Metals Exploration Regulatory News (MTL)

12 Jun 2006 07:01

Metals Exploration PLC12 June 2006 METALS EXPLORATION PLC DRILL HOLE ASSAY RESULTS CONTINUES TO EXPAND THE RESOURCE POTENTIAL - RUNRUNO PROJECT 12 June 2006 The Board of Metals Exploration PLC ("the Company") is pleased to announce thatresults have been received and compiled for drill holes MXD15 to MXD25 of thecurrent diamond drilling programme being undertaken at its Runruno Project. RUNRUNO - DRILL RESULTS The Company continues to receive encouraging results from the drilling programmeat Runruno. The table below summarises the key results returned to date from theCompany's drilling program: Drill-hole Collar Coordinates Intercept (metres) Au Mo 2 Number 1 mE mN From to Width g/t % MXD16 21014 14944 74 77 3 2.10 0.003 85 87 2 11.25 0.059 total combined intercept 3 5 5.76 0.025 MXD17 21174 14898 79 83 4 3.91 0.523 98 104 6 1.05 0.064 136 138 2 1.03 0.006 total combined intercept 3 12 2.00 0.207 MXD20 21075 14771 80.25 86 5.75 3.04 0.313 MXD21 21131 15352 67 69 2 1.70 0.019 MXD22 20996 14695 59.7 62 2.3 2.90 0.113 MXD23 21177 14634 0 3 3 1.57 0.040 48 68 20 1.41 0.037 157 165 8 5.92 0.054 total combined intercept 3 31 2.59 0.042 MXD25 4 21273 14799 58 60 2 3.33 0.059 71 78 7 2.27 0.106 total combined intercept 3 9 2.51 0.096 Notes: 1. Drillholes prefixed with MXD have been drilled by MetalsEx since November2005 and consist of diamond drill core with a minimum core diameter size of HQ3(61mm). 2. Collar Coordinates are the coordinates of the collar of the drillholes.The drillholes are inclined -60degrees from horizontal, excepting MXD22,23 (-70degrees) and MXD25 (-58degrees), and orientated towards a grid azimuth of 100degrees (easterly). Each drillhole is planned to intercept the mineralisation at90 thus mineralisation 'interception' widths are close to actual or 'true'widths. In general the drillholes are drilled on a grid spacing of 100 metresapart. 3. Reporting of the above composited intercepts was determined by applyingan upper and lower boundary defined by a low grade cut-off of 0.7g/t Au. Somecomposited intercepts include single metre, internal intercept grades of lessthan 0.7g/t Au. Isolated single metre intercepts are not reported unlessconsidered to be significant. No high grade cut-off has been applied to theindividual gold or molybdenum assays. 4. MXD25 is a re-drill of hole MXD24 which was abandoned after interceptinga cavity near the surface. It is also the first drillhole results to be obtainedoutside of the current resource area. The mineralisation intercepted is from thefootwall zone only. The hangingwall zone was not intercepted as it isinterpreted as having been eroded away. The results from drillholes MXD16 to MXD22 are located within the previouslyreported JORC inferred mineral resource of 23 million tonnes at an average gradeof 2.3g/t Au and 0.07% Mo. Drillhole MXD25 is the first drillhole to be drilledoutside of the boundary of the resource. The Company is currently extending the resource by drilling areas uphill to theeast and to the north. The results from the latest drillholes have confirmedthe size and grades of the recently announced JORC inferred mineral resourceestimate thus indicating the potential to upgrade the current resource from JORCinferred to JORC indicated category. The results of MXD25 have demonstrated the immediate potential to expand on thesize of the current resource towards the east. It is important to note that thedrillhole has been interpreted as having only intercepted the footwall zone ofthe mineralisation. It is interpreted that the hangingwall mineralisation hasalready been eroded away, thus was not able to be intercepted by the drillhole. RUNRUNO - SAMPLING & ANALYSIS Sample Preparation The drill core is taken from the drill site to a secure compound at theCompany's field camp and is logged by the geologist. The drill core is thensplit into two equal halves along its long axis, with one half being sampled atpredetermined intervals, bagged and sent for analysis. The remaining half-coreis retained in core boxes and stored on site for future reference. The bagged half-core samples are being submitted to an independent 'ISO17025accredited' laboratory for sample preparation and analyses for gold andmolybdenum. All of the half-core samples are crushed by the laboratory and a900-1000 gram split is taken, pulverized and presented for analysis. The remaining crushed sample is retained in bags and stored at the laboratoryfor a period of three months before being returned to the Company for storage.These remaining crushed samples will be used in the future for additionalanalyses for gold, molybdenum, silver, sulphur and other elements as deemednecessary, for example, for resource estimation work. Analytical Techniques Gold: Gold analysis is by classical 'Screen Fire Assay' technique thatinvolves sieving a 900-1000 gram sample to 200 mesh (75microns). The entireoversize and duplicate undersize fractions are fire assayed and the weightedaverage gold grade calculated. This is one of the most appropriate methods fordetermining gold content if there is a 'coarse gold' component to themineralisation. Molybdenum: The sample is dissolved in Aqua Regia (3:1 HCl:HNO3) andMolybdenum analysis is carried out by Inductively Coupled Plasma - OpticalEmission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) method. EXPLANATION OF TERMS Au chemical symbol for gold Mo chemical symbol for molybdenum HCl chemical symbol for Hydrochloric Acid HNO3 chemical symbol for Nitric Acid g gram t tonne g/t grams per tonne, which is equivalent to parts per million (g /t Au = grams of gold per tonne) % percent (0.034% Mo = 340 parts per million of molybdenum) lb avoirdupois pound (= 453.59237 grams) oz troy ounce (= 31.103477 grams) micron A unit of length equal to one thousandth of a millimetre or one millionth of a metre. 200 mesh the number of openings (200) in one linear inch of screen mesh (200 mesh approximately equals 75 microns) QUALIFIED PERSON Gary Powell (a Director of the Company) has been involved in the mining andexploration industry for more than 20 years. He has a Bachelor of AppliedScience degree in geology and is a member of the Australasian Institute ofMining and Metallurgy and the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists. He hascompiled, read and approved the technical disclosure in this regulatoryannouncement. ENQUIRIES: Steven Smith - Chairman: + 44 (0) 7797 721 858 Gary Powell - Executive Director (technical): + 63 (02) 894 4173 Jonathan Anderson - Investor Relations: + 44 (0) 7950 410 680 or +63 (0) 917 560 6654Philip Haydn-Slater - WH Ireland Limited: + 44 (0) 2072 201 666 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange