14th Nov 2005 08:30
Frontier Mining Ltd14 November 2005 Frontier Mining Ltd ("Frontier" or "the Company") Results of 2005 Baitimir Copper/Gold Exploration Programme Frontier is pleased to announce the results of its 2005 exploration programme atthe Baitimir copper/gold commercial discovery area. Highlights • Internal evaluation of surface alteration mapping, drill results, copper in soil geochemistry, and chargeability geophysics indicate that the presently defined 2 km2 Baitimir oxide deposit may lie above an oxide/ sulphide porphyry copper/gold system • Drilling shows that soil geochemical anomalies above 0.1% copper contain a significantly larger zone of both oxide and sulphide copper mineralisation over an area measuring 1.5 kilometres by 650 metres • The total mineralised thickness of each of the 10 mineralised holes ranged from 3 metres to 83.5 metres with an average total mineralised thickness of 40.8 metres • The grade of copper in the total mineralised zones of each of the 10 mineralised holes ranged from 0.15% to 0.87% copper with an average grade of 0.41% copper • The preliminary inferred geologic resource (P1) covering the presently defined Baitimir oxide deposit and porphyry copper/gold system is estimated by management to be 840,000 tonnes (1.85 billion lbs) of contained copper • Approximately 30% (252,000 tonnes or 556 million lbs) of the total estimated resource is contained in oxide ore expected to be amenable to SX-EW technology • Mineralisation includes gold and molybdenum. • Management believes there is significant potential to increase the copper resource outside the presently defined 2 km2 Baitimir deposit area The 2005 exploration programme covered approximately 10km2, just 9% of the total111.3km2 project area. The programme included 6km2 of alteration mapping, 2,059soil geochemical samples covering an area of 4.3km2, a ground magnetic surveycovering an area of 4.3km2, Induced Polarization and Chargeability geophysicscovering an area of 4.3 km2, and 1,785 metres of drilling consisting of 15 coreholes ranging in depth from 72.5m to 175m. Brian Savage, CEO of Frontier comments, "We are very pleased with our findingsat Baitimir which, while in line with our previous expectations, have served toexpand the potential of this project significantly. Work to date hasconcentrated on a small proportion of our entire licence area and we are excitedabout the potential of the size and scope of this project. We look forward toreporting on our subsequent drilling and anticipated increased resourceestimates in due course." Baitimir oxide deposit and porphyry copper/gold system resource summary Deposit Present size Cu Cu Contained (km2) Ore Grade Copper (m/t) (%) (tonnes)Baitimir oxide 2 63 0.40 252,000Baitimir porphyry 2 147 0.40 588,000Total oxide and porphyry 2 210 0.40 840,000 It should be noted that: (i) Baitimir is believed to contain gold and molybdenum mineralization.However, the gold and molybdenum resources at Baitimir are currently undefined,and; (ii) the porphyry system hosts both oxide and sulphide mineralisation. 2005 Baitimir Copper/Gold Exploration Programme The results of the 2005 Baitimir copper/gold exploration programme incorporatesa small amount of work that was performed in the last quarter of 2004. The workundertaken under the exploration programme is set out below: Hydrothermal alteration mapping This was conducted at a scale of 1:10,000 and covered a 6km2 area usingspecially acquired Ikonos satellite panchromatic imagery with a 1m resolution asthe basis for mapping. The following significant finds were identified: • Alteration zoning typical for porphyry copper systems were found to exist and were mapped as follows: • propylitic: 0.16 km2 • phyllic: 0.19 km2 • quartz-sericite coinciding with oxide mineralisation: 0.16 km2 • Malachite-bearing oxide outcrops: 3 km2 • Widespread brecciation Copper and gold soil geochemical survey The geochemical survey covered a total 4.3 km2. Sampling was undertaken on a200m by 40m grid and yielded 566 samples. More detailed sampling was carried outin intensely mineralised areas on a 50m by 20m grid and yielded an additional1,493 samples. • 4 large anomalies were identified; although some assays are still pending • Anomalies with copper varying from 500 ppm to 1,000 ppm cover a 0.13 km2 area • Anomalies with more than 1,000 ppm copper cover 0.04 sq. km2 Ground magnetic survey A total of 4.3 km2 was covered by this survey which was conducted on a 100m by10m grid. Half of a granodiorite intrusive that hosts copper-goldmineralisation is outcropped and half is covered by a 10m to 25m thick veneer ofbasalts. Induced Polarisation/ Chargeability survey This survey also covered 4.3 km2 and was conducted on a 400m by 25m grid. Thepurpose of the survey was to firstly define sulphide mineralisation zones andsecondly trace them at depth. The survey produced the following results: • several significant chargeability anomalies with intensity to 40 millivolt per volt were recorded, which may also be referred to as 10% anomalies, where the percentage is the measurement of the back current, indicating the presence of substantial sulphide mineralisation. • such intensity is typical for the "good" part of a porphyry copper deposit; and • chargeability anomalies are traced to a depth of 200m but are seen to continue at depth as the survey extended beyond 200m. Diamond drilling programme at Baitimir A total of 15 holes were drilled totaling 1,785 metres. Ten of these holes,totaling 1,370 metres, were drilled within the copper soil geochemical anomalouszone, and the remaining holes indicated the outer limit of mineralisation. Thedrilling programme was designed to test gold and copper soil geochemicalanomalies and induced polarization-chargeability anomalies and provide data forcopper and gold resource estimation in each prospect to serve as part of theproposed pre-feasibility study Results of the drilling programme found that: • the thickness of the copper intervals vary from 10.5m to 83.5m • Oxide copper grades vary from 0.1% to 3.52% • Gold grade in the 10 holes averaged about 0.25 gramme per tonne ("gpt") • Associated molybdenum mineralisation has an average thickness of 2m and a grade of 0.06% Mo, reaching 0.33% Mo in places Future plans Based on the results of the 2005 Baitimir copper/gold exploration programme andthe positive metallurgical test results from Beschoku and Yubileiny, themanagement believes that it would be feasible to develop the Baitimir oxidedeposit using SX-EW technology. Accordingly, the following work is planned forthe 4th quarter of 2005 and 1st quarter of 2006: • Metallurgical testing at VNIITsVETMET Laboratories at Ust-Kamenogorsk is planned for December 2005 • The final report of the 2005 Baitimir copper/gold exploration programme is scheduled to be completed in the near future. This report will be used as the basis for scoping a pre-feasibility study during the first quarter of 2006 • Additional drilling is planned for 2006, as part of the proposed pre-feasibility study, to upgrade resources to reserves. It is planned to report resources and reserves using both JORC and Kazakhstani standards Enquiries Frontier Mining Ltd Brian Savage 020 7849 6530Parkgreen Communications Cathy Malins / Annabel Leather 020 7493 3713 About Frontier Frontier Mining Ltd. is a mineral exploration and development company that wasincorporated in the state of Delaware, USA, on August 5, 1998 for the purpose ofexploring and developing gold and copper deposits in the Republic of Kazakhstan.Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, Frontier locates, evaluates,acquires, explores and develops mineral properties. Frontier has two licenses owned by its wholly owned subsidiaries in Kazakhstan.They are the Naimanjal exploration and mining licence, held by FML Kazakhstan,and the Baltemir exploration licence, held by Baltemir LLP. Frontier has oneproducing gold mine, Naimanjal; one pre-feasibility stage gold project,Koskuduk; and one exploration stage gold prospect, Baltemir. Naimanjal isforecast by management to produce 25,000 ounces of gold in 2006 at a cash costof $250 per ounce. Frontier currently intends to double its gold production to50,000 ounces in 2007 and double it again to 100,000 ounces in 2008. Managementbelieves its gold projects contain more than two million ounces of oxide goldresource. Frontier also has one pre-feasibility stage copper porphyry deposit withassociated gold and molybdenum, Baitimir; and several copper/gold prospectsalong a 25-km trend including both VMS and porphyry types. Metallurgical testson its Beschoku and Yubileiny copper projects confirm the oxide copper ore isamenable to extraction using low cost SX-EW technology. Management believes thecopper projects contain more than 1,000,000 tonnes (2.2 billion pounds) ofcopper (P1) resource with significant potential for increase. Frontier iscurrently evaluating acquisition opportunities in uranium, gold, and copper inKazakhstan and the CIS countries. Frontier shares are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.Frontier has 89,209,931 ordinary shares issued and 10,723,747 outstandingoptions and warrants, giving 99,933,678 fully diluted ordinary shares. Further company information may be accessed at the Frontier Mining Ltd. websiteat: www.frontiermining.com Baitimir 2005 Drill Hole Programme Summary copper assay results above 0.1% cu cut-off Important note: Total for the "To" column refers to the total drill hole depth Total for the "Thickness, m" column refers to the sum of the thickness intervalsin each hole Ave is the weighted average grade of copper in the mineralised zones Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-1 Baitimir 19.5 23.0 3.5 0.26 BAI-1 Baitimir 42.0 48.0 6.0 0.35 BAI-1 Baitimir 60.0 84.0 24.0 0.37 BAI-1 Baitimir 87.0 93.0 6.0 0.20 BAI-1 Baitimir 97.5 102.0 4.5 0.16 BAI-1 Baitimir 112.0 129.0 17.0 0.62 total or ave 173.6 61.0 0.40 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-2 Baitimir 9.0 13.5 4.5 0.12 BAI-2 Baitimir 21.0 23.9 2.9 0.19 BAI-2 Baitimir 30.5 37.0 6.5 0.16 BAI-2 Baitimir 64.8 67.3 2.5 0.94 total or ave 99.0 16.4 0.27 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-3 Baitimir 34.0 35.4 1.4 0.26 BAI-3 Baitimir 35.4 37.0 1.6 0.45 BAI-3 Baitimir 37.0 38.5 1.5 0.65 BAI-3 Baitimir 43.0 44.5 1.5 0.42 BAI-3 Baitimir 69.5 74.0 4.5 1.10 total or ave 175.0 10.5 0.73 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-5 Baitimir 0.2 17.7 17.5 0.29 BAI-5 Baitimir 20.1 35.1 15.0 0.59 BAI-5 Baitimir 42.6 50.1 7.5 0.20 BAI-5 Baitimir 53.1 96.6 43.5 0.27 total or ave 102.0 83.5 0.33 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-6 Baitimir 2.0 23.2 21.2 0.42 BAI-6 Baitimir 26.2 30.7 4.5 0.48 BAI-6 Baitimir 35.2 36.7 1.5 0.18 BAI-6 Baitimir 42.7 48.7 6.0 0.21 BAI-6 Baitimir 56.7 59.7 3.0 0.12 BAI-6 Baitimir 67.2 73.2 6.0 0.22 BAI-6 Baitimir 80.7 82.2 1.5 0.27 BAI-6 Baitimir 86.1 87.6 1.5 0.22 BAI-6 Baitimir 89.1 95.1 6.0 0.12 total or ave 129.0 51.2 0.31 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-7 Baitimir 2.0 9.0 7.0 0.13 BAI-7 Baitimir 18.4 30.3 11.9 1.40 BAI-7 Baitimir 67.3 72.8 5.5 0.21 BAI-7 Baitimir 95.1 96.6 1.5 0.13 BAI-7 Baitimir 102.6 105.6 3.0 0.21 total or ave 110.0 28.9 0.68 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-8 Baitimir 1.8 53.9 52.1 0.19 BAI-8 Baitimir 60.9 62.4 1.5 0.10 BAI-8 Baitimir 117.9 119.4 1.5 0.42 total or ave 152.6 55.1 0.19 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-9 Baitimir 5.0 12.5 7.5 0.35 BAI-9 Baitimir 14.0 15.5 1.5 0.12 BAI-9 Baitimir 16.6 21.4 4.8 0.36 BAI-9 Baitimir 23.3 37.4 14.1 0.49 BAI-9 Baitimir 43.5 44.5 1.0 0.19 BAI-9 Baitimir 50.2 53.2 3.0 0.22 BAI-9 Baitimir 56.2 62.0 5.8 3.52 total or ave 72.5 37.7 0.87 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-10 Baitimir 8.9 16.4 7.5 0.18 BAI-10 Baitimir 17.9 27.3 9.4 0.23 BAI-10 Baitimir 31.6 36.2 4.6 0.19 BAI-10 Baitimir 38.9 42.4 3.5 0.17 BAI-10 Baitimir 44.0 52.0 8.0 0.18 BAI-10 Baitimir 54.0 56.9 2.9 0.31 BAI-10 Baitimir 58.0 60.6 2.6 0.32 BAI-10 Baitimir 62.1 64.3 2.2 0.24 BAI-10 Baitimir 65.1 66.6 1.5 0.24 BAI-10 Baitimir 72.8 75.6 2.8 0.25 BAI-10 Baitimir 80.0 83.0 3.0 0.16 BAI-10 Baitimir 89.0 93.3 4.3 0.23 BAI-10 Baitimir 96.3 97.4 1.1 0.68 BAI-10 Baitimir 104.9 106.4 1.5 0.14 BAI-10 Baitimir 112.3 115.2 2.9 0.29 BAI-10 Baitimir 118.2 121.2 3.0 0.14 total or ave 126.0 60.8 0.22 Hole No. Site From (m) To (m) Thickness, (m) Cu, % BAI-11 Baitimir 44.0 47.0 3.0 0.15 total or ave 117.3 3.0 0.15 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
FML.L