its reverse circulation and diamond drillingprogramme over a strike length of 700 metres. Thirty one holes totalling 4721metres were drilled for the dual purpose of extending the known mineralisationand of verifying historical data. While many assays are pending, results to date demonstrate a 700 metre strikelength of mineralised porphyry for Surprise and Surprise Extended to a depth ofup to 170 metres, and show high-grade gold continuing to be intersected, with anindividual result of 8m @ 11.8 g/t Au including 0.4m @ 224 g/t Au in drill hole05SURD019. The porphyry is up to 40m in width and remains open at depth. Most of theporphyry is mineralised to varying levels, with higher gold grades coincidentwith flat quartz veins with pyrite. Assay results of moderate grades include 8m@ 5.5 g/t Au (including 4m @ 10.5 g/t Au) in drill hole 05SURC002. Otherintersections include 8m @ 1.2 g/t Au in drill hole 05SURC010, 7m @ 1.7 g/t Auin drill hole 05SURC012, 9m @1.6 g/t Au, 9m @1.8 g/t Au and 5m @ 2.6 g/t Au indrill hole 05SURC021. Further assay results from Surprise are pending. Drilling of an apparent en echelon zone of mineralisation at Jess immediatelysouthwest of Surprise Extended has intersected further near-surface low-grademineralisation, dipping gently southeast. Intersections include 6m @ 2.6 g/t Auin drillhole 05JSRC004 and 14m @ 1.6g/t Au in drillhole 05JSRC008. Further assayresults from Jess are pending. The Company is now assessing the potential for a single open pit resourcestretching from Surprise to Jess, being over a kilometre in length, in excess of200 metres in depth and up to 40 metres in width. (Drill results are detailed in Table 1.) Verification drill results are detailed in Table 1 and the results comparedcritically in Table 2. Bluebird The Company has commenced a 4000 metre diamond core and reverse circulationdrill programme at Bluebird. The programme is expected to be completed by midJuly. Resource Assessments The Company has commissioned Cube Consulting to provide independent resourceassessments for Surprise and Surprise Extended and for Bluebird and expectdelivery of these assessments in August 2005 and September 2005 respectively. Chunderloo The Western Australia Department of Industry and Resources has granted theCompany an exploration licence E51/1043 over 104.4 sq km of the Abbottsgreenstone belt in an area known as Chunderloo. The licence will form part ofthe Annean Joint Venture area. The Abbotts belt is a typical greenstone beltwith rock types and structure prospective for gold. The belt is mostlyregolith-covered accounting for the historic production of just over 4000 ouncesof gold, mostly from tenement M512/390 held by the Company and north of thenewly granted tenement. The Company is commencing a data acquisition programmeand target prioritisation prior to drilling at Chunderloo. Mingah At Mingah, in the Kurara East tenement group, two reverse circulation drillholes to depths of 158m and 192m tested the shallow level gold anomaliesrecorded in previous RAB / air-core drilling. No significant intersections wererecorded. Rock types intersected were unaltered to weakly-altered granite. Nofurther drilling is planned at Mingah, and future work in the Kurara East areawill focus on the greenstone belt rocks. Tuckanarra Initial drilling of the Tuckanarra project area returned no significant resultsand these tenements will be returned to St Barbara Mines Limited at theirrequest/as per the Joint Venture agreement. For further information, please contact: Mercator Gold plcPatrick 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 Parkgreen CommunicationsJustine Howarth / Ana Ribeiro Tel: +44 (0) 20 7493 3713 Information releases Mercator 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 editors Under the terms of the Annean Joint Venture, Mercator