HZM.L Regulatory News (HZM)

3 Apr 2007 08:30

Horizonte Minerals PLC03 April 2007 Horizonte Minerals plc / Index: AIM / Epic: HMZ / Sector: Mining 3 April 2007 Horizonte Minerals plc ('Horizonte' or 'the Company') Acquisition of New Highly Prospective Nickel Project Horizonte Minerals plc, the AIM listed exploration and development companyfocused on Brazil and Peru, is pleased to announce the acquisition of new groundhighly prospective for nickel. The Lontra Ni Project is situated in the Araguaiamobile belt which flanks the eastern margin of the Carajas Mineral Province ofnorthern Brazil. Highlights • 25,556 hectare land package located 80 km south of a major nickel deposit owned by Xstrata • Stream sediment sampling identified seven large Ni targets with coincident cobalt and copper in land package • Rock sample returns 1.6% Ni emphasizes nickel potential The 256 sq km Lontra Project consists of five exploration claims, situated 65 kmsoutheast of Horizonte's Tangara gold project. The claims are flanked byXstrata to the north and Teck Cominco claims to the south and southeast. Thisregion is a major new lateritic Ni province with a number of large depositsscheduled to enter into production. These include a major grassroots lateritenickel discovery by Xstrata, which lies 80 km to the north of the Lontra Projectand has reported a resource of 73.3Mt at 1.5% Ni and 0.06% Co. Other lateritenickel deposits in the area include: Deposit Company Est. Ni (%) Est. Source Resource* Start-upNiquel Vermelho CVRD 290Mt 0.8 2008 www.cvrd.com.brOnca Puma CVRD 110Mt 1.72 2008 www.cvrd.com.brJacare Anglo American 430Mt 1.33 - www.angloamerican.co.uk* Resources are only indicative and may have been prepared under different reporting standards. The claims cover the Araguaia mobile belt, which is a north-south trendingprovince of Proterozoic clastic sediments hosting a series of ophiolite zones.Over such zones, intense tropical weathering often results in economicconcentrations of nickel such as the case of the deposits listed above. Horizonte initially identified a number of priority nickel targets at the LontraProject following a regional stream sediment sampling programme in the lastquarter of 2006. Based upon these results Horizonte applied for and wasawarded three exploration licences, which are 100% owned by the company. Thecompany subsequently negotiated two contiguous licence areas from a privateBrazilian company where by Horizonte controls 50% of the licences for a paymentof US$320,000 to be paid over three years. Horizonte has the first right ofrefusal to acquire the remaining 50% interest from its Brazilian partners.Under the terms of the agreement exploration costs on the partnered area will befunded 50/50 pro rata with the Brazilian partner. Horizonte will manage theproject. A follow-up soil sampling programme covering the priority nickel targets is nowunderway and, subject to satisfactory results, auger drilling will be used totest for nickel laterite resource potential. Horizonte CEO Jeremy Martin said, "The Lontra Project is located in a veryexciting new nickel belt that has not been extensively explored. The newdiscovery of Serra da Tapa by Xstrata in the north of the belt demonstrates itspotential to host world class Ni deposits. Naturally, the Lontra Project isearly stage but the initial results from our stream sediment sampling programmeat the end of 2006 demonstrate that we have a series of highly anomalous nickeltarget areas supported by high Ni values in rock samples" Sampling, assaying, and QA/QC Procedures adopted by Horizonte in the collection, preparation and storage ofsamples from the auger drilling programme, conform to industry-wide bestpractice and with chain of custody being observed for all samples. Analysis isundertaken by ACME Labs at its laboratories in Vancouver, Canada, and theCompany maintains QA/QC on all analytical work via the inclusion of certifiedreference materials and field duplicates and blanks, in addition to monitoringof the laboratory's own internal check-analyses. The above information has been reviewed and verified by Mr. Jeremy Martin, aDirector and Chief Executive of Horizonte, for the purposes of the Guidance Notefor Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in March2006. Mr. Martin, with six years of mining and management experience, graduatedwith a degree in geology from the Camborne School of Mines, and an MSc inmineral exploration from the University of Leicester and is a member in goodstanding with the Society of Economic Geologists and the Institute of MiningAnalysts. * * ENDS * * For further information visit www.horizonteminerals.com or contact: Jeremy Martin/David Hall Horizonte Minerals plc Tel: 020 7495 5446David Paxton Hichens Harrison Tel: 020 7382 7785Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7242 4477John Frain/Fergal Meegan Davy Tel: +353 1 679 6363 Notes to Editors: Horizonte Minerals Plc is an AIM listed mineral resources exploration groupfocused on the discovery, appraisal and development of gold and base metaldeposits in Brazil and Peru. The Company has two gold exploration projects inBrazil, and one silver-zinc-lead project in Peru. The two Brazilian goldprojects, Tangara and Falcao, are located to the south of the highly prospectiveCarajas Mineral Province. Both projects cover an area of approximately 300 sq kmand are centred over greenstone belts, with known gold mineralisation. The scaleof these project areas, the overall aerial extent of the mineralised system andthe high density and magnitude of related gold anomalies (identified in riversediments, surface soils and rocks), indicate the potential for multiple depositdiscoveries. The silver-zinc-lead project is located in the historic mining district of Cerrode Pasco in Central Peru. Sampling and limited historic drilling on this projecthas demonstrated the high grade potential of this project. The Company has ajoint venture with Australian gold producer Troy Resources NL's 70% owned localsubsidiary Sertao Mineracao Ltda to advance its Goias Velho gold explorationproject in Brazil. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange