Adelaide, Aug 14, 2006 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Directors of Discovery Nickel Limited (ASX: DNL) are pleased to announce that the Company has commenced its first diamond drill program on the Maun Copper Project in north-west Botswana.
Highlights
- Phase One diamond drill program has commenced
- Infill and extension drilling will be completed on the Zeta Inferred Copper Resource
- Drilling will investigate the potential under estimation of the grade of the copper-silver mineralisation by previous explorers
- High priority exploration targets will be tested
Phase One Diamond Drill Program
The Phase One drill program that has recently commenced on the Maun Copper Project will comprise approximately 2700m of diamond drilling (see Figure One). The first objective of the drill program is to investigate the potential to increase the overall grade and size of the initial inferred copper resource defined at the Zeta Prospect. The Zeta Copper Resource is currently 20.1 Mt @ 1.2% Cu at a cut-off of 0.6% and has been classified in the Inferred category according to the guidelines of the 2004 JORC code.
The immediate strike extensions of the Zeta Copper Resource will be drilled in order to determine the potential to increase the resource at shallow, potentially open pittable, depths. Infill drilling will focus on areas of the Zeta Resource that have been defined from previous reverse circulation ("RC") drilling.
Geochemical data suggests that the previous RC drilling may have under estimated the copper grades and this has had a negative effect on the average grade of the Zeta Copper Resource.
Exploration drilling will also be completed to test a number of soil geochemical anomalies at J Grid to the south of the Zeta Resource. In addition, drilling will be conducted at P Grid, to the north of the Zeta Resource, to follow up on historical copper intersections (e.g. 15m @ 2.2% Cu in hole PR4).
Discovery's Managing Director, Mr Jeremy Read, said that the commencement of drilling on the Maun Copper Project marked an exciting time coming up for the Company.
"The drilling in and around the Zeta Copper Resource will allow us to get a much better idea of the economic potential of the Zeta Resource and whether a larger, more aggressive infill and extension drill program is warranted," Mr Read said.
"We will also test a number of soil geochemical anomalies which are similar in size and quality to the soil geochemical anomaly occurring over the Zeta Resource and consequently these are highly prospective targets," he said.
Results Timetable
The initial results from the Maun Copper Project drill program are expected by mid to late September, 2006.
Contact
Peter Gill
Senior Consultant
FIELD PUBLIC RELATIONS
231 South Road
MILE END SA 5031
Tel: 08 8234 9555
Fax: 08 8234 9566
Mb: 0417 784 059
peter@fieldpr.com.au
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