New High Grade Vein Uncovered at Old Pirate With 185m Strike Length Averaging 30.96g/t Gold
Perth, June 15, 2012 AEST (ABN Newswire) - ABM Resources NL (
ASX:ABU) is pleased to announce the first results of the 2012 field season from the longitudinal surface vein sampling program at Old Pirate Gold Deposit in the Northern Territory, Australia.
Darren Holden, Managing Director, said, "Once again, Old Pirate delivers exceptional results and new extensions. These results are just the start of our 2012 program and the new East Side vein discovered at Old Pirate has not yet been tested with drilling and does not yet form part of our 565,000 ounce uncut resource estimation."
The New "East Side" Vein
Following on from the success of the 2011 surface sampling program, ABM has continued the approach of exposing surface veins and systematic channel / trench sampling. So far in 2012 the Company has collected over 2000 samples of new vein material. A detailed description of the process is noted below.
The first phase of samples from Old Pirate's 2012 program included the discovery of a vein located approximately 50 metres to the east of the main Old Pirate resource area (Figure 1, Figure 3) named the "East Side" vein. Assay results have been received from a central section of approximately 185 metres and are presented here in Table 1.
The East Side vein is located close to the eastern margin of the open pit design presented in the scoping study (announced 15/05/2012). With the assumption that this vein continues at depth, the pit design would likely be modified to include this vein. This may also alter the optimisation parameters bringing more of the Old Pirate overall existing resource into the pit design as well as potentially adding material from this vein. The East Side vein is extensional to the existing resource.
The East Side vein extends to the south towards the Old Pirate South Eastern Limb where longitudinal sampling results presented in 2011 showed 69 metres strike length averaging 49.9g/t gold (announced 05/01/2012). In the section between today's reported vein and the Old Pirate South Eastern Limb, the East Side vein widens to over 3 metres in places and has approximately 90 metres of strike length pending assay.
To the north of today's reported vein section the East Side vein splits into multiple veins with a cumulative strike length projected over 250 metres. Sampling and assaying is on-going on this northern section.
Infill Surface Sampling on the Western Limb of the Old Pirate Resource
The first phase of the 2012 program also included the sampling of a vein on the western limb of the main Old Pirate resource. This is an area of exposed vein that was overlooked in last year's surface programs. The current resource model does not extend to surface in this area and this newly sampled vein section is also considered potentially extensional to the existing resource. This vein links to the north with a vein reported in 2011 with a strike length of 102 metres averaging 32.62g/t gold (08/02/2012). The width of the new vein is up to 6 metres. Table 2 contains details of this sampling.
Combined with the 2011 results the overall surface of exposed and sampled veins now totals approximately 963 metres with a cumulative strike length averaging 24.27g/t gold and an average width of approximately 1 metre.
Extensional Discoveries, Implications for Resource Development and Next Steps ABM has been exploring Old Pirate since 2010. However, it was the innovation of using systematic surface sampling in mid-2011 that allowed the Company to better understand the coarse gold and statistical nugget effect. In April 2012 the Company announced a maiden inferred and indicated resource totalling 565,000 ounces of gold averaging 10.65g/t gold uncut at Old Pirate (refer Appendix 2).
In May 2012 the Company announced an initial independent scoping study based on a preliminary open pit mine design and the installation of a small scale gravity gold recovery plant. This scoping study showed the potential for low capital expenditure of $27M and strong cash flows of over $250M after costs over two years. With the surface and drilling work underway ABM is assessing the overall scale of the Old Pirate system in order to update the resource estimation work and the scoping study accordingly.
Furthermore, Old Pirate sits in the same exploration license as the large scale / bulk tonnage Buccaneer Porphyry Gold Deposit. The Company is also currently assessing whether there are processing and development synergies between the two deposits.
In parallel with the 2012 exploration season the Company is gathering the requisite information to apply for a mineral lease (mining license) over the Old Pirate area. This includes base line flora / fauna surveys. Upon assessment of the overall scale and completion of requisite studies the Company will be in a position to apply for a mineral lease.
Surface Vein Sampling Rationale and Sampling Method
Gold at Old Pirate can be coarse (up to 2 to 3mm grains) and is hosted within quartz veins. However, the distribution of the gold within these veins is not uniform, and hence drilling will likely under-call the overall grade due to the fact that there is a less than 1 in 3 chance of intersecting high grade in any particular part of the vein. Upon advice from external consultants, rigorous and systematic sampling of the quartz along the strike length of veins at Old Pirate was proposed. Over 700m of sampling was conducted in 2011 and combined with drilling to estimate the gold resources at Old Pirate (16/04/2012).
ABM has recommenced the program in 2012 of which the on-going work is presented here. This information, along with statistical parameters and extents of mineralisation, will be used to aid with further drilling and resource work.
The process for the surface sampling program is:
1. Natural outcropping veins are mapped for location and width and sampled at 1 metre strike length intervals.
2. A small digger then exposes those parts of the veins that are hidden underneath shallow soil cover to provide a combined map of natural outcrop and exposed quartz vein.
3. For each metre of exposed quartz vein (both in natural outcrop and cleared veins) two representative samples of approximately 4 to 10kg are collected. Quartz is selected systematically in a grid pattern so as not to bias individual samples. Both samples are sent to the laboratory.
4. The sample width depends on the width of the vein or exposed areas. In cases where the vein width is generally greater than 1 metre, multiple samples may be collected across the vein.
5. The maximum depth of the digging is 60cm (due to permit regulations, safety considerations and to minimise environmental impact). If the soil cover is greater than 60cm then sampling does not take place despite the likelihood of the vein continuing beneath 60cm.
6. Samples are processed by ALS Global in Alice Springs (NT), and ALS Global in Perth (WA) where they are weighed and analysed using regular fire assay (AA26D). Samples greater than 100g/t are re-assayed using AA26D / Over Limit Dilution method.
7. Overall statistics and spatial distribution for vein strike length and grade are calculated by measuring sampled portions of vein (including a projection of short lengths (<10 metres) where the vein is inferred to have extended under cover) and then averaging all of the samples along the length. Individual entire veins that are un-mineralised (<1g/t) are excluded from overall statistics.
8. Samples are surveyed with a hand-held GPS using waypoint averaging for ~20cm spatial accuracy.
9. Surface samples are weighted for sample width prior to being used in any resource estimation work.
To view the complete ABM Resources announcement including Tables, Figures and Appendix, please click the following link below:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-ABU-593219.pdf
About ABM Resources NL
ABM Resources (ASX:ABU) is developing several gold discoveries in the Central Desert region of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Company has a multi-tiered approach to exploration and development with a combination of high-grade production scenarios such as the Old Pirate High-Grade Gold Project, large scale discoveries such as Buccaneer, and regional exploration discoveries such as the Hyperion Gold Project. In addition, ABM is committed to regional exploration programs throughout its extensive holdings including the alliance with Independence Group NL at the regional Lake Mackay Project.
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