RMM.L Regulatory News (RMM)

24 Jan 2006 14:00

Rambler Metals & Mining PLC24 January 2006 Press Release 24th January 2006 Rambler Provides Update on Stage I Drilling Results and Lays Out Stage II Plans The Company is pleased to report that Stage 2 of its drilling program hascommenced at the Rambler Project near Baie Verte, in the Province ofNewfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Stage 2 program will use the Devicodrilling system to provide detailed directional drilling of the copper-gold richmassive sulphide Ming Horizon and the copper-rich Ming Footwall Zone. Thewidely spaced holes completed during the Stage 1 program are being used as pilotholes from which branch holes will be drilled. Drill hole spacing within thetargeted mineralized zones will be at approximately 165 foot (50 metre) centres.In addition, a program of underground exploration, which will involvedewatering of the Ming Mine, is in the planning stage. This will allow for morerapid and effective testing of partially delineated mineralized zones andfacilitate evaluation of unmined copper-gold mineralization and explorationtargets adjacent to mine workings. Stage 1 Program Completed The Stage 1 program involved widely spaced holes designed to trace thedown-plunge continuations of the Ming Horizon and the Ming Footwall Zone beyonda former property boundary. A total of 45,141 feet (13,759.3 metres) of surfacedrilling has now been completed. Maps showing the location of all holescompleted to date including the pierce points of both the Ming Horizon and theMing Footwall Zone and a summary table of results can be found atwww.ramblermines.com. Holes RM.04-03, RM.04-04, RM.05-08 and RM.05-09 all intersected potentiallyeconomic mineralization in the Ming Footwall Zone. The Ming Footwall Zone is athick plunging body of stringer mineralization, which is cut by substantialbodies of unmineralized gabbro. It was intersected over an approximately 2300foot (700 metre) plunge length from underground drill stations by the operatorof the Ming Mine (1971 - 1982). Testing of the zone further down-plunge by themine operator was limited by its property boundary. Rambler currently controlsa consolidated land position including the area of down plunge potential andwith its Stage 1 drilling program has extended the interpreted plunge length anadditional 1650 feet (500 metres). Hole RM.05-11 intersected a new zone of Ming-style massive sulphidemineralization at a position where Ming Footwall Zone stringer mineralizationhad been anticipated. This new "Deep Massive Zone" assayed 2.53% Cu and 1.67 g/T Au over a core length of 18.17 feet (5.54m). Highlight intercepts from the Ming Footwall Zone include: Hole Length (feet) Length (metres) % Cu RM.04-03 39.83 12.12 2.32 72.51 22.10 2.26 RM.04-04 53.02 16.16 1.73 24.15 7.36 1.96 21.59 6.58 1.77 94.23 28.72 1.41 RM.05-08 52.49 16.00 1.37 42.98 13.10 1.13 51.18 15.60 1.72 including 18.04 5.50 2.74 RM.05-09 23.29 7.10 1.60 20.67 6.30 1.20 RM.05-11 18.17 5.54 2.53 Holes which have identified the down plunge extensions of the Ming Horizon areRM.03-02, RM.04-08, RM.05-11 and RM.05-15. All historical Ming Mine productionwas from the Ming Horizon massive sulphide mineralization. Highlight interceptsto date are as follows: Hole Length (feet) Length (metres) % Cu Grams/Tonne AuRM.03-02 13.45 4.10 3.0% 2.8 RM.05-08 1.38 0.42 1.63 13.5 19.5 5.94 1.70 7.3including 2.69 0.82 6.57 40.0 RM.05-15 10.50 3.20 3.70 0.8 Stage 2 Program Commenced The Stage 2 directional drilling program has been designed to reduce the drillhole spacing within the currently identified zones of copper-gold mineralizationto approximately 165 foot (50 metre) centres. Up to 30 holes will be drilledfrom the existing bore holes. Drill rigs are currently set up on holes RM.04-04and RM.05-08 and subsequent drilling will also be conducted from RM.04-03.Holes RM.05-05 and RM.05-12 will also be used as platforms for directionaldrilling. Both of these, while drilled outside of the limits of mineralization,have indicated significant off-hole conductivity suggesting that they narrowlymissed the mineralized zones. Some holes intersected post mineralizationintrusive rocks at the target depths. A map showing the planned locations of Stage 2 drilling pierce points is alsoavailable at www.ramblermines.com. Dewatering / Underground Program The Company is also continuing with its evaluation of the potential dewateringof the Ming Mine in order to facilitate underground exploration drilling and toevaluate several zones of mineralization that were identified by the historicmine operator. An existing shaft which extends to 2087 feet (636 metres) can beutilized for the dewatering program. Preliminary planning and engineering studies for the dewatering program areadvancing and suggest that 4 months would be required to complete to the pointthat first drill stations could be established on the 700 level. The permittingprocess for the program has also been initiated. The Rambler Board will make afinal decision on whether or not to proceed once all required data is assembledand evaluated. Several targets exist that can be best evaluated from within the mine workings.In particular, an exploration drift that was cut to the northwest from the 1800level of the mine encountered a high-grade gold zone along the immediate marginof the Ming Mine workings before continuing on to intersect high grade coppermineralization. The high-grade gold zone is described as hosting spectacular occurrences ofnative gold on the 1800 level. An historic drill intercept that also tested theimmediate northwest margin of the Ming Deposit from the 700 level reportedlyreturned 31.0 g/T gold over 7 feet (2.13 metres). Sampling in an explorationdrift located down-plunge on the 2100 level returned 17.1 g/T gold over 8.86feet (2.70 metres). The 1807 copper zone was also discovered from the 1800 level exploration driftand contains a historically-estimated resource (non 43-101 compliant) of 55,000tons of 6.5% copper on the operator's side of the then adjacent propertyboundary. The consolidated land position now allows the testing of potentialdown-plunge extensions of this zone. Finally, the Ming Mine was developed by decline to the 2600 foot level howevermining ceased at the 2200 level. Historical and non-National Instrument 43-101compliant estimates compiled by a previous operator suggest that approximately200,000 tons of massive sulphide grading 3.2% copper and 150,000 tons grading3.7% copper may remain in these lower developed levels and in pillarsrespectively. Management believes that this mineralization is also bestevaluated from underground. Altius Resources Inc., the operator of the program for Rambler, is pleased toacknowledge a contribution in the amount of CDN$100,000 from the Government ofNewfoundland and Labrador under the Junior Company Exploration AssistanceProgram. Chairman's comment Harry Dobson, Chairman of Rambler, commenting on progress to date at the Ramblerproject stated, "We are pleased with our progress to date and look forward nowto the results of the current drilling phase. We are working to delineate thecopper and gold mineralized bodies at Rambler in the most cost and timeefficient manner possible. We are progressing well also with our plans todewater and reestablish underground infrastructure at the historic operationwith a view to accelerating resource definition and, hopefully, the resumptionof mining operations. We are also very pleased with the level of communitysupport and encouragement we are receiving from the entire Baie Verte region andwe look forward to further building on this relationship as next milestones areachieved." Andrew Aylwin, Company Secretary Guy WilkesRambler Metals & Mining Plc Ocean Equities LtdTel No: 020- 7661-8104 Tel No: 020-7786-4370 J.Geoffrey Thurlow, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Director of Altius, is the Qualified Personresponsible for the technical content of this release. Drill intercepts quotedare core lengths; true widths are estimated to be 90% to 95% of the intersectedcore lengths. National Instrument 43-101 compliance information regardingsampling and analytical protocols pertaining to the Rambler Project can beaccessed via the following link: www.ramblermines.com Resources referred to within this release are not compliant with therequirements of National Instrument 43-101. Neither Altius nor Rambler haveundertaken an independent investigation of the resource estimates norindependently analyzed the results of the previous exploration work in order toverify the classification of these resources. The historical estimates,therefore, should not be relied upon. Nevertheless, Altius and Rambler believethat these historical estimates provide a conceptual indication of theexploration potential of the properties. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange