Last checked at 13 Sep 2011 10:29
13 September 2011
Drill & Sampling Results - Long Lake Gold Project
Sunrise Resources plc ("Sunrise" or "the Company"), the AIM-quoted diversified mineral exploration and development specialist, has now received results from the recent drill programme at its Long Lake Project ("Long Lake") near Sudbury in Canada, which is being evaluated for gold and also nickel sulphide mineralisation in two separate areas of the claims.
Results are also available for a comprehensive programme of sampling carried out on old drill core retrieved from a private property in Sudbury which has been conserved and where possible, re-logged and re-sampled.
Key points:
·; Second round drill programme produced best result of 1m grading 1.2 g/t in Hole 11LD005.
·; Resampling of historic core from E1 prospect confirms high-grade intersections in 1970s drill hole E1: 5.7m grading 27.5g/t gold & 1980s drill hole 87-9: 4.1m grading 14.8g/t gold.
·; Exploration efforts to be broadened eastward to evaluate nickel-copper-PGM targets on projected extensions to the world-class producing Copper Cliff dyke system.
Commenting on today's news, Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman, said: "The results from this second drill programme, whilst not building on the success of the first, suggest that more work is needed to better understand the structural complexities controlling the gold mineralisation at Long Lake. However, the sampling results from E1 are encouraging."
Detailed Results
The Long Lake Gold Mine historically produced 57,000 ounces of gold from over 200,000 tonnes of ore mined from a 60m diameter open glory-hole. This open pit was developed on a plunging pipe-like zone of disseminated gold and strongly sulphide mineralised quartzite (metamorphosed sandstone) down to a depth of just 55m from surface.
The drilling results being reported are from the Company's second drill programme at the site of the Long Lake Gold Mine, where a first round of drilling reported in January this year encountered significant gold mineralisation and pointed to potential extensions to the gold mineralisation mined last century, both along strike and at depth.
Nine holes were drilled in the current programme to test these potential extensions as well as specific targets generated from a programme of IP geophysics carried out earlier this year. A map showing hole locations will be available on the Company's website shortly.
Hole 11LD001 & 2 were drilled to test electrical conductors at Anomaly 23 located 980m to the north-east of the mine site where a conductive massive sulphide source was targeted. No significant mineralisation was encountered but a water filled fracture system was intersected and this provides an explanation for the anomaly.
Hole 11LD003, 5 and 6 were designed to test IP geophysical anomalies some 100m to the south-west of the E1 gold prospect, on the immediate east side of the open pit, and some 260m south-west of the pit respectively. Visual examination of the core from these holes has not identified any cause for the anomalies and the drill core now needs to be geophysically logged to see if the anomalies can be explained. A best result of 1.2m grading grammes/tonne (g/t) gold was obtained from 5.6m down-hole depth in Hole 11LD005.
Planned Holes 11LD004 and 7, originally intended to test low priority targets, were not drilled in the current programme.
Hole 11LD008 was designed to test for near surface extension to the mineralisation 30m to the south west of previously reported 2010 drill hole 10LD003 where an intersection of 35.4m grading 2.0g/t gold (including 17.0m grading 2.9g/t gold), was previously reported. No significant mineralisation was intersected.
Holes 11LD009, 10 & 11 were sited to test for down-dip extensions to the gold mineralisation mined last century in a position based on 3D deposit modelling and supported by the results of previous drilling. A best result of 3.0m grading 0.5g/t gold was obtained in Hole 11D011.
Historic Drill Core Resampling
Previous exploration in the Long Lake area in the 1970's, and again in the 1980s, focused mainly on the E1 prospect, named after the discovery hole which is located some 350m south of the old mine.
Other than some distance along strike, the Company has not carried out any drilling at the E1 prospect but, during the year, the Company has been retrieving old drill core from this prospect from a private property in Sudbury. Where possible the core has now been conserved, re-sampled and re-assayed and the assay results have confirmed the high grade nature of the gold mineralisation previously reported at the E1 prospect.
Re-sampling of the 1970s discovery hole E1 returned an intersection of 5.7m grading 27.5 g/t gold from a depth of 138.3m down-hole. Other high-grade sample intervals included 4.1m grading 14.8g/t gold from 184.8m down-hole 87-9. Additional results are tabulated below.
The Company is now planning a comprehensive review of current and historical data with an emphasis on structural interpretation to define additional targets for gold mineralisation at the mine site and at the E1 prospect.
The Company's exploration effort has so far focused on the gold potential of the western half of the Long Lake claim block but will be broadened eastward in future to evaluate nickel-copper-platinum group metal ("PGM") targets over projected extensions to the Copper Cliff dyke system where, to the north in Sudbury, a number of world class nickel-copper-PGM mines are still producing.
Table of Significant Drilling Results Summer 2011 Drill programme:
Hole Number | Start Depth Down Hole (m) | Drill Intersection (m) | Gold Grade g/t |
11LD005 | 5.6m | 1.0m | 1.2g/t |
11LD011 | 37.0m | 3.0m | 0.5g/t |
Table of Significant Results - Historic Core Re-sampling:
Hole Number | Start Depth Down Hole (m) | Drill Intersection (m) | Gold Grade g/t |
87-4 | 34.0m | 1.9m | 1.6g/t |
87-9 | 96.3m | 0.6m | 20.6g/t |
and | 184.8m | 4.1m | 14.8g/t |
87-11 | 116.9m | 4.8m | 1.3g/t |
and | 133.8m | 0.3m | 6.5g/t |
E1 | 67.0m | 1.6m | 3.9g/t |
and | 138.3m | 5.7m | 27.5g/t |
E4 | 9.1m | 1.5m | 1.1g/t |
Sampling Quality Analysis and Quality Control
The drill programme, including logging, drill core sampling and QA/QC is being supervised by Elisabeth Ronacher of Caracle Creek International Consulting (CCIC).
Diamond drill core, after logging, was split in half using a diamond core saw. Half-core samples were bagged, sealed and transported to AGAT Laboratories in Sudbury for analysis. The QA/QC procedures that were followed include adding blind standard samples and duplicate quarter core samples to the sample sequence prior to submission to AGAT Laboratories' Mining Division.
Gold was assayed by fire assay with an ICP finish with some high grade samples re-submitted for check analysis by a fire assay method using a gravimetric finish. AGAT Laboratories' Mining Division is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 and CAN-P-1579 by the Standard's Council of Canada (SCC). AGAT'S internal quality control procedures include the regular analysis of replicate samples, reference materials and reference blanks.
Further information:
Sunrise Resources plc Tel: +44 (0)845 868 4590
Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman
www.sunriseresourcesplc.com
Northland Capital Partners Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7796 8800
Gavin Burnell/Rod Venables
Charles Vaughan (Sales)
Yellow Jersey PR Mob: +44 (0)7768 537739
Dominic Barretto
Notes:
The information in this release has been compiled and reviewed by Mr. Patrick Cheetham (MIMMM, MAusIMM) who is a qualified person for the purposes of the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies dated June 2009. Mr Cheetham is a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining and also a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy.
Notes to Editors
About the Long Lake Gold Project
The Company holds a three year option, effective 5 May 2010 to acquire the Long Lake claim group located to the south-west of Sudbury. The claims are being explored for gold and also for nickel-copper-platinum group metals.
The Long Lake Gold Mine produced 57,000 ounces of gold from over 200,000 tonnes of ore mined in the periods 1910-1916 and 1932-1939 from ore having an average grade of over 11g/t gold. Most of the ore mined was extracted from a 50m diameter open glory-hole developed on a plunging pipe-like zone of disseminated gold and strongly sulphide mineralised sedimentary rock down to a depth of just 55m from surface.
Since 1883 the Sudbury mining field has accounted for over 25% of the world's total nickel production and new discoveries continue to be made. The claims include a potential 10km extension to the producing Copper Cliff offset dyke system prospective for nickel-copper-platinum group metals, where, north of the Company's Property, the producing Copper Cliffs South mine and the Copper Cliff North mine have yielded over 200 million tonnes of ore and Vale Inco Limited's Clarabelle Mill, Copper Cliff Smelter and Copper Cliff Nickel Refinery are located in close proximity.
About Sunrise Resources plc
Sunrise Resources plc was formed to acquire the diamond exploration interests of Tertiary Minerals plc in 2005. Since then, the Company has made a number of new kimberlite discoveries in Finland and expanded its portfolio of diamond exploration interests to include a new project near Cue in Western Australia.
In 2009 the Company made a strategic decision to diversify its project interests and has since acquired interests in the Long Lake Project as well as the Derryginagh Barite mine in south-west Ireland.
Derryginagh was worked for barite from 1864-1922, supplying white barite to the local paint industry. Barite, the mineral form of the chemical barium sulphate, is used as high-value industrial filler in, for example, paint, plastics, brake linings and acoustic panels. The Company is targeting a modest scale mining operating at Derryginagh that could, in time, produce a valuable cash flow for the Company.
Various maps and images illustrating some of the features discussed in this release are available on the Company's website at:
http://www.sunriseresourcesplc.com