FML.L Regulatory News (FML)

9 Dec 2005 08:30

Frontier Mining Ltd09 December 2005 9 December 2005 AIM: FML Frontier Mining Ltd. ("the Company" or "Frontier") Results of 2005 Yubileiny Copper Deposit Exploration Programme Frontier is pleased to announce the results of its 2005 exploration programme atthe Yubileiny copper deposit. Yubileiny was discovered in the second half of the 19th century. Historicalrecords indicate about 1,000 tonnes of oxide copper was mined and smelted in the1870's with copper grade ranging from 5% to 10%. In 1947, the resource wasestimated to contain 150,000 tonnes of copper at an average grade of 0.5%. From1948 to 1952, additional work included exploration shafts, 308 metres ofexploration adits, 1,000 m3 of trenches and 8 core holes totaling 914 metres. Highlights • Internal evaluation of alteration mapping, soil geochemistry, Induced Polarization and Chargeability geophysics and core drilling indicate that both oxide and sulphide copper mineralisation are contained within the 2.8 km2 Yubileiny project area. • Frontier has identified another mineralised zone, New Yubileiny, 1 km south east of the Yubileiny deposit. • The preliminary inferred geologic resource (C2-P1) covering the presently defined Yubileiny deposit area (0.215 km2) is estimated by management to contain approximately 100,400 tonnes of copper. Management estimate that almost 40% of this total, or approximately 39,600 tonnes of copper, is contained in oxide ore. • Metallurgical testing of bulk samples has shown good leaching characteristics with recoveries up to 75% of copper from oxide ore at a -40mm crush size using solvent extraction / electrowinning ("SXEW") technology. • Management believe there is significant potential to increase the copper resource both inside and outside the presently defined 2.8 km2 Yubileiny project area. The 2005 Yubileiny exploration programme covered approximately 2.8 km2, just1.2%, of the total 231.2 km2 Beschoku-Yubileiny commercial discovery area. Theprogramme included 16 km2 of alteration mapping around the Yubileiny projectarea; 1,510 soil geochemical samples covering an area of 2.8 km2; a groundmagnetic survey covering 2.8 km2; Induced Polarization and Chargeabilitygeophysics covering an area of 1.4 km2; and 2,460 metres of drilling consistingof 27 core holes ranging in depth from 80 to 193.2 metres. Brian Savage, CEO of Frontier, comments, "We are excited by the results we aregenerating at Yubileiny which confirm the potential for a 25 km long copperdistrict from Beschoku in the north to Yubileiny in the south. We have carriedout intensive and focused exploration programmes for all our gold and copperassets this year, and believe we are proving our ability to quickly develop andadd value to our projects." Yubileiny oxide and sulphide copper resource summary Deposit Present size Cu Cu Contained (km2) Ore Grade Copper (mln t) (%) (tonnes)Yubileiny oxide 0.215 6.0 0.66 39,600Yubileiny sulphide 0.215 10.0 0.61 60,800Total oxide and sulphide 0.215 16.0 0.63 100,400 2005 Yubileiny copper deposit exploration update The 2005 exploration programme included the following: Hydrothermal alteration mapping covering 16 km2 was carried out using speciallycommissioned Ikonos satellite panchromatic imagery with 1 metre resolution asthe basis for mapping. The major finds are as follows: • Oxide copper mineralisation is hosted within a 12 km2 zone of quartz: sericite alteration, in turn surrounded by silicified and argillized rocks • Malachite-bearing oxide outcrops occur within the majority of the Beschoku-Yubileiny commercial discovery area. Copper in soil geochemical survey covered approximately 2.8 km2. Within thisarea sampling was undertaken on a 200 metres by 40 metres grid and yielded 370samples. More detailed sampling was conducted in intensely mineralised areas ona 100 metres by 20 metres grid and yielded an additional 1,510 samples.Highlights of the survey were: • Anomalies with copper varying from 500 ppm to 1,000 ppm cover an 1.8 km2 area • Anomalies with more the 1,000 ppm copper cover an 0.8 km2 area Ground magnetic survey covered approximately 2.8 km2. Within this area thesurvey was conducted on a 200 metres by 10 metres grid and in strongly magneticareas the survey was conducted on a 100 metres by 5 metres grid. Induced Polarisation/ Chargeability survey covered approximately 1.4 km2.Within this area the survey was conducted on a 200 metres by 25 metres grid andin high chargeability areas the survey was conducted on a 100 metres by 25metres grid. The purpose of the survey was to firstly define sulfidemineralisation zones and secondly to trace them at depth. Internalinterpretation of the IP survey shows that copper mineralisation is located inthe highly fractured zones where chargeability shows a sharp drop in gradient. Diamond drilling programme at Yubileiny consisted of 27 drill holes totaling2,460 metres. The drilling programme was designed to: • test copper in soil geochemical anomalies and induced polarization-chargeability anomalies • provide data for copper resource estimation as part of a proposed pre-feasibility study. Results of the drilling programme include: • Thickness of individual intervals of copper mineralisation varied from 1.5 metres to 15.0 metres • Average cumulative thickness of mineralised intervals on drill holes reached 13 metres • Oxide copper grade varied from 0.1% to 0.91% • Oxide ore occurred to the depth of 27 metres Metallurgical testing of two 300 kg oxide ore samples with copper grade varyingfrom 0.46% to 3.44% has shown good leach results with copper recovery of 75% at-40mm crush size. This indicates the amenability of Yubileiny ore to SXEWprocessing. Future plans Additional drilling is planned in 2006, as part of a proposed pre-feasibilitystudy, to upgrade resources to reserves using both JORC and Kazakhstanstandards. Enquiries: Frontier Mining Ltd Brian Savage +44 (0)20 7849 6530Parkgreen Communications Cathy Malins / Annabel Leather +44 (0)20 7493 3713 About Frontier Frontier Mining Ltd. is a mineral exploration and development company that wasincorporated in the state of Delaware, USA, on August 5, 1998 for the purpose ofexploring and developing gold and copper deposits in the Republic of Kazakhstan.Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, Frontier locates, evaluates,acquires, explores and develops mineral properties. Frontier has two licenses owned by its wholly owned subsidiaries in Kazakhstan.They are the Naimanjal exploration and mining licence, held by FML Kazakhstan,and the Baltemir exploration licence, held by Baltemir LLP. Frontier has oneproducing gold mine, Naimanjal; one pre-feasibility stage gold project,Koskuduk; and one exploration stage gold prospect, Baltemir. Naimanjal isforecast by management to produce 25,000 ounces of gold in 2006 at a cash costof $250 per ounce. Frontier currently intends to double its gold production to50,000 ounces in 2007 and double it again to 100,000 ounces in 2008. Managementbelieves its gold projects contain more than two million ounces of oxide goldresource. Frontier also has one pre-feasibility stage copper porphyry deposit withassociated gold and molybdenum, Baitimir; and several copper/gold prospectsalong a 25-km trend including both VMS and porphyry types. Metallurgical testson its Beschoku