has the right to earn 70%interest in the Meekatharra properties by spending AUD$8 million (approx GBP3.1million) on exploration. Mercator recently announced that it has spent the firstAUD$1 million and has elected to proceed towards the first step of earning 45%with a minimum expenditure requirement of AUD$2 million before 3rd March 2006. Table 1 Drilling resultsDataSet Hole_ID From_m To_m Interval_m Au_g/t Au_g*m/t Easting Northing RL Comments Jess 05JSRC004 86 87 1 0.9 0.9 642525 7044530 397 108 109 1 0.54 0.54 642520 7044540 378 113 119 6 2.58 15.48 642519 7044543 372 121 123 2 0.59 1.18 642518 7044545 366Jess 05JSRC005 18 22 4 0.77 3.08 642518 7044622 455Jess 05JSRC006 0 172 172 642544 7044588 398 NSIJess 05JSRC008 3 17 14 1.57 21.98 642447 7044582 463Jess 05JSRC010 0 200 200 642497 7044479 390 NSI Mingah 05MGRC001 0 158 158 636583 7015397 NSIMingah 05MGRC002 0 192 192 636510 7015200 NSI Tuckanarra 05TKRC001 0 178 178 611875 6999690 NSITuckanarra 05TKRC002 0 148 148 611891 6999757 NSITuckanarra 05TKRC003 0 118 118 610463 6999420 NSI Surprise 05SURC002 132 140 8 5.49 43.92 642648 7044879 348 4m compositesSurprise 05SURC003 44 48 4 1.03 4.12 642640 7044930 433 85 86 1 0.58 0.58 642653 7044925 396 92 94 2 1.21 2.42 642656 7044924 389 97 99 2 0.87 1.74 642658 7044923 384 103 107 4 1.33 5.32 642660 7044923 378 110 111 1 0.61 0.61 642662 7044922 373Surprise 05SURC004 28 34 6 0.59 3.54 642671 7044975 449 Twin to SU63 35 36 1 0.89 0.89 642673 7044974 445 44 45 1 0.7 0.7 642678 7044973 437 48 51 3 1.1 3.3 642680 7044972 433 55 57 2 1.08 2.16 642683 7044970 427 60 61 1 0.69 0.69 642685 7044970 423 68 71 3 1.69 5.07 642690 7044968 416Surprise 05SURC005 38 40 2 1.03 2.06 642675 7044917 441 Twin to SU0206 44 49 5 1.95 9.75 642679 7044916 435Surprise 05SURC006 33 40 7 1.3 9.1 642690 7045054 444 Twin to SU66 44 48 4 1.22 4.88 642694 7045052 436 55 59 4 0.91 3.64 642699 7045050 427Surprise 05SURC007 12 23 11 1.21 13.31 642704 7045157 458 Twin to SU0194 24 33 9 2.34 21.06 642709 7045155 448 40 41 1 0.74 0.74 642715 7045153 438 45 53 8 0.8 6.4 642720 7045151 431Surprise 05SURC008 16 20 4 0.57 2.28 642696 7045169 455 Twin to SU0216 21 25 4 0.71 2.84 642698 7045168 450 28 37 9 0.6 5.4 642702 7045167 441 38 39 1 0.77 0.77 642704 7045166 436 46 51 5 1.02 5.1 642709 7045164 428 54 55 1 1.87 1.87 642712 7045163 423 62 67 5 0.63 3.15 642717 7045162 414Surprise 05SURC009 23 40 17 2.76 46.92 642701 7045158 446 Twin to SU0195 43 53 10 1.07 10.7 642710 7045155 432 54 63 9 1.82 16.38 642715 7045154 423 68 70 2 2.03 4.06 642721 7045152 414 75 78 3 2.51 7.53 642725 7045150 408Surprise 05SURC010 151 159 8 1.23 9.84 642697 7045180 329 161 162 1 0.63 0.63 642699 7045179 323 166 168 2 0.59 1.18 642701 7045178 318 171 175 4 0.72 2.88 642704 7045178 313 177 180 3 0.86 2.58 642706 7045177 308 183 188 5 0.56 2.8 642709 7045176 301 193 194 1 2.88 2.88 642712 7045175 294 208 209 1 1.02 1.02 642718 7045173 280 212 213 1 0.87 0.87 642719 7045173 277Surprise 05SURC012 174 175 1 0.62 0.62 642670 7045134 311 178 181 3 0.52 1.56 642672 7045133 306 184 191 7 1.67 11.69 642675 7045132 299 194 195 1 0.86 0.86 642677 7045131 292 207 209 2 0.98 1.96 642682 7045130 280Surprise 05SURC015 5 9 4 0.55 2.2 642704 7045114 468 Twin to SU0190 14 16 2 1.02 2.04 642708 7045113 461 22 24 2 1.84 3.68 642712 7045112 455 27 28 1 0.54 0.54 642715 7045111 451Surprise 05SURC016 4 13 9 0.78 7.02 642706 7045176 465 Twin to SU71 14 23 9 0.76 6.84 642711 7045174 456 26 45 19 1.1 20.9 642719 7045171 442 49 53 4 0.66 2.64 642726 7045169 428Surprise 05SURC017 131 136 5 0.59 2.95 642679 7045053 361 139 141 2 0.57 1.14 642682 7045052 356 144 145 1 0.81 0.81 642684 7045051 352 147 148 1 0.66 0.66 642686 7045050 350 152 153 1 1.01 1.01 642688 7045049 345Surprise 05SURC020 115 116 1 0.8 0.8 642681 7045094 371 121 122 1 0.77 0.77 642684 7045093 366 129 132 3 0.9 2.7 642687 7045091 357 136 138 2 0.85 1.7 642690 7045090 352 141 147 6 0.62 3.72 642692 7045089 345 148 150 2 0.86 1.72 642694 7045089 341Surprise 05SURC021 125 126 1 0.98 0.98 642685 7045132 371 130 132 2 1.2 2.4 642688 7045131 367 135 144 9 1.57 14.13 642694 7045129 361 147 156 9 1.78 16.02 642702 7045127 352 157 162 5 2.63 13.15 642708 7045126 347Surprise 05SURC022 60 64 4 0.55 2.2 642647 7044877 421 Twin to SU57 80 83 3 0.79 2.37 642657 7044874 404 86 95 9 1.58 14.22 642661 7044873 397Surprise 05SURC023 38 49 11 0.84 9.24 642668 7044770 434 Twin to SU51 52 58 6 0.73 4.38 642662 7044772 424 60 61 1 0.67 0.67 642660 7044773 419 65 68 3 0.73 2.19 642657 7044774 414Surprise 05SURC024 133 136 3 1.07 3.21 642777 7045259 368 141 142 1 0.55 0.55 642773 7045261 363Surprise 05SURC25 0 162 642843 7045211 NSISurprise 05SURD001 216.7 217.4 0.7 0.75 0.52 642713 7045234 275Surprise 05SURD019 121.6 122 0.5 0.76 0.38 642701 7045216 368 Diamond hole twinned 133 139.1 6.1 1.92 11.712 642708 7045213 356 with SU75 149 150.5 1.5 1.02 1.53 642715 7045211 344 154 155 1 0.8 0.8 642717 7045210 340 158 160.5 2.5 0.84 2.1 642719 7045209 336 163 167 4 4.85 19.4 642722 7045208 331 170 171 1 3.85 3.85 642725 7045207 326 174 175 1 0.97 0.97 642727 7045206 323 179 187 8 11.78 94.24 642731 7045204 316 inc. 0.4m @ 224.6g/t Au 193 193.7 0.7 0.77 0.539 642736 7045202 307 Table 2 Surprise There is a very close spatial correlation between the positions of verification both geology and mineralised/anomalous intervals observed in the MCR holes twin holes when compared to the original SBM holes. 05SURC004 Twin to SU63 MCR twin contains similar grade and width of mineralisation to original SBM hole eg. 5m @ 1.0g/t (46-51m) in SU6305SURC005 Twin to SU0206 Slightly lower grades in MCR twin compared to SBM original.05SURC006 Twin to SU66 High grade zone in SU66 (2m @ 64g/t Au; 34-36m) not repeated in MCR twin05SURC007 Twin to SU0194 Overall lower grade in MCR twin hole: 22m @ 3.55g/t Au (13-35m) in SU019405SURC008 Twin to SU0216 Slightly higher grades in MCR twin compared to SBM original.05SURC009 Twin to SU0195 MCR twin contains similar grade and widths of mineralisation to original SBM hole eg.36m @ 1.8g/t (24-60m) in SU019505SURC015 Twin to SU0190 High grade zone in original (2m @ 11.6g/t Au; 22-24m) not repeated in MCR twin05SURC016 Twin to SU71 Overall higher grades in MCR twin hole eg. 14m @ 0.8g/t Au (31-45m) in SU7105SURC022 Twin to SU57 Mixed results. High grade zone in SU57 (2m @ 11.3g/t Au; 80-82m) not repeated in MCR twin, but MCR twin higher in zone beneath - 11m @ 0.7g/t; 84-94m in SU57.05SURC023 Twin to SU51 Broad high grade zones in original not repeated in MCR twin. Original was drilled wet and may have sampling that was contaminated. This hole will be removed from any future resource evaluations.05SURD019 Twin to SU78 Overall higher grades in MCR twin hole. Highest assay in MCR hole was 0.4m @ 224.6g/t Au. Highest assay in original was 1m @ 6.08g/t Au Notes on tables • The drill assay tables is in this press release are based on compositing trigger value = 0.5 g/t Au, minimum composite length 0.2m, and maximum width of internal waste 2m. • Intersection coordinates represent the x-y-z centroid position of the composited drill-hole intersection. Easting refers to the Australian Map Grid AMG'84 block 50 easting coordinate, and northing the AMG'84 block 50 northing coordinate. Where there are no significant intersections in a hole the collar coordinates are given. • Assay method is Genalysis 50g fire assay (FA50/AAS). • The surface RL at Yaloginda near Meekatharra is about 470m with modest variations within the area. • NSI = no significant intersection. Email: admin@mercatorgold.com Web: www.mercatorgold.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange