7th Aug 2007 15:52
African Consolidated Resources Plc07 August 2007 African Consolidated Resources Plc The Board of African Consolidated Resources plc ("ACR" or the "Company"), theAIM listed exploration company focused on Zimbabwe, is pleased to announce aresource update together with further information on the Marange diamond depositapplication and a grant of options. Resource Update Resource estimates have been carried out following reverse circulation ("RC")drilling programmes at the Company's two lead gold projects in the Midlandsdistrict of Zimbabwe, Concession Hill at the Pickstone-Peerless project and theGiant Mine project 30km to the north. No further drilling has been carried outon the Peerless Mine area since the initial resource definition. Datacompilation at the One Step project has identified significant mineralisedtrends for drill testing. Current resources as estimated according to the methodology of the Company'sconsultants, SRK Consulting ("SRK") stand at 14.9mt at 1.7g/t for 813,000 oz.(SRK methodology has not been applied to the Pickstone Peerless mine dumps andto underground ore blocks in the Pickstone mine; these were calculated byprevious operators to JORC standards and reviewed by SRK and are included in thetotal estimate). This compares with 14.1mt @ 1.8 g/t for 820,500 oz aspreviously reported in June 2006. Concession Hill (Pickstone) To date, 107 RC holes totalling over 12,500m of drilling have been completed onConcession Hill which lies above the historical Pickstone underground mine.Drilling is spaced at 80m along strike, and generally 30m down the dip surfaceof the deposit. Drilling tested the deposit to approximately 150m belowsurface. Resources on admission to AIM in June 2006 stood at 180,000 Inferred oz from ACRRC drilling of the crown pillar above the old workings, and a further 31,500 "legacy" ounces within remnant underground ore blocks in levels 2 and 3 of theold mine as estimated by previous operators in the 1990's. All resources estimated for Peerless and Concession were classified as Inferredexcept the legacy underground ore blocks which were Measured. At a 0.5 g/tcut-off, the resources were: Resource at June 2006 Deposit Tonnes Grade OuncesPeerless 4,600,000 1.4 210,000Concession 3,200,000 1.8 180,000Concession Legacy Resource 205,000 4.8 31,500TOTAL 8,005,000 1.6 421,500 SRK have estimated a revised resource at Concession Hill of 4.8 million tonnesat 1.5 g/t for 240,000 oz. As a conservative measure, and in consultation with SRK, ACR has decided not toreport the legacy resource as a separate entity, and instead assume that thismaterial is already included in the Concession resource estimated from thedrilling. Some of the deeper ACR drilling overlaps legacy ore blocks. ACR intends to carry out its own study of the economic potential of the remnantore in the old workings, which extend to a depth of 750m below surface.Historical production from the Pickstone Mine beneath Concession Hill wasapproximately 500,000 oz. The results of the new Concession estimate are summarised in the followingtable: Inferred Resource at July 2007 Deposit Tonnes Grade OuncesPeerless 4,600,000 1.4 210,000Concession 4,800,000 1.5 240,000TOTAL 9,400,000 1.5 450,000 Additional resources within the Pickstone-Peerless dumps are summarised below. Giant Mine A total of 13,525m of RC drilling has been completed at the Giant Mine sinceJune 2006. Drilling is generally at 50m spacing along strike, and approximately30m down the dip surface. Drilling tested the deposit to approx 100-150m belowsurface, which was the maximum depth capability of the RC rigs available. A hardmineralised diorite at the south end of the deposit requires diamond drilling topenetrate the full depth of mineralisation, and elsewhere dip extensions below100-150m depth will require additional drilling. Old mine plans indicate theorebodies were well developed down to about 210m below surface. SRK was contracted to undertake an interim study on the drilling completed todate. An existing JORC Resource of 4.9 mt @ 2.1 g/t for 336,000 oz (Comprising 3.5mt @2.1 g/t for 230,000 oz Indicated and 1.5mt @ 2.2 g/t for 106,000 oz Inferred)was estimated in 1997 by Global Mining Services (GMS) of Perth, WesternAustralia, from 107 RC drill holes completed by Cambrian Resources. The currentdrilling programme was planned to test the mineralisation along strike and todepth. From the drilling done by ACR, and the 1997 database compiled by CambrianResources N.L., SRK carried out an interim resource estimate for the Giant Mine.At a 1 g/t cut-off (the same cut-off used for the 1997 model), SRK estimated anInferred Resource of 4.4 Mt @ 2.2 g/t for 300,000 oz. The decrease in ouncescompared to the previous estimate occurred because: 1. ACR has interpreted a structurally-controlled model for mineralization (rather than the lithologically-controlled model used by GMS). Although the volume of the mineralized domain has decreased, the improved understanding of the orebody orientation and mineralisation controls will be of great benefit in future exploration. 2. ACR and SRK have been more conservative than GMS in extrapolating mineralization away from the limits of the drilling. The mineralized envelope used by SRK is generally projected no more than 30m from the outermost drill holes (30m is the typical east-