17th Apr 2007 07:01
Kefi Minerals plc17 April 2007 AIM: KEFI 17 April 2007 KEFI Minerals Plc ("KEFI Minerals" or the "Company"), EXPLORATION UPDATE KEFI Minerals is pleased to provide an update on recent exploration progress.KEFI Minerals is primarily targeting large epithermal gold or porphyrygold-copper systems analogous to several +1 million ounce deposits recentlydiscovered and developed in the Western Anatolia region of Turkey. Highlights • Initial sampling along a portion of the western vein at Derenin Tepe returned 6m at 3.3g/t gold, 2m at 9.6g/t gold and 1m at 7.2g/t gold; • Recently granted Muratdag Exploration Licence covers the western strike continuation of a known gold mineralised structure; • Recently granted Meyvali Exploration Licence has strong gold anomalies down-stream; and • Mr Malcolm Stallman appointed as Exploration Manager. Derenin Tepe Licence The Derenin Tepe Exploration Licence was acquired in early 2007 and is locatedin the highly prospective Balekisir Province in Western Anatolia, Turkey. Thislicence area hosts a series of parallel quartz veins that trend northwest andextend for at least one kilometre. Initial exploration work comprising geologic mapping and sampling of thesequartz veins has confirmed the licence is prospective for low-sulphidationepithermal gold deposits. The western quartz vein at Derenin Tepe extends over a strike length of 800m.Initial rock chip sampling of 80m strike along this quartz vein has been carriedout and returned encouraging assay results of 6m at 3.3g/t gold, 2m at 9.6g/tgold and 1m at 7.2g/t gold. As previously reported, rock chip sampling of the main quartz vein at DereninTepe returned assay results of up to 152g/t gold and 229g/t silver in an area ofancient workings and channel sampling returned assays of 8m at 3g/t gold and152g/t silver. Muratdag Licence The Muratdag Exploration Licence, granted to KEFI on 27 March 2007, covers thewestern strike continuation of a known gold mineralised structure. Otherexploration companies are currently exploring this structure in contiguouslicence areas to the west and east of KEFI's Muratdag Licence. The licence covers an area of 36 hectares and is located in the Simav Graben,Western Anatolia, Turkey. The licence area is also prospective for nickellaterite mineralisation. Meyvali Licence The Meyvali Exploration Licence, granted to KEFI on 4 April 2007, is consideredprospective for gold. Previous exploration has identified strong gold anomaliesin streams draining the licence area, as well as gossanous gold-bearingstructures along strike. The licence covers an area of 700 hectares and is located in Balikesir Province,in Western Anatolia, Turkey. Exploration Manager Appointed Mr Malcolm Stallman has been appointed Exploration Manager for KEFI Minerals.Malcolm has been exploring porphyry-style copper-gold deposits, Carlin-stylegold deposits, and low sulphidation epithermal-style gold deposits in Turkeysince 2003. He has extensive international experience and has previously workedfor Freeport, Normandy and Newmont. The exploration team comprising an Exploration Manager and four geologists isbeing established and two experienced Turkish geologists have joined theCompany. Since being admitted to AIM on 18 December 2006, KEFI Minerals has establishedan exploration office in Turkey and has commenced field activities in theregion. KEFI Minerals' Managing Director, Jeff Rayner, commented: "The foundation continues to be put in place for KEFI Minerals to rapidly progress towards its goal of discovering large epithermal gold or porphyry gold-copper deposits. "I am pleased that several geologists with substantial experience in Turkey have joined the Company. This experience complements the extensive information in our exploration database for Turkey and will enable us to quickly identify highly prospective areas, as exemplified by the several licences recently acquired. "Our work to date in the country, in particular with the Ministry of Natural Resources, has confirmed our belief that Turkey has a positive environment for exploration and mining activities" -Ends- EnquiriesKEFI Minerals WH Ireland Bishopsgate CommunicationsJeffrey Rayner Laurie Beevers Maxine Barnes Katy Mitchell Nick Rome+905 36963 0111 +44 161 832 2174 +44 20 7562 3350www.kefi-minerals.com References in this announcement to exploration results and potential have beenapproved for release by Mr Jeff Rayner, B.Sc. (Honours). Mr Rayner is ageologist and has more than 20 years' relevant experience in the field ofactivity concerned. He is a member of The Australian Institute of Mining andMetallurgy (AUSIMM) and has consented to the inclusion of the material in theform and context in which it appears. Notes to Editors: KEFI Minerals was formed on 24 October 2006 for the purposes of holding EMEDMining's exploration interests in Turkey and Bulgaria with a view to creatingshareholder value through the discovery and exploitation of gold and copperdeposits. In November 2006, KEFI Minerals completed the acquisition of EMED Mining'sTurkish and Bulgarian exploration interests through the acquisition of EMEDMining's subsidiary Mediterranean Minerals (Bulgaria) EOOD. In addition, KEFIMinerals acquired from EMED Mining a database of mining information relating toTurkey. KEFI Minerals commenced trading on AIM on 18 December 2006, following thesuccessful placing of 46,666,667 shares at 3p to raise £1.4 million. KEFIMinerals' market capitalisation was £2.7 million at the placing price onadmission to AIM. A further placement was concluded on 19th February 2007, where 11,666,667 newOrdinary shares were issued at 3p to raise £350,000. The total number of shareson issue is 100,333,334. In Turkey, KEFI Minerals has six exploration projects: 1. At Artvin in northeastern Turkey, areas of extensive hydrothermal alteration have been recognised in the project area, and there is evidence of historical workings indicating potential for economic mineralisation. 2. At Gumushane in eastern Turkey, areas of extensive hydrothermal alteration have been recognised in the project area, as well as coincident areas of interest identified through interpretation of Aster data. 3. At Derenin Tepe in the Western Anatolia Region, epithermal quartz veins have been identified with gold and silver mineralisation. 4. At Karalar, in Central Anatolia, highly anomalous gold in stream sediments, draining from an area of granite intrusion and in an area of historic base metal mines. 5. At Muratdag, in Western Anatolia, the Exploration Licence overlies the western strike extension of a known gold mineralised structure, currently being explored by other exploration companies. 6. At Meyvali, in Western Anatoloia, the Licence area is prospective for epithermal and skarn related mineralisation. KEFI Minerals also has an extensive exploration database which containsinformation about approximately 100 further prospective sites in Turkey. Thisdatabase provides the Company with a competitive advantage to identifyprospective areas for project generation in Turkey. Monitoring of theexploration licence status of geologically prospective areas will be carried outon an ongoing basis so that KEFI Minerals can acquire further explorationopportunities as soon as they become available. In southern Bulgaria, reconnaissance work in the Lehovo Project area hasidentified a structural corridor with a strike length of approximately eightkilometres with the potential for gold and base metal mineralisation. EMED Mining has agreed to provide technical and administrative systems andpersonnel to KEFI Minerals on a cost-recovery basis, thus enabling KEFI Mineralsto reduce overheads and spend more on exploring Turkey and Bulgaria. KEFI Minerals' Board of Directors is comprised of Mr. Harry Anagnostaras-Adams(Chairman), Mr. Jeffrey Rayner (Managing Director), Professor Ian Plimer (DeputyChairman) and John Leach (Finance Director). Further information on KEFI Minerals is available at www.kefi-minerals.com andthe Company's AIM code is "KEFI". This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Kefi Gold & Copper