Chalice Gold Eritrea
Chalice Gold Mines Limited (ASX: CHN) is pleased to advise that a resource upgrade at the Koka deposit at its Zara Gold Project in Eritrea is imminent following the receipt of more high-grade infill drilling results.
The new results, which are the last from the infill drilling program at Koka, come from diamond drill holes ZARD 143 and ZARD145 to 157 from within the Koka Main Zone.
Assays have now been received from all 30 holes of a ~5,000 metre infill diamond drilling programme designed to bring further confidence to the high grade mineralisation of the Koka Main Zone and to be used as part of the final resource estimate for the Koka Bankable Feasibility Study.
All data is now undergoing validation as part of the revised resource estimate, which will be released during the next quarter (Figure 2).
Two diamond drill rigs are now drilling on double shift at the Koka East Zone, which lies 80-100 metres into the hanging wall of Koka Main Zone, with results pending from the seven holes completed to date. Site preparation for drilling of the Koka South Zone is in progress with drilling expected to commence there shortly.
Koka Main is the flagship gold deposit at Chalice’s 80 per cent-owned Zara Project, which has a JORC compliant Indicated and Inferred resources of 944,000 ounces.
Significant intersections include:
• 7 metres grading 18.71 grams of gold per tonne in ZARD143;
• 5 metres grading 40.28 grams of gold per tonne in ZARD146;
• 23 metres grading 5.58 grams of gold per tonne in ZARD147B;
• 21 metres grading 9.30 grams of gold per tonne in ZARD147B;
• 16 metres grading 11.07 grams of gold per tonne in ZARD149, and;
• 9 metres grading 6.28 grams gold per tonne in ZARD153B.
A complete tabulation of significant results is provided in Table 1.
About the Zara Gold Project
The Zara Joint Venture comprises four Exploration Licenses and two Prospecting Licenses covering an area of 615 km2 situated in northern Eritrea, approximately 160 km northwest of Asmara city (Figure 1).
Chalice holds an 80% interest in the project and has an option to acquire the remaining 20% held by Dragon Mining (ASX: DRA). At a decision to mine the Government of Eritrea has a statutory right to a 10% free carried interest and a further right, at its election, to purchase a further 30% based on an independently assessed NPV.
The Koka Gold Deposit within the Zara Joint Venture contains an estimated resource of 5 million tonnes of ore containing 944,000ozs gold, grading 5.8 grams of gold per tonne. Metallurgical test work indicates overall recoveries exceeding 95% with ~60% recovered by gravity.
DR DOUG JONES
Managing Director
31 March 2010
Competent Persons’ Statement
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Dr Doug Jones, a full-time employee and Director of Chalice Gold Mines Limited, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and is a Chartered Professional Geologist. Dr Jones has sufficient experience in the field of activity being reported to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Minerals Resources and Ore Reserves, and consents to the release of information in the form and context in which it appears here. The Independent Resource Estimate for the Koka deposit was prepared by Mr Brian Wolfe, whilst employed as a Specialist Resource Geologist for Coffey Mining Pty Ltd. Mr Wolfe, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has sufficient experience in the field of Resource Estimation to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Minerals Resources and Ore Reserves, and consents to the release of information in the form and context in which it appears here.
For more information please see document: Results
Asmara
37°