18 Nov 2010 13:06
Regency Mines PLC
('Regency', 'Regency Mines' or the 'Company')
Update
18 November 2010
Regency Mines, the mining exploration and mineral investment company with interests in nickel and other metals in Western Australia, Queensland, and Papua New Guinea announces that it has begun, on Monday 15 November, an 837 line kilometre programme of airborne geophysics over some of its Western Australian licenses, and started preparatory exploration at Bundarra in Queensland.
Western Australia
Geotech Airborne Pty Ltd has begun a helicopter Versatile Time-Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) geophysical survey of three areas of interest. The VTEM system is designed for locating conductive anomalies and mapping earth resistivities.
The programme covers three areas:
1. Kambalda: 216 line kilometres on 100 metre spaced lines on a 000-180 degree orientation will be flown to test an anomaly at the Kambalda copper-gold prospect.
2. Munginlup: 487 line kilometres on 200 metre spaced lines on a 145-325 degree orientation will be flown to test along the trend of the sulphide body inferred from the significant sulphide intercepts encountered in the aircore drill programme earlier in 2010.
3. South of Munginlup: 134 line kilometres on 100 metre spaced lines on a 090-270 degree orientation will be flown to define more closely a significant anomaly detected along the trend of the north-south inferred line of greenstones under cover that was identified in an earlier regional geophysics programme and that appears of greater interest following reinterpretation of the original geophysical data.
Bundarra project
A site visit to the Bundarra project by the Company's geologist and consultant geophysicist is being carried out and will conclude later this week. The objectives are to visit areas highlighted by the geophysics and subsequent interpretation, to plan future work including drilling, and to locate drill holes from work carried out by Geopeko in the 1970s that encountered significant copper mineralisation but were not followed up and were recorded in an outdated co-ordinate system. Should these holes be identified, a further update will be released summarising these results. A summary of other information on the Bundarra project is given below.
Bundarra is located 120km southwest of Mackay, in central eastern Queensland and covers Permian sediments of the Bowen Basin (Backwater Group). This has been intruded by the Cretaceous Bundarra Granodiorite (Figure 1) where copper and precious metal mineralisation is associated with the contact metamorphic aureole.
Figure 1. Location map
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4349W_-2010-11-18.pdf
A geophysical review is ongoing of all historic drilling and exploration data previously carried out and assessments are encouraging. Preliminary drill targets have been identified at the Mt Orange and Isens anomalous zones along the Southern Bundarra Ridge and the Green Outcrops area along the Northern Bundarra Ridge (Figure2).
During the historic data review it became apparent the largest isolated magnetic anomaly in the complex, is under Mt Orange and this has never been drilled. This anomaly is not due to cultural interference as it has been measured in every magnetic survey (both airborne/ground) since 1967. The Company seeks to reassess the area with modern geophysical surveying.
Additionally, drilling at Green Outcrops undertaken in 1971 and 1975 (Figure 3) proved the existence of a substantial body of low grade ore shoots with high grade cores (Tables 1 and 1a) but these were never fully followed up. Some of these drill holes remain open down dip ending in mineralisation.
Figure 2. Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI) Map showing anomalies
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4349W_1-2010-11-18.pdf
Figure 3. Historic drillhole location. Drill holes assay results are presented below
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4349W_2-2010-11-18.pdf
Below are extracts from the 1975 Diamond Drilling Report by D.L. Woolf (chief geologist) of the Endeavour Oil Company NL. Endeavour performed 6 diamond drill holes for 928.36m, starting in late May 1974 through to early October 1974.
Endeavour's executive summary was "Further Drilling will be invaluable in determining additional possible reserves, down-dip and along strike from the MFD1, 3, 5 and 6 intersections."
The 2 best intersects from the 1975 drilling program are down dip from the shallow 20m deep Green Outcrops Copper Mine (GOCM). GOCM has minor stoping of oxidised surface material representing down dip as the B Lode.
The three holes of significance are MFD1, MFD3 and MFD6 (Figure 4)
Figure 4: Area of interest shown on elevation, with RTP magnetic 10nt contours
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4349W_3-2010-11-18.pdf
MFD1 - 3 x GOCM Copper Lodes at depth
A LODE) 6.36m @ 1.093% Cu from 70.75m
B LODE) 8.23m @ 1.51% Cu from 81.04m
C LODE) 4.83m @ 2.22% Cu from 101.73m
This 36m wide mineralised zone (19.42m of copper mineralisation excluding internal dilution) is open to the northeast as hole MFD5 was not drilled deep enough.
MFD3 - Up Dip to the west of MFD 1 - 3 x GOCM Lodes
A LODE) 6.00m @ 1.051% Cu from 38.45m
B LODE) 6.00m @ 2.009% Cu from 52.45m
C LODE) 2.00m @ 1.10% Cu from 62.45m
This 26m wide zone (14.00m with copper mineralisation) is open to the northeast
MFD 6 - 100m to the north of MFD1 intersected 8.85m of copper mineralisation.
A LODE) 4.65m @ 0.9% Cu from 60.17m
B LODE) 0.41m @ 7.67% Cu from 77.97m
C LODE) 3.79m @ 2.18% Cu from 107.52m
All drilling is towards west. These assay results have been extracted from QDEX open file report. Endeavour noted that the assaying was non-JORC compliant, however short length diamond sampling was undertaken with assays averaged, and the results were considered reliable enough to republish. A re-assessment of the historic aeromagnetic data shows a magnetic anomaly to the north. The RTP magnetic anomaly (Reduced to the Pole) centre is coincident with the ridge peak and shown in Figure 4 as the RTP contours overlying the elevation image colour.
Hole MFD5 (east of MFD6) was stopped short of its planned depth because its azimuth deviated too far from the planned azimuth, which was later found to be an erroneous camera shot instrument reading. From the 1975 report "An additional 100m of drill core would have been invaluable in determining the behaviour of the GOCM down-dip extensions".
The area to be drill tested is centred on the historic local grid line 6150N, which is through the centre of the magnetic anomaly. An historic induced polarisation survey report says "The IP metal factor anomaly on line 6150N is part of a substantial anomalous lobe at depth, probably between 50 to 150m depth".
An 8th diamond hole was also planned in 1974 but never drilled, positioned north of MFD5, on local grid line 6150N into the deep IP anomaly. This hole was going to be drilled from the peak of the ridge. A cleared line exists to the pad was done, but water supply problems up the ridge prevented the hole from being drilled.
The down plunge northeastern extension of the Green Outcrops mine Lodes A, B and C is untested. The historic hole MFD5, (100m northeast of MFD3) was designed to test this position but was pulled up short, and the planned hole on the top of the ridge into the centre of the magnetic anomaly MFD8, (250m north of MFD3) was never drilled due to water supply issues.
In 2001, Central Queensland Resources Limited drilled 5 RC holes on average 100m to the south of the 1975 drill line. Their drilling tied off the mineralisation to the south as they were drilling too far into the granodiorite core, so the focus of future drilling is to the north of MFD1 and 3, and is represented in Figure 5 as the "Open" area to the north of MFD3.
Proposed Work
The site visit will also be used to design the new drill tracks and drill pads because the topography around the Green Outcrops Copper mine is steep, meaning cut and fill pads will be required in some instances. The drill targeting will need to be precise to minimise cost, so a combination of airborne geophysical, ground geophysical and down hole geophysical surveying has been proposed. The first exploration program will commence early in 2011, once EPM 18219 has been granted.
Figure 5: Copper assay's top cut to 2% Cu, and viewed above and towards north
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4349W_4-2010-11-18.pdf
Mambare
At its Mambare lateritic nickel/cobalt project in Papua New Guinea, the Company continues to work with its partner Direct Nickel Pty Ltd, and will make an announcement on the next stages of exploration next week.
The geological information in this announcement has been prepared by Helen Salmon, BSc (Hons), a geologist working for the company, a Fellow of the Geological Society and a Member of the Mineralogical Society.
For further information contact:
Regency Mines PLC Andrew Bell, Chairman 0207 402 4580
Sandra Spencer, Public and
Investor Relations 0207 402 4580
Nominated Adviser
Religare Capital Markets Peter Trevelyan-Clark/Ben Jeynes 020 7444 0800
Broker
Simple Investments Ltd Nick Emerson 01483 413500
Updates on the Company's activities are regularly posted on its website www.regency-mines.com.