HZM.L Regulatory News (HZM)

8 Oct 2007 07:00

Horizonte Minerals PLC08 October 2007 Horizonte Minerals plc / Index: AIM / Epic: HMZ / Sector: Mining 8th October 2007 Horizonte Minerals plc ('Horizonte' or 'the Company') Signs Option Agreement on its Mara Rosa Gold Project in Brazil Horizonte Minerals plc, the AIM listed exploration and development companyfocused on Brazil and Peru, has signed Heads of Agreement with Canadian company,Amarillo Gold Corporation (TSX-V AGC) to develop its 1,000 Ha Mara Rosa goldproperty in the Goias State of Brazil. Under the terms of the agreement,Amarillo can earn a 60% interest by expending US$400,000 on exploration over thenext three years. Subsequent to the earn-in, a 60:40 joint venture agreementwill govern the development of any major gold discoveries. In addition,Horizonte will receive a one off cash payment of US$30,000 for data acquisition. The Mara Rosa gold project was developed as part of Horizonte's generativeexploration programme initiated to develop a pipeline of early stage projects.Initial reconnaissance exploration work, including stream and soil geochemicalsampling, defined a series of gold anomalies, which will now be targeted byAmarillo. The project is located adjacent to Amarillo's Posse gold deposit, which itpurchased in October 2003. Previously the mine was developed by BHP Billitonand Western Mining Ltd, and it is estimated to have produced in the region of80,000 ounces of gold. Due to the prospectively of the area, Amarillo has been actively exploring theregion. From November 2005 until November 2006 it completed a 24 hole drillingprogramme on the Posse deposit. This provided infill information on the knownmineralisation, but more importantly, discovered new gold mineralisation beneaththe North pit. A 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate was completed inMarch 2007 by Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc. This reported anInferred mineral resource of 22,468,000 tonnes grading at 1.35 g/t Au for974,000 ounces of contained gold with a 0.5 g/t Au cut off. Horizonte CEO Jeremy Martin said, "This is excellent value addition for one ofthe Horizonte non core projects. Mara Rosa is adjacent to the Posse golddeposit actively being explored by Amarillo. By combining the projects, webelieve that we can significantly increase the possibility of expanding theresources at Posse and developing an economic mining operation. Importantly,the deal is structured so that Horizonte will see further value in thistransaction when mining commences. I believe this is a good example ofexploration risk management and value enhancement while also allowing Horizonteto focus on its core projects." 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 ALS Labs at its laboratories in Vancouver, Canada, and the Companymaintains QA/QC on all analytical work via the inclusion of certified referencematerials and field duplicates and blanks, in addition to monitoring of thelaboratory'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 seven years of mining and management experience,graduated with a degree in geology from the Camborne School of Mines, and an MScin mineral 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 exploration and development companyfocused on gold, silver and base metal opportunities in Brazil and Peru. It aimsto become, through experience and a track record of discovery success, to becomethe preferred exploration partner for Major gold and base metal miningcompanies, in the region. The Group's has two flagship gold exploration projects in Brazil, a onesilver-zinc-lead project in Peru as well as additional gold, zinc and nickelexploration projects in Brazil. The two Brazilian gold projects, Tangara andFalcao, south of the highly prospective Carajas Mineral Province each cover anarea of approximately 300 sq km and are centred over greenstone belts, withknown gold mineralisation. The scale of these project areas, early results, theoverall aerial extent of the mineralised system and the high density andmagnitude of related gold anomalies, indicate the potential for multiple depositdiscoveries. The El Aguila silver-zinc-lead project is located in the historic miningdistrict of Cerro de Pasco in Central Peru. Drilling has demonstrated the highgrade potential of this project. Additional projects include the 4,660 hectareon the prospective Achaean aged Crixas greenstone belt, where multiplenickel-copper anomalies have been defined and the 25,556 hectare Lontra NiProject situated in the Araguaia mobile belt, which flanks the eastern margin ofthe Carajas Mineral Province of northern Brazil. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange