11th Sep 2006 07:01
Amur Minerals Corporation11 September 2006 11th Sept 2006 Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or "the Company") Expansion at Maly Krumkon Amur Minerals Corporation (AIM:AMC), the exploration company with assets in thefar east of Russia, announces that the potential of the Maly Krumkon mineralisedzone discovered earlier this year on its Kun-Manie project, has beensignificantly expanded. The positive drill results obtained earlier in the yearled to Amur undertaking a detailed geological mapping and grab samplingprogramme designed to establish the extent of the zone. The additional workincluded trenching between and along the strike from the area which had beenpreviously drilled. Results indicate the following: • Detailed Geological Mapping and Geochemical Sampling Nearly Triples the Length of Maly Krumkon. The results confirm that the nickel-bearing structure to be at least 1.5 kilometres in length. Reconnaissance mapping beyond this area also indicate that the zone may extend further to the east and west. Additional confirmatory work is required. • Trenching Confirms Continuity Of Nickel Mineralisation. Four trenches were excavated in three areas along the strike to both the east and west of the drill holes as well as between the two rows of drill holes. The analytical results indicate that nickel and copper are present in all of the trenches covering a total strike length of approximately one kilometre. The average nickel and copper grades within these trenches are 0.43% and 0.16%, respectively. The average true thickness of the zone exposed in the trenches is 24.4 metres. • Mineralised Limits Not Defined. All drill holes and trenches within the Maly Krumkon discovery contain anomalous mineralised intercepts. The limits of the mineralisation have therefore not been defined in either the strike or down its dip directions. The original discovery of Maly Krumkon was based on four diamond drill holesdrilled on two separate sections spaced approximately 600 metres apart. Withineach drill section, the holes are spaced approximately 100 metres apart. Thedrill results indicated an average true thickness of 16.3 metres with an averagenickel grade of 0.63% and a copper grade of 0.17%. The dip of the zone rangesfrom 35 to 60 degrees. Given the significance of the drill results, Amur immediately undertook detailedgeological mapping and trenching to define the extent of the zone. The workcompleted at this time has established that the zone contains nickel and copperover the entire strike length thus far sampled. As the field season draws to anend, Amur has reverted to reconnaissance mapping to establish the potentiallength of the host structure. All information presented within this pressrelease is based on the atomic adsorption method derived by the CentralLaboratory located in Khabarovsk. The quality of the Central Laboratoryanalytical results from previous drilling seasons has been verified by SRKConsulting, although this year's samples will not be externally verified by OmacLaboratories until Q4 2006. A comparison of the trench and drill hole resultsis provided within the following table. Method Of Exploration True Thickness Nickel Copper (m) (%) (%) Drill Holes (4) 16.3 0.63 0.17 Trenches (4) 24.4 0.43 0.16 Average 20.4 0.51 0.16 Commenting on the expansion to Maly Krumkon, CEO Robin Young stated, "Ourprofessional team in the field must be complimented as it has been through theirdiligent work that Amur has been able to nearly triple the size of thisexploration target which was discovered early in this year's drill campaign.Not only have they endured one of the wettest field seasons in recent memory,but they have presented our company with a substantial opportunity tosignificantly enlarge the Kun-Manie metal resource base from its existing209,000 tonnes of nickel and near 60,000 tonnes of copper." The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved bythe CEO of Amur, Robin Young. Mr. Young is a Geological Engineer (cum laude) andis a Qualified Professional Geologist, as defined by the Toronto and VancouverStock Exchanges. Ends Enquiries: Amur Minerals Corp. Nabarro Wells & Co. Limited Parkgreen CommunicationsRobin Young John Wilkes Justine Howarth /CEO Director Victoria Thomas+44 (0) 7981 126 818 +44 (0) 20 7710 7400 +44 (0) 20 7493 3713 Notes to Editors The Amur Group's principal asset is the 100% owned Kun-Manie explorationlicence, a nickel-copper-PGM deposit located in the Amur Province in the fareast of the Russian Federation. The Kun-Manie licence area is approximately 950km(2) and is located 700 km northeast of the capital city of Blagoveshchensk andis 750km north of the Chinese border. In April 2004 ZAO Kun-Manie, a whollyowned subsidiary of Amur, was granted a licence to explore for nickel andrelated metals, including copper and platinum, in respect of the Kun-Manielicence. Amur also has an exploration license for gold and copper located nearKomsomolsk in the Khabarovsk Oblast. Work carried out to date on the Kun-Manie licence including diamond coredrilling, trenching and geological mapping has identified four mineralisedtargets, the Vodorazdelny, Ikenskoe, Falcon and Maly Krumkon zones each of whichwarrant further exploration. The four zones are located within a ten kilometerlong segment of the 40 kilometre long Krumkon Trend which is the primaryexploration target within the licence area. An additional two targetsidentified as Chornie Ispelene and Kubuk have also been identified within thetrend and require additional geological investigation and represent potentialdrill targets. In combination, the six targets are located along approximately13 kilometres of the length of the Krumkon Trend whilst the remainder of thetrend contains additional potential based on geochemical sampling and geologicalmapping which has identified anomalously mineralised host structures. To date, detailed exploration conducted by the Company and an independentlycalculated resource estimate compiled by SRK Consulting indicates the presencesof Indicated and Inferred resources. These resources are contained within twodeposits identified as Vodorazdelny and Ikenskoe. The resource estimate derivedby SRK Consulting as at 31 December 2005 is reported in accordance with JORCCode definitions and guidelines and was published in the Amur Admission Documentdated 10 March 2006. In summary, SRK's resource estimate comprises an IndicatedMineral Resource of 28.4Mt with mean grades of 0.47% nickel and 0.13% copper andan Inferred Mineral Resource of 17.7Mt with mean grades of 0.43% nickel and0.12% copper together containing approximately 209,000 tonnes of nickel and58,500 tonnes of copper. The resource estimate will be updated in the fourthquarter of this year and if possible it is planned to include the results fromthe Maly Krumkon and Falcon zones. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange