Metals Exploration Regulatory News (MTL)

16 Jan 2006 09:23

Metals Exploration PLC16 January 2006 METALS EXPLORATION PLC ADDITIONAL DRILL HOLE ASSAY RESULTS RECEIVED FOR THE RUNRUNO PROJECT RESULTS CONTINUE TO MEET COMPANY'S EXPECTATIONS 16 January 2006 The Board of Metals Exploration PLC ("the Company") is pleased to announce thatresults have been received for the next five drill holes (MXD1-MXD6) of thecurrent diamond drilling programme being undertaken at its Runruno Project.These results are considered by the Board to be highly encouraging. The results appear to continue to vindicate the Company's belief that byfocusing on achieving better drill core recoveries (i.e. >90%), the gold assayresults should be better than those obtained during the 1969-1972 drillingcarried out by Fil-Am Resources Inc. ("Fil-Am"). As mentioned in previousannouncements, the drill core recoveries experienced during Fil-Am's drillingcampaigns in the 1970s were very poor, particularly within the interpreted zonesof possibly higher grade gold mineralisation. As previously reported, during the drilling of the first drill hole (MXD1), a1.6 metre section of drill core was lost from within the hangingwallmineralisation. The Company re-drilled this zone by drilling another hole(MXD3,) close to MXD1, in an to attempt to recover this part of the zone foranalysis. Although the drill hole intercepted a high-grade miners' tunnel at thelocation where the Company expected to intersect the best portion of thehangingwall section of the mineralisation, good mineralisation was neverthelessintersected on either side of the tunnel, particularly on the footwall side. RESULTS The results are highly encouraging as they continue to vindicate the Company'sbelief that the Runruno resource, as previously defined in the 1970s, could beupgraded to an average grade higher than 1.4 g/t Au as a result of focusing onachieving good drill core recoveries. The key results from holes MXD2 to MXD6 are summarised below: Drill-hole Intercept (metres) Au Mo 'in-ground value of metal' ID From to Width g/t % Au US$/t Mo US$/t Total US$/t MXD2 72 80 8 1.86 0.079 32.74 40.84 73.58 MXD3 37 40 3 2.20 0.044 38.72 22.75 61.47 45 46 1 1.54 0.018 27.10 9.31 36.41 46 47 0% core recovered - intersected high-grade miners' tunnel 47 53 6 3.31 0.045 58.26 23.27 81.52 MXD4 39 40 1 1.30 0.105 22.88 54.29 77.17 88 90 2 2.32 0.024 40.80 12.64 53.44 92 98 6 1.98 0.012 34.86 6.44 41.30 MXD5* 37 40 3 2.33 0.027 41.01 13.96 54.97 84 95 11 4.33 0.079 76.21 40.84 117.05 MXD6 114 116 2 2.07 0.012 36.40 6.10 42.50 120 125 5 1.39 0.026 24.45 13.29 37.74 156 166 10 2.05 0.026 36.05 13.55 49.60 Notes: * Drill hole MXD5 was terminated prematurely at 101 metres depth dueto difficult ground conditions. 1. Reporting of the above intercepts was determined by applying an upperand lower boundary defined by a low grade cut-off of 0.7g/t Au. Some interceptsinclude single metre, internal intercept grades of less than 0.7g/t Au. 2. No high grade cut-off has been applied to the individual gold ormolybdenum assays. 3. 'In-ground value of metal' represents an arithmetic calculation of thevalue in US$/t of the contained metal per tonne using the current metal prices(as at 12 January 2006) of US$547/oz gold(1) (US$17.6/g Au) and US$23.5/lbmolybdenum(2) (US$51,700/t Mo). Given the limited nature of explorationactivities to date, no assurance or implication is being given, or should beassumed to be being given, by the inclusion of these values in this announcementthat the Runruno Project has been, or will in the future be, deemed to beeconomic. DISCUSSION Drilling was put on hold over the Christmas-New Year period and has justre-commenced. There are now four diamond drilling rigs operating at Runruno. To date, 6 drill holes have been completed over a strike distance ofapproximately 400 metres, spaced 100 metres apart. Including the two drill holescompleted by Greenwater in 2001-2002, the total distance covered has beenextended over 800 metres strike. The next row of drill holes will be drilled100 metres downhill from the first 6 holes, but spaced 200 metres apart alongstrike. This will enable more rapid drill coverage of the resource area forpreliminary evaluation purposes. 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) SOURCES OF INFORMATION (1) www.kitco.com (2) www.adanacmoly.com and www.metalprices.com 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 Jonathan Anderson - Investor Relations: + 44 (0) 7950 410 680 or +63 (0) 917 560 6654 Philip 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