9th Apr 2008 07:00
Stratex International PLC09 April 2008 Stratex International Plc / Index: AIM / Epic: STI / Sector: Mining 9 April 2008 Stratex delivers further positive drill results from Altintepe, including 45.50 metres of oxide material grading 3.64 g/t gold. Stratex International Plc (Stratex or the "Company"), the AIM-quotedinternational exploration and development company focusing on gold and basemetal opportunities in Turkey, has completed the oxide drilling at the KayatepeZone at its Altintepe* project in north-eastern Turkey. As a result of furtherpositive drill results, Stratex anticipates adding materially to its currenttotal gold resource base of circa 311,000 oz. Drilling has also now commencedon the Camlik Zone at the project. HIGHLIGHTS • KT-DD-12 returned 82.30 metres grading 2.43 g/t Au including 45.50 metres grading 3.64 g/t Au in oxide • KT-DD-5 returned 91.00 metres grading 1.34 g/t Au in oxide • KT-DD-6 returned 54.90 metres grading 2.38 g/t Au including 21.20 metres grading 3.55 g/t Au in oxide • Exploration drilling has commenced on Camlik Zone The Kayatepe Zone at the Altintepe project in north-eastern Turkey extends some500 metres in an east-west direction and averages approximately 100 metres inwidth. The higher concentrations of gold, exceeding 1 g/t gold, are restrictedto an internal zone approximately 400 metres long and 50 metres wide defined bythe 12 holes drilled to date along fence lines 50 metres apart. The results show excellent continuity of oxide mineralisation - near-surfacematerial that has been oxidized by weathering processes and for which previousmetallurgical tests on similar material from the Camlik East Zone havedemonstrated recoveries of 91-98% of the contained gold. Samples of both oxidematerial and underlying (un-oxidised) sulphide material have already beendispatched for preliminary metallurgical test work. Hole no. From (m) To Length1 Grade (m) (m) (g/t Au)2Kayatepe - oxideST-KT-DD-3 0.00 9.10 9.10 metres 0.55 g/tST-KT-DD-4 1.70 18.600 16.90 metres 0.55 g/tST-KT-DD-5 0.00 91.0 91.0 metres 1.34 g/tST-KT-DD-6 (oxide + sulphide) 0.00 54.90 54.90 metres 2.38 g/tincluding (oxide) 0.00 21.20 21.20 metres 3.55 g/tST-KT-DD-7 0.00 32.20 32.20 metres 0.77 g/tST-KT-DD-8 0.00 26.70 26.70 metres 0.49 g/tST-KT-DD 9 0.00 11.60 11.60 metres 0.35 g/tST-KT-DD 10 2.00 13.40 15.40 metres 0.46 g/tST-KT-DD 11 0.00 23.40 23.40 metres 0.97 g/tST-KT-DD 12 (oxide + sulphide) 0.00 82.30 82.30 metres 2.43 g/tincluding (oxide) 0.00 45.50 45.50 metres 3.64 g/t 1All holes inclined -60o or -70o across steeply inclined zones; intersections donot represent true widths of zones. 2 Intersections defined by a gold cut-off of0.2 g/t gold. Channel sampling at surface and drilling of the wider mineralised zone havecommonly returned grades of 0.3-1.0 g/t gold, suggesting the presence of a 50metre-wide zone of low-grade gold mineralisation enveloping the northern,eastern, and western extents of the higher-grade core. The Kayatepe Zone was not included in the historically estimated Altinteperesource of 311,543 oz of gold, calculated using a cut-off of 0.4 g/t gold.Approximately 77% of the resource was in the inferred category. Commenting, Bob Foster C.E.O. said, "We have now completed the oxide drilling atKayatepe and will shortly be in a position to undertake a new in-housecalculation of the resource based on these holes and the well-defined geometryof the oxide zone. This new resource should add materially to the total resourcebase of some 311,000 oz gold at Altintepe. "We are very encouraged by the potential to define a significant oxide resourceat Altintepe. Furthermore, we believe that there is also considerable potentialfor the discovery of new mineralised zones in the wider licence area and we willbe investigating this potential through a fast-tracked programme of drilling,geological mapping and sampling in the coming months. In line with this,drilling has now commenced on the Camlik Zone where we have outlinednear-surface oxide gold mineralisation and rock alteration over an area of 400 x180 metres. This area also lies outside the mineralised zones included in theexisting resource estimate." The Altintepe gold project is held under option from Teck Cominco Limited'sTurkish subsidiary ("TCAM"). Under the terms of the option, Stratex can acquire100% of the project by undertaking 2,000 metres of drilling by July 2008 and atotal of 5,000 metres by July 2009. To date the Company has drilled 2,253 metresin 30 holes. TCAM will have 60 days from notification by Stratex of itsexercising the Option to elect to earn-back to a 51% interest in the project bycompleting 10,000 meters of diamond drilling on the property within 42 months ofits election. If Teck Cominco chooses not to earn-back the interest it willretain a 1.5% Net Smelter Return ('NSR') royalty from any future production. Aportion of the property is held by a third party that also holds a NSR royaltyof 2.5% that can be reduced to 1.25% by a payment of US$750,000. Sampling, assaying, and QA/QC Stratex's sampling of drill core and outcropping rocks conforms to industry-widegood practice, with drill core being split using a diamond saw, and with chainof custody being observed for all samples. Analysis is undertaken by ALS Chemexat its laboratories in Vancouver, Canada, and Romania, and the Company maintainsQA/QC on all analytical work via the use of certified reference materials, fieldduplicates, and blank samples in addition to monitoring of internal laboratorycheck-analyses. CEO Dr. Bob Foster, FIMM, CEng, is a Competent Person as defined by variousinternational instruments and takes responsibility for the release of thisinformation. * Altintepe - in the Turkish alphabet there are two forms of the letter I. Theun-dotted version is pronounced "U" i.e. "Altuntepe". * * ENDS * * For further information visit www.stratexinternational.com or contact: David Hall Stratex International Plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7830 9650Bob Foster Stratex International Plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7830 9650Claire Palmer Stratex - Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0)20 7830 9650Anita Ghanekar Hanson Westhouse Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7601 6100Victoria Thomas St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177 Notes to editors: Stratex International Plc is an AIM-quoted exploration and development companycurrently focusing on gold and base metal opportunities in Turkey. Its provenstrategy is to discover and develop new projects by focused low-costexploration, thus adding maximum value prior to optioning/joint venturing orselling on to a dedicated mining company. Stratex's portfolio covers 11 licence blocks in central and western Turkeytotalling approximately 1,630 sq km. These include the Inlice high-sulphidationgold deposit in the Konya Volcanic Belt, the Altintepe multi-occurrence prospectcomprising a number of discrete gold-bearing zones, Doganbey - a new porphyrygold-molybdenum target within the Konya Volcanic Belt, Muratdere - a porphyrygold-copper-molybdenum occurrence and Karaagac - a partially exposed, gentlydipping gold-bearing zone. Ongoing resource drilling and exploration programmesare underway on a number of these licences, focused on increasing Stratex'stotal resources, currently standing at slightly more than 841,000 oz of gold.Furthermore, the Company has a healthy project pipeline portfolio, which itcontinues to strengthen through the acquisition of additional licences. Stratex has a strategic partnership with Canadian major mining company, TeckCominco Limited, which has an 8.8% stake in the Company, enabling the twoparties to pool expertise, skills and databases to identify potential projects. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Oriole Resources