and Yubileiny copper projects confirm the oxide copper ore isamenable to extraction using low cost SX-EW technology. Management believes thecopper projects contain more than 1,000,000 tonnes (2.2 billion pounds) ofcopper (P1) resource with significant potential for increase. Frontier iscurrently evaluating acquisition opportunities in uranium, gold, and copper inKazakhstan and the CIS countries. Frontier shares are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.Frontier has 89,209,931 ordinary shares issued and 10,723,747 outstandingoptions and warrants, giving 99,933,678 fully diluted ordinary shares. Further company information may be accessed at the Frontier Mining Ltd. websiteat: www.frontiermining.com Yubileiny 2005 Drill Hole Programme Summary copper assay results above 0.1% Cu cut-off Important note: total for the "To" column refers to the total drill hole depth total for the "Thickness, m" column refers to the sum of the thickness intervalsin each hole ave is the weighted average grade of copper in the mineralised zones. Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-1 Yubileiny 14.5 16.0 1.5 0.14 YB-1 Yubileiny 35.0 36.5 1.5 0.13total or ave 80.0 3.0 0.14 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-2 Yubileiny 18.0 23.0 5.0 0.82 YB-2 Yubileiny 69.0 75.0 6.0 0.47 YB-2 Yubileiny 79.7 85.0 5.3 0.48total or ave 85.0 16.3 0.58 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-3 Yubileiny 27.4 29.4 2.0 1.08 YB-3 Yubileiny 30.7 34.3 6.9 0.56 YB-3 Yubileiny 37.3 38.8 1.5 0.16 YB-3 Yubileiny 40.6 55.3 14.7 0.59total or ave 82.5 25.1 0.6 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-4 Yubileiny 5.1 8.5 3.4 0.33 85.0 3.4 0.33 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-7 Yubileiny 79.1 82.1 3.0 0.3 116.4 3.0 0.3 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu, M % YB-8 Yubileiny 30.6 33.6 3.0 0.12 YB-8 Yubileiny 118.0 121.0 3.0 0.15 134.5 6.0 0.14 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-9 Yubileiny 144.0 151.9 7.9 0.91 193.2 7.9 0.91 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-10 Yubileiny 0.0 1.5 1.5 0.25 YB-10 Yubileiny 7.5 9.0 1.5 0.18 YB-10 Yubileiny 31.5 37.5 6.0 0.15 YB-10 Yubileiny 43.5 47.4 3.9 0.22 YB-10 Yubileiny 69.8 83.3 13.5 0.31 YB-10 Yubileiny 84.8 86.3 1.5 0.1 YB-10 Yubileiny 118.6 120.1 1.5 0.11 YB-10 Yubileiny 135.1 137.9 2.8 0.15 137.9 32.2 0.23 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-11 Yubileiny 4.7 5.5 0.8 0.21 YB-11 Yubileiny 6.6 8.2 1.6 0.46 YB-11 Yubileiny 19.5 20.6 1.1 0.44 YB-11 Yubileiny 22.1 24.0 1.9 0.15 YB-11 Yubileiny 31.5 34.2 2.7 0.23 YB-11 Yubileiny 45.0 56.8 11.8 1.36 YB-11 Yubileiny 59.8 73.8 14.0 0.28 100.0 33.9 0.66 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-12 Yubileiny 0.0 4.5 4.5 0.23 YB-12 Yubileiny 7.5 14.7 7.2 0.39 YB-12 Yubileiny 19.2 20.7 1.5 0.19 YB-12 Yubileiny 23.5 24.0 0.5 0.24 YB-12 Yubileiny 30.0 33.0 3.0 0.43 YB-12 Yubileiny 36.0 37.5 1.5 0.11 YB-12 Yubileiny 50.7 57.0 6.3 0.35 125.5 24.7 0.32 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-13 Yubileiny 37.5 40.5 3.0 0.16 YB-13 Yubileiny 63.0 66.0 3.0 0.14 104.0 6.0 0.15 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-15 Yubileiny 10.8 14.3 3.5 0.25 YB-15 Yubileiny 25.5 31.6 6.1 0.35 132.3 9.6 0.31 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M YB-17 Yubileiny 20.4 28.0 7.6 0.7 YB-17 Yubileiny 96.1 102.1 6.0 0.45 120.0 13.6 0.59 Hole No. Site From To Thickness, Cu % M NYB-2 Yubileiny 93.4 103.7 10.3 1.27 NYB-2 Yubileiny 106.7 111.2 4.5 0.26 NYB-2 Yubileiny 112.7 114.2 1.5 0.23 NYB-2 Yubileiny 124.7 130.7 6.0 0.37 148.3 22.3 0.75 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange