Last checked at 29 Oct 2009 11:05
Sunrise Diamonds plc 29 October 2009
NEW EXPLORATION PROJECT FOR DIAMONDS AND PLATINUM GROUP METALS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Licence Application Covers Several Kimberlite Dykes Discovered By De Beers
Sulphide Bearing Gabbro Dyke To Be Evaluated For PGM's & Gold
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Sunrise Diamonds plc ("Sunrise" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has applied for an exploration licence targeting diamonds, platinum group metals (PGM's) and gold in Western Australia.
The exploration licence application (ELA20/727) covers an area of approximately 70 square km and is located 70km to the north-west of the town of Cue in the Murchison Mineral Field in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia.
The Cue region was explored by De Beers in the period 1994-2001 during which time De Beers discovered a number of kimberlite dykes in two separate areas within the Company's application area.
At the "Cue 1" locality a kimberlite dyke outcrops and is reported by De Beers to be 2-3 m wide. Several drill holes intersected the dyke and one vertical hole intersected kimberlite from surface to 60m depth. At Soapy Well, 7km to the west, at least three closely spaced kimberlite dykes, up to 3 m wide, were encountered in two drill traverses spaced 400m apart.
Following these discoveries De Beers described the area as having "…excellent potential for discovery of kimberlites and diamonds" and reported that "….anomalous heavy mineral results from areas that are structurally analogous to the Cue and Soapy Well kimberlites suggest that additional kimberlite intrusions remain to be found."
Also of interest within the licence area is a sulphide-bearing gabbro dyke that was intersected in several drill holes by De Beers prior to the discovery of the Cue 1 kimberlite. Although not of interest to De Beers for diamond exploration, this gabbro dyke is now targeted by Sunrise for PGM's and gold. It is located in the same region as the Weld Range PGM deposit (reported Inferred Resource >0.5 million ounces platinum+palladium+gold) the discovery of which was initiated by Sunrise Executive Chairman, Patrick Cheetham, when Joint Managing Director of Dragon Mining NL.
The new licence application area has not been held under licence since the De Beers licences expired and their exploration results did not become open file until 2006. Consequently the occurrence of the Cue kimberlites is not widely documented.
A map showing the location of ELA20/27 will be made available shortly on the Company's website, www.sunrisediamonds.com, under the "Projects" Tab (Cue Project).
The Cue project is the first of a number of new projects planned by the Company to broaden its
geographical base and widen its commodity interests which, to date, have been focused on diamond
exploration in Finland.
Further information:
Patrick Cheetham, Sunrise Diamonds plc. Tel: +44 (0)1625-505947. Mobile: +44(0)7767 458751
Brett Miller/Gavin Burnell, Astaire Securities plc. Tel: +44(0)20 7448 4400
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.