Last checked at 11 Nov 2010 07:00
11 November 2010
SUNRISE RESOURCES PLC
DRILL PROGRAMME TO START AT LONG LAKE GOLD PROJECT, SUDBURY, CANADA
Sunrise Resources plc ("Sunrise" or "the Company"), the AIM-quoted diversified mineral exploration and development specialist, is pleased to announce that it has today signed a contract for the maiden drill programme at its Long Lake Gold Project near Sudbury in Ontario, Canada where past production of 56,000 ounces of gold was recorded before mine closure in 1930. Work will commence immediately.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Ø Up to 10 drill holes will test multiple gold targets
Ø 3D geophysical survey will evaluate 3D geometry of mineralisation
Ø Drilling is expected to last approximately 3-4 weeks and assay results are anticipated within 6-8 weeks
Ø Prime objective to scope the size of the sulphide-associated gold mineralised system for follow up drilling
Patrick Cheetham, Chairman of the Company, commented today: "The current drilling programme is the culmination of months of detailed planning, archive research and technical evaluation. This initial drill programme coupled with results from the 3D geophysical survey should enable us to scope the potential size and geometry of the gold mineralised system and we have budgeted for a follow up drilling programme to start as soon as results become available."
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Further information:
Sunrise Resources plc Tel: +44 (0)1625-505947
Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman Mobile: +44 (0)7767 458751
www.sunriseresourcesplc.com
Northland Capital Partners Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7492 4750
Gavin Burnell or Charles Vaughan (Broking)
Yellow Jersey PR Tel: +44 (0)20 8980 3545
Dominic Barretto
Details of the Programme
At least four drill holes will test the gold mineralisation adjacent to and below the existing mine workings at Long Lake where past production of 56,000 ounces of gold is recorded from a gold and sulphide mineralised pipe mined from surface to a vertical depth of just 55m. before mine closure in 1939.
A prime drill target is the continuation of gold mineralisation below the 55m level where it is thought to have been displaced by a fault. 3D modelling of historical mine and drill data indicates that the mineralisation was re-located beneath the fault in a number of 1930s drill holes which intersected high grade mineralisation below the deepest mine level at a vertical depth of approximately 120m (e.g. reported intersections 6m @ 13.8g/t gold and 1.5m @ 30.2g/t gold - true widths unknown).
Holes will also be drilled to test for near-surface gold mineralisation beyond the existing pit as the previous limits of mining are understood to have been defined by the economic cut-off grades of the day rather than any particular geological boundary.
As gold mineralisation at Long Lake is known to be associated with strong electrically responsive sulphide mineralisation two drill holes are planned to test electromagnetic geophysical anomalies A22 and A23 which at one end are coincident with the existing mine area and which extend from the mine for up to 600m north-east. Further holes may be sited on the basis of geological observations made in the first 6 holes.
The drilling programme will be carried out by Summit Drilling Services and supervised by the Company's local consultant Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc. (CCIC).
CCIC has also been contracted to carry out a geophysical survey with the objective to map out in 3D the sulphide mineralised system associated with the gold mineralisation at Long Lake. The survey will comprise a surface Induced Polarisation (IP) EARTHPROBE survey, single-bore resistivity profiling and bore-to-bore tomographic imaging using 4 of the new drill holes.
The 3D EARTHPROBE survey will be extended to include the "E1" area some 350m south of the mine where drilling in the 1970s and 1980s intersected high-grade gold mineralisation (e.g. 5.7m grading 30g/t gold in 1973 with follow up results of 4.1m grading 12g/t gold in 1987) but where the controls on gold mineralisation remain poorly understood. In addition to surface profiling, down-hole surveys will be carried out in up to 7 of the 1980s drill holes in the E1 area and should provide additional targets for future drilling programmes.
Separately the Company is cataloguing, re-boxing and re-locating the historic diamond drill core from the project, most of which is from the E1 prospect area. This core archive is currently in a poor state of preservation but when restored the archived core will be re-sampled for gold analysis.
Drilling is expected to last for approximately 3-4 weeks and assay results are anticipated within 6-8 weeks.
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 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 elements.
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. It is the most productive nickel-mining field in the world with over 1.7 billion tonnes of past production, reserves and resources. Nickel-copper-and platinum group metals ("PGM") bearing sulphide minerals occur in and around a 60 km by 27 km elliptical igneous body called the Sudbury Igneous Complex ("SIC").
The claims include a potential 10km extension to 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.
The Long lake gold mine in the SW corner of the claim block produced 57,000 ounces of gold from over 200,000 tonnes of ore mined in the periods 1910-1916 and 1932-1936 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.
The Company may acquire a 100% interest in the Property by making staged payments totalling Can $575,000 over a three year period, by meeting exploration expenditures of Can $500,000 in that period and by issuing up to 5,000,000 five year share warrants exercisable at 0.675p per share. The vendor retains a 3% NSR on the property of which 2% may be purchased by the Company at any time for the sum of Can$3 million.
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/longlake_project.html
About Sunrise Resources
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 a 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.