Metals Exploration Regulatory News (MTL)

11 Apr 2005 10:59

Metals Exploration PLC11 April 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11 APRIL 2005 MASAPELID: MAPPING OF LAYONG VEIN DEFINES DRILL TARGETS. Metals Exploration is pleased to announce that surface mapping of the LayongVein at the company's Masapelid Project in Surigao del Norte Province,Philippines, has been completed and drill targets have been planned. The firstdrill rig will be mobilized over the coming weeks. Mapping and sampling will now be focussed on Vein 6, which is orientatedsub-parallel to the Layong Vein. Historical records report that Vein 6 hadundergound development work undertaken but no significant mining took placebecause of bad ground conditions. Both these Veins lie in the Layab-Looc corridor which was highlighted by WesternMining's soil geochemistry program in the early 1990s to have the best potentialfor Gold mineralization. Drilling is scheduled to start within the first week of May and the companylooks forward to the announcement of drill results as they come to hand. Project Summary: The Layong Vein at the company's Masapelid Island Project was previously minedduring the 1930's and closed due to the outbreak of WW2. The area encompassingthe Layong Vein has not been extensively explored by modern techniques and the board sees the project as having a real opportunity to define gold resources. The Masapelid Project encompasses an island of the same name just off northeastcoast of Surigao del Norte Province. The project is located in a wellmineralised corridor of present-day and historical mining operations, being 6 kilometres northeast of the former gold+copper mining operations of ManilaMining Corporation (Placer) and 15 kilometres northeast of the Anglo American'srecent Boyongan discovery where hole TSD-38 returned 366 m @ 1.66% copper &4.49 g/t gold. The Masapelid Project has had previous exploration conducted over it by severalmajor mining companies since the 1970s and the Company believes that thereexists good potential to delineate gold (+/-copper) resources. Previous mining on Masapelid Island dates back to Spanish colonial times. In the1930s, the northeast trending Layong vein at Layab was developed with reportsof 21,000 tonnes of ore extracted at grades of 16 to 24 g/t Au. Other parallel veins were identified but not mined reportedly because of difficult groundconditions. Development down to the 300 level (-100 metres below surface) was recorded, butdeeper development on the 400 level apparently did not take place. Outbreak ofWorld War II stopped all mining activities and no formal mining activities wereresumed after the war. During the 1980s, artisanal gold miners worked the Layab and Gumod areas. Afterthe discovery of the rich Diwalwal gold mining area on Mindanao Island, allartisanal mining ceased on Masapelid Island. Exploration has been sporadic since the 1970s. During the 1980s, sampling of thequartz veins from within some of the historical underground workings andartisanal diggings returned gold assays ranging up to 15g/t Au with occasional high-grade values up to 426 g/t Au. Last month the Company's own rock-chip sampling from the Layong Vein areaobtained grades as high as 24g/t Au and 121g/t Au. During the early 1990s, a major international mining company, Western MiningCorporation ("WMC"), carried out a regional soil sampling program and somediamond drilling, thus generating a comprehensive data base covering the whole island. The soil geochemistry program highlighted the Layab-Looc corridor ascontaining the best potential for the discovery of gold mineralisation inaddition to the previously mined deposits. The most significant soil goldanomalies (>200ppb Au) occur over areas of 1,100 metres x 600 metres and 1,400metres x 1,000 metres. Qualified Person Gary Powell has been involved in mineral exploration projects for over 20 years.He has a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in geology, and is a member of theAustralasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy ("AusIMM"). He has compiled,read and approved the technical disclosure in this announcement. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange