10th Feb 2012 12:55
Triple Plate Junction plc
("TPJ" or the "Company")
Project Update - Morobe - Replacement Announcement
This announcement replaces RNS number 2002X, made at 10:19 on 10 February 2012. The drilling results in the second table are now entered properly. All other information remains unchanged. The full amended text appears below.
TPJ advises that Newmont Ventures Ltd. ("Newmont") has provided the Company with a Summary Report on the initial exploratory drilling programme at the Hides Creek prospect in the Morobe Joint Venture area of Papua New Guinea ("PNG") over which TPJ has a 25% carried interest through to commercial production.
From mid-June to December 2011, five diamond holes for a total of 3,019m have been drilled to test parts of the prospect. The holes ranged in depth from 471m to 801.5m:
Hole ID | North WGS84 Zone 55 | East WGS84 Zone 55 | RL | Dip | Azimuth | Depth (m) |
HCD01 | 9159326 | 426151 | 688 | -55 | 210 | 537 |
HCD02 | 9159225 | 425820 | 724 | -60 | 60 | 471.4 |
HCD03 | 9159225 | 425820 | 724 | -50 | 260 | 549 |
HCD04 | 9159861 | 425824 | 762 | -65 | 154 | 660.3 |
HCD05 | 9159326 | 426151 | 688 | -60 | 10 | 801.5 |
Total number of holes: 5 | Total number of metres: 3019.2m |
Several phases of mineralized diorite porphyries were intersected in the drill core. Mineralization encountered included pyrite, both disseminated and in veins, with locally well-developed quartz-pyrite vein stockworks containing variable molybdenite, sphalerite (zinc sulphide) and galena (lead sulphide), and rare disseminated pyrrohotite and chalcopyrite (copper sulphide). There were also traces of gold, but the drilling to date has not intersected economic grade mineralization. A summary of the drilling results is included herein.
Aeromagnetic images across Hides Creek show a doughnut shaped magnetic low roughly one km across open to the NE with three low order magnetic highs aligned in a NE orientation. Bill Howell, TPJ Exploration Director, noted: "The size and shape of the system is comparable to the Panguna porphyry copper-gold-deposit deposit on Bougainville Island, PNG which during its 17 years of operation between 1972 and 1989 was recognised in 1985 as the world's fourth largest copper mine."
The Hides Creek prospect is one of at least eight porphyry systems that Newmont has identified, and the first to be targeted for initial exploratory drilling, within the Morobe Joint Venture tenements. Drilling commenced at Gumots, the second of several prospects, in January 2012.
Bill Howell commented: "The initial exploratory diamond drilling programme at Hides Creek has confirmed the presence of a large porphyry system and provided valuable information and vectors for further evaluation of the system. The results to date indicate that porphyry phases intersected so far are relatively molybdenum rich rather than gold-copper rich. However, the final hole of the programme, HCD05, intersected increased quartz vein density, which suggests that there may be another porphyry intrusion at depth which could be the focus for further work on this large system. Newmont intends to integrate all the drilling results and recent surface mapping before proposing future work at Hides Creek."
Fraser McGee, TPJ CEO said: "Having completed the initial drilling at Hides Creek, we continue to look forward to the roll out of the ongoing exploration program across the entire joint venture district whilst maintaining a carried 25% interest through to commercial production. As we announced on 19 January 2012, the initial 3,000m of drilling has commenced at the second target, at Gumots, and we look forward to announcing the drilling results in due course."
Mr Bill Howell, as a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and with more than 40 years of relevant experience in mineral exploration, is qualified as the Competent Person under the JORC 2004 Code and the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies 2009. He has reviewed the information contained in this statement and authorized its release.
HIDES CREEK PROSPECT, MOROBE JOINT VENTURE
Drilling results from initial exploratory diamond core programme June-December 2011
HCD001
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HCD002
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HCD003
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HCD004
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HCD005
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Enquiries
Triple Plate Junction plc
Fraser McGee +44 (0)7775 693 237
finnCap Ltd
Matthew Robinson/Christopher Raggett +44 (0)20 7220 0500
Ocean Equities Limited
Guy Wilkes +44 (0)20 7786 4370
FTI Consulting
Ben Brewerton/Oliver Winters +44 (0)20 7831 3113
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