Horizonte Minerals Regulatory News (HZM)

14 May 2008 07:00



Horizonte Minerals plc / Index: AIM / Epic: HZM / Sector: Mining

14 May 2008

Horizonte Minerals plc ("the Company" or "Horizonte")

Further Positive Nickel Grades at Lontra and Diamond Drilling Underway

Horizonte Minerals plc, the AIM listed exploration and development company focused on Brazil and Peru, is pleased to announce further positive shallow auger drilling results and the initiation of a 50 hole diamond drilling programme at the Lontra Nickel Laterite project in the Carajas Mineral Province of Northern Brazil.

Highlights

Multiple holes with greater than 1% nickel ending in mineralisation

Best grade interval of 2.1% nickel over 2m whilst averaging 1.8% nickel over 4m - ending in mineralisation

50 hole diamond drilling programme underway to test the Northern and Raimundo targets

A further 4 target areas undergoing target definition

Horizonte CEO Jeremy Martin said, "These are further positive results and demonstrate the continuity of the nickel mineralisation discovered at the Northern and Raimundo target areas. The size of the combined anomaly is approximately 4 kilometres by 400m and open to the south.  The auger drill hole LON-AG431 has over 12m of mineralisation and demonstrates the potential for significant widths.  The 50 hole diamond drilling programme will cover this area with wide spaced holes to determine the depth of the mineralisation discovered to date.  Subject to positive results, a second phase of drilling will commence on a more detailed grid and form the basis of a resource statement. 

"What is particularly exciting is that one of the shallow auger holes (AG-413) which returned 4m at 1.8% nickel is from the southern anomaly, one of the four additional targets located approximately 10 kilometres south of the Northern and Raimundo targets. This indicates that there is potential for multiple nickel resources within the project area."

Detailed Information 

The most recent results were part of the 2,000m shallow auger drilling programme aimed at defining the size and near surface nickel grades in the saprolite and laterite material. The holes were drilled on 400m spaced lines with 40m holes spacing. There is also a zone separating the Northern and Raimundo anomaly of approximately 2.5 kilometres, which is currently undergoing a soil sample programme combined with ground magnetics survey to determine if the two targets are continuous.

Table 1: Results of shallow auger drill holes. Note all holes are vertical. 

Background to the Project

The Lontra Laterite project is a 50/50 Joint Venture between Horizonte and a private Brazilian company operating under a contributing or dilute basis.  Lontra is situated in the Araguaia mobile belt, which flanks the eastern margin of the Carajas Mineral Province of northern Brazil. This is circa 80km south of the major lateritic Ni project operated by Xstrata at Serra da Tapa (inferred resource of 60Mt at 1.63% Ni and 0.06% Co) and 7km northwest of the adjoining Vila Oito Ni project, where Teck Cominco currently has a drilling programme underway.  Recent results released for the Teck-Cominco drilling at Vila Oito indicate the top of high-grade Ni mineralisation is often intersected at depths of in excess of 10m and in some cases over 20m. 

Horizonte initially identified a number of priority Ni targets at the Lontra Project following a regional stream sediment sampling programme in the first quarter of 2007.  This was followed by regional soil sample programmes over the seven target areas, which identified the drill targets.

Sampling, assaying, and QA/QC

Procedures adopted by Horizonte in the collection, preparation and storage of samples from the auger drilling programme, conform to industry-wide best practice and with chain of custody being observed for all samples.  Analysis is undertaken by ACME at its laboratories in Vancouver, Canada, and the Company maintains QA/QC on all analytical work via the inclusion of certified reference materials and field duplicates and blanks, in addition to monitoring of the laboratory's own internal check-analyses.

The above information has been reviewed and verified by Mr. Jeremy Martin, a Director and Chief Executive of Horizonte, for the purposes of the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in March 2006. Mr. Martin, with seven years of mining and management experience, graduated with a degree in geology from the Camborne School of Mines, and an MSc in mineral exploration from the University of Leicester and is a member in good standing with the Society of Economic Geologists and the Institute of Mining Analysts.

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For further information visit www.horizonteminerals.com or contact:

Jeremy Martin/David Hall Horizonte Minerals plc Tel: 020 7495 5446

Jeremy Porter/Laura Littley Fairfax I.S. PLC Tel: 020 7598 5368

Hugo de Salis/ Felicity Edwards St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7236 1177

Notes to Editors:

Horizonte Minerals plc is an AIM listed exploration and development company with a portfolio of gold, nickel, silver, lead and zinc projects in producing mineral districts in Brazil and Peru.  It has three primary projects working towards a resource definition including the 22,556 hectare Lontra nickel project situated in the Araguaia mobile belt, which flanks the eastern margin of the Carajas Mineral Province of northern Brazil, the silver-zinc-lead project El Aguilia in Peru, located in the historic mining district of Cerro de Pasco and the 300 sq km Falcao gold project located near the Lontra project.  In addition it has a generative pipeline of early stage projects in development.

The Company is focused on generating and rapidly advancing exploration projects before joint venturing them with a major mining company to further develop the projects and provide mid-term cash flow, which can be fed back into the business and its other projects. This model was proven in December 2007 when Horizonte signed an option agreement with Troy Resources (ASX:TRY), to operate and develop its Brazilian Tangara gold project by expending a total US$2.8 million on exploration and development as well as a royalty payment on production.