Tertiary Minerals Regulatory News (TYM)

3 May 2005 11:42

Tertiary Minerals PLC03 May 2005 TERTIARY MINERALS PLC ("the Company") QUARTERLY REPORT ON EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 2005_____________________________________________________________________ KEY DEVELOPMENTS • Sunrise Diamonds plc heading for AIM with Entitlement Offer over-subscribed • Kaaresselka high-grade gold mineralisation extended at depth • Drill targets defined at Nottrask nickel project in 750m long zone • Pre-feasibility planning progressing at Ghurayyah tantalum project INTRODUCTION This report gives details of significant corporate developments and the resultsof exploration work carried out by Tertiary Minerals plc ("Tertiary Minerals" or"the Company") during the quarter ended 31 March 2005 and up to the date of thisreport. CORPORATE During the quarter the Company presented at the European Mining Forum held bythe Association of Mining Analysts, and also at the Master Investor Show held inIslington, London. Both were well attended. Sunrise Diamonds plcIn February 2005 Tertiary Minerals plc re-organised its diamond interests inFinland into a newly incorporated, wholly owned subsidiary, Sunrise Diamonds plc("Sunrise Diamonds"). These interests comprised rights to three kimberlitesdiscovered by Tertiary Gold last year in a previously unknown kimberlitecluster, now known as the "Kuusamo cluster", and an exciting portfolio of 45untested kimberlite targets in the same general area.Subsequently, on 1 April 2005, Sunrise Diamonds issued a prospectus making anoffer of up to 30,000,000 new Ordinary Shares at 1p per share to raise up to£300,000 before expenses to raise funds to meet the costs of making anapplication for admission to trading on AIM and for general working capitalpurposes. The Offer was structured to include an Entitlement Offer of up to 23,210,547 newOrdinary Shares to eligible Tertiary Minerals shareholders on the basis of 1share in Sunrise Diamonds for every 2 shares held in Tertiary Minerals. It wasstructured to allow Tertiary Minerals' shareholders a more direct andentry-level participation in the Company's diamond exploration assets and it isconsistent with the Tertiary Minerals' Chairman's stated objective to build onthe value inherent in the Company to the benefit of its shareholders. The Offer closed over-subscribed on 26 April 2005. Under the terms of the Offerthe directors of Sunrise also reserved the right to issue an additional10,000,000 Ordinary Shares if the Offer was over-subscribed. The directors ofSunrise have elected to utilise the over-subscription facility and following theissue of the new Ordinary Shares under the Offer there will be 60,000,000Ordinary Shares in issue in Sunrise Diamonds, of which Tertiary Minerals holds20,000,0000. Shareholders will be informed of their allocations when sharecertificates in Sunrise are sent out, by 5 May 2005. Sunrise Diamonds intends to carry out further fundraising following the close ofthe Offer and make application for admission to AIM. The objective of thefurther funding will be to fund the exploration of its diamond interests and forworking capital purposes. Sunrise has appointed Ruegg & Co as Nominated Adviserand W.H.Ireland will be its Broker. Shareholders will be informed of theirallocations when share certificates in Sunrise are sent out, by 5 May 2005. GOLD PROJECTS Kaaresselka Gold ProjectFinland - Tertiary Minerals 100% Following the receipt of encouraging results from the Company's first drillprogramme in 2004, a second phase drill programme at Kaaresselka was carriedout between November 2004 and January 2005, to test the depth extent ofhigh-grade gold mineralisation in the Vanha lode, the south-eastern extension ofthe Tienvarsi lode and high-grade near-surface mineralisation at Lampi. Fiveholes were drilled for a total of 750m. The results were released in early March2005 and significant drill hole intersections are detailed in Table 1 below. Four holes (04KD011, 04KD012, 04KD013 and 05KD002) were completed at the Vanhaprospect, at an average 50m spacing, to test for mineralisation at a verticaldepth of 100-150m. Narrow, high-grade mineralisation was intersected at Vanha,confirming that the lode continues at depth and remains open over astrike-length of at least 200m. The structure hosting the mineralisation atVanha is at least 600m long and up to 60m wide. Hole 05KD001 was drilled at the Tienvarsi prospect to test the eastern extensionof the Tienvarsi lode, some 165m from its known limits. A narrow interval ofgold mineralisation was found in a weathered breccia on the south side of theTienvarsi magnetic lineament, extending drilled strike length to over 600m andconfirming Tienvarsi mineralisation to be open in all directions. Trenching at Lampi targeted mineralisation in hole 04KD010 (10.3m grading 3.88g/t gold from bedrock surface beneath the glacial till). Gold mineralisation wasfound to be associated with a localised breccia with no significant strikelength. Consequently, no follow-up drilling was carried out at Lampi. The variability in grade and thickness at Kaaresselka is typical ofstructurally hosted gold mineralisation where an understanding of the controlsof mineralisation is critical to the success of exploration. Further evaluationof the results is in progress. Table 1: Kaaresselka drill intersection summary HOLE NUMBER DOWN HOLE INTERSECTED THICKNESS (m) GOLD GRADE FROM (m) TO (m) (grammes/tonne) VANHA 04KD011 163.40 166.10 2.70 3.8inc. 165.10 166.10 1.00 8.9 04KD012 113.60 114.35 0.75 3.3 04KD013 130.00 138.25 8.25 4.9inc. 136.50 138.25 1.75 20.1 05KD002 114.60 114.90 0.30 8.4 And 128.95 129.65 0.70 18.3 And 152.55 158.75 6.20 3.2inc. 152.55 154.75 2.20 7.2 And 162.10 163.00 0.90 7.5 TIENVARSI 05KD001 36.75 37.90 1.15 2.6 N.B. True widths estimated at approximately 50% of reported intersected widths. Pitkajarvi Gold ProjectFinland - Tertiary Minerals 100% (subject to 6% NPI royalty) Acquisition of the Pitkajarvi high-grade gold prospect was announced inAugust 2004. The prospect was discovered in May 2004, when an independentprospector discovered a train of boulders containing visible native gold. Ninesamples from different mineralised boulders assayed up to 16.6 grammes per tonnegold and averaged 8.5 grammes per tonne gold. A second train of mineralisedboulders containing visible gold and copper mineralisation was subsequentlylocated two kilometres to the north, at Tiaskuru. Interpretation of airborne geophysics and a ground geophysical survey carriedout by the Geological Survey of Finland, revealed a number of possible sourceareas for the mineralised boulders. These targets were drill tested in Marchthis year in a programme comprising seven diamond drill holes for a total 648m. Although drilling results reveal several gold anomalous intersections,consistent with mineralised boulder geology and alteration style, the size andextent of mineralisation in bedrock is considered to be limited. Consequentlythe project has been downgraded and no further work is recommended at thisstage. BASE METAL PROJECTS Nottrask Nickel ProjectSweden - Tertiary Minerals 100% Results from a large loop transient electromagnetic (TEM) survey across theCentral Zone of the Nottrask mafic intrusive confirm a total of nine, closelyspaced, near-surface conductors and one deeper conductor, interpreted toindicate massive-sulphide mineralisation. The near-surface conductors are located on three distinct horizons within astrike length of 750 metres. An additional zone of low resistivity extends over3km along strike from the massive sulphide targets which may indicate thepresence of disseminated nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation or additional,but yet unresolved, massive sulphide zones. Previous exploration at Nottrask, including work by Tertiary, has focused onthe Marginal Zone of the gabbro intrusive and whilst this established theoccurrence of massive sulphides in the Nottrask intrusion, the nickelsulphides found were of low nickel tenor. Subsequent work by Tertiary Minerals and by Anthony Naldrett, (EmeritusProfessor of Geology at the University of Toronto and an internationallyacknowledged authority on nickel sulphide mineralisation) whilst consulting toTertiary on NottrTM?sk, highlighted the Central Zone as having the potential tohost higher-tenor nickel sulphide mineralisation. The Nottrask intrusion is interpreted to lie in the north-western extension ofFinland's Kotalahti Nickel Belt which hosts numerous past and current producingnickel mines, including Outokumpu's Hitura and Kotalahti mines. The Company considers that targets defined by the recent survey at Nottraskrepresent an exciting opportunity to advance its main nickel-copper project at atime when market for these commodities is particularly strong. Field validation of the anomalies will take place in May and drill testing ofthe anomalies is provisionally scheduled for mid-June. The geophysical survey and interpretation of the results was carried out bySwedish geophysical consulting group Geovista AB. Other Base-Metal Projects Following the intersection of encouraging copper grades during winter 2003/2004at the Ahmavuoma copper-gold-cobalt project, follow-up drilling has beenpreliminarily scheduled for winter 2005/2006. No work was carried out on the Company's other Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold ("IOCG")projects this last quarter. TANTALUM PROJECTS During the quarter tantalum stocks have been further depleted and the spot pricefor tantalum concentrates continues to improve following the resurgence inconsumer spending on electronics. Current annual demand growth is estimated at7p.c.-8p.c. and may be further enhanced by the delivery of 3G mobile phonetechnology. In tantalum production, the possibility of a change of control of Australia'sSons of Gwalia, the world's largest tantalum producer, has turned the spotlighton to alternative sources of supply, including Tertiary's world-class Ghurayyahproject. Ghurayyah - TantalumSaudi Arabia - Tertiary Minerals 100% The Company has recently received a proposal from St Barbara Consulting Servicesdetailing metallurgical testwork required for the Preliminary Feasibility Study.Quotes for the conduct of this work have also been received. This testwork workis aimed at optimising a commercial treatment process for beneficiation of theGhurayyah ore. Early in 2005 the Saudi Arabian Mining Law was revised with changes clearlyaimed at making Saudi Arabia more attractive to foreign investment. Thesechanges are welcomed and will have a positive impact on the Company'sdevelopment plans. Rosendal - TantalumFinland - Tertiary Minerals 100% No further work was undertaken during the period Patrick CheethamExecutive Chairman For further information please contact: Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman, Tertiary Minerals plc. Tel: 01625-626203Ron Marshman/John Greenhalgh, City of London PR Limited. Tel: 020-7628-5518 Maps illustrating some of the features referred to in this report can be foundon the Company's website www.tertiaryminerals.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange