20th Oct 2005 15:35
Rambler Metals & Mining PLC20 October 2005 20th October 2005 Rambler Moves to Detailed Drilling Stage The Company is pleased to report that it is set to commence the next stage ofits drilling program at the Rambler Project where it is targeting thedevelopment of additional reserves and resources on the former copper and goldproducing property in Baie Verte, Newfoundland. The key targets under evaluationare the Ming Horizon massive sulphide copper and gold mineralization and theMing Footwall Zone stringer copper mineralization. Historic mining on the property resulted in production of more than 2 milliontonnes of copper and gold rich ore over a 10-year period until mining operationsceased in 1984 upon approach of the then existing property boundary. This next phase of the drilling program will consist of focussed directionaldrilling and follows an initial reconnaissance-scale drilling phase. Reconnaissance Drilling The reconnaissance drilling, recommended in the Competent Person's Reportassociated with the Company's AIM quotation, was initiated in April. This phasewas designed to test the potential broader scope of the system and is nownearing completion. The highlight from the reconnaissance program is Hole 8 (see news release dated2005-08-04), which has intersected the direct down-plunge extension ofhistorically recognized mineralized trends 885 feet (270 metres) beyond thedeepest level tested in 2004. In addition to intersecting 247 feet of coppermineralization in 6 separate intervals within the Footwall Zone, this holeidentified higher than expected gold grades from massive sulphide zones on theMing Horizon including 7.3 g/t gold and 1.7 per cent copper over 19.5 feet (5.94metres). Additional results from this part of the program will be released upon receiptof pending assay and geophysical data. "To date we have drilled over 11,000 meters and have completed the regionalportion of the drill program and are looking forward to drilling the moretightly spaced holes that can add reserves and resources to the resource basethe property already has, " stated Chairman Harry Dobson. " A dewatering programis also currently being considered in order to allow us access to historicallyidentified areas of both high grade gold and copper mineralization that can notbe as effectively tested by surface drilling." The more detailed evaluation of the Ming Horizon massive sulphide and the MingFootwall Zone (will be completed using directional drilling techniques andsystems. This system allows for "branch" holes to be guided away from "trunk"holes with a high degree of accuracy. The reconnaissance spaced drill holes,including hole 8, completed during the first part of the drilling program willserve as the trunk holes for detailed testing of both the Footwall Zone and theoverlying Ming Horizon. For the depths being evaluated at the Ming Horizon on the Rambler Project newbranch holes can test the zone on average 50 to 100 metres from the trunk holepierce points. The directional drilling will allow for a much higher level ofcontrol and anticipated total lower cost compared to drilling the same targetsas individual holes from surface using conventional techniques. The Company is also evaluating the merit and feasibility of dewatering thehistoric workings in order to better evaluate certain zones, including the 1807gold zone and the remaining developed massive sulphide ore located near thebottom of previous underground infrastructure. Access to the workings wouldalso enable exploration drifting and underground drilling below historicallyaccessed levels. Guy Wilkes Justine Howarth / Ana RibeiroOcean Equities Parkgreen CommunicationsT: 020 7786 4370 T: 020 7493 3173 Exploration on the Rambler property is being conducted by Altius Resources Inc.under a service agreement with Rambler Metals and Mining plc. All drill holeshave produced 47.6 millimetre diameter (1.875-inch) NQ diamond drill core. Thedrill core is descriptively logged on site, aligned, marked for sampling andthen split in half, longitudinally, using a diamond saw blade. One-half of thecore is preserved in core boxes for future reference. The samples comprising theother half of the core are bagged, sealed and delivered directly to theanalytical laboratory by Altius personnel. Base metal-bearing samples arenominally 1 metre to 1.8 metres (3.28 to 5.90 feet) in length except wherespecific geologic parameters require that a smaller interval be sampled.Samples with suspected precious metal content are nominally one metre or less,depending on the geological circumstances. The sawed samples are delivered directly to Eastern Analytical Ltd. inSpringdale, Newfoundland by Altius personnel where they are dried, crushed andpulped. Samples are crushed to approximately -10 mesh and split using a rifflesplitter to approximately 300 grams. The sample split is pulverized using aring mill to approximately 98% minus 150 mesh. In addition to regular samples,blank samples and quarter-split samples are also submitted for crushing/pulping. The sample pulps are picked up directly at Eastern Analytical by Altiuspersonnel and returned to the project site at which point analytical standardsamples and duplicate samples from previous batches are inserted into the samplestream. All sample rejects are also retrieved from Eastern Analytical by Altiuspersonnel and securely stored by Altius. The sample pulps are shipped by courier to Activation Laboratories Ltd. inAncaster, Ontario for analysis. A typical analysis consists of three,industry-standard components: (1) an aqua regia digestion followed by a 34 element ICP analysis, (2) a gold assay consisting of a one assay ton fire assay with finish by atomic absorption, and (3) an assay of specific base metals by aqua regia digestion followed by atomic absorption spectroscopy for those elements which exceed the limits of ICP accuracy. Check assays for the Rambler project are being conducted by ALS Chemex, usingindustry-standard techniques posted on their website. The drill programme andsampling protocol are being supervised by J.Geoffrey Thurlow, Ph.D., P.Geo., ofVMS Consultants Inc. and a Director of Altius; a Qualified Person as definedunder the Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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