17th Oct 2012 10:59
Triple Plate Junction Plc
("TPJ" or the "Company")
Manus Island Drilling Results
Further to the announcement made on 26 September 2012, TPJ announces that it has received the assays results for the first 4 of the initial 6 holes drilled at the Kisi-Soon Poet epithermal system on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea and the findings are set out below.
Exploration on Manus Island has delineated a broad Au-Ag epithermal district termed the Kisi-Soon_Poet prospects. The area hosting anomalous Au rock chips and soils is around 4km long and 1km wide at its widest point. It is extends toward the ENE.
Within this roughly outlined district are two elongate zones of anomalous Au and Ag defined by recently completed detailed surface sampling (soil and rock chip). A southern narrow zone, about 1.5km long and less than 100m wide, where in the past a quartz reef was trenched and sampled by Highlands (10m @ 5.8g/t Au) and TPJ (16m @ 40g/t Au), and a coherent northern zone that is a minimum of 1.8km long and up to 200m wide. This part of the district is collectively known as Kisi and in the west is a very anomalous but poorly defined "pod" known as Soon_Poet.
In the southern Kisi zone Newcrest has completed two holes in a scissor configuration, KD0001 drilling NNW and KD0005 drilling SSE. KD0001 (total depth - 212m) returned a low grade but still significant 5.8m @ 1.2g/t Au and 12g/t Ag, from 180.2 metres down hole Assays for KD0005 and KD0006 are pending.
In the broader, northern Kisi zone, three diamond holes, KD0002b, KD0003 and KD0004 have now been completed to test for mineralisation around 100m below the surface geochemical anomalies. No significant assay was returned from hard rock drill core. However colluvial Au (hosted in loose surface sediment) has been intersected in KD0002b with 18m @ 0.34 g/t Au from surface and in KD0003 which returned 9m @ 0.43 g/t Au from surface. Near surface results for KD0004 are not yet available.
Low sulphidation epithermal deposits are notoriously elusive and a great deal of patience and perseverance is generally required prior to success. The high Au grade rock chip results in early trench sampling reported by Highlands and TPJ mentioned previously and more wide spread high grade rock chip assays reported by Newcrest (with the better samples ranging between 5 g/t Au and 25 g/t Au) demonstrate that the Kisi-Soon_Poet area is a significant mineralising system.
TPJ is partnered with Newcrest PNG Exploration Limited, a subsidiary of Newcrest Mining Limited, at Manus Island. TPJ currently holds 75.9% of the joint venture which will reduce to 15.2% following completion of Newcrest's ongoing earn-in.
Commenting on the drilling analysis, Fraser McGee, CEO of TPJ said:
"These results represent the first four of six drill holes completed at the epithermal prospect at Kisi. Following the recent completion of the intended initial 6 holes the rig has now moved to the porphyry prospect at Arie and our partner, Newcrest, has been working efficiently to complete this initial programme. Newcrest is currently finishing the final of three holes (going to a combined depth of ~1,400m) at Arie and we are looking forward to receiving, reviewing and announcing the drilling results from the balance of this programme. It is anticipated that Newcrest will have completed its review of both the Kisi and Arie prospects and decided upon its next steps during January 2013."
Qualified Person Statement
The analysis provided in this announcement was prepared, and has been reviewed by, Tim Richards, B.Sc Geology, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists with in excess of 10 years' experience in gold exploration.
Enquiries
Triple Plate Junction plc | +44 (0)7775 693 237 |
Fraser McGee
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finnCap Ltd | +44 (0)20 7220 0500 |
Matthew Robinson/Christopher Raggett
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Ocean Equities Limited | +44 (0)20 7786 4370 |
Guy Wilkes
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FTI Consulting | +44 (0)20 7831 3113 |
Oliver Winters/Georgia Mann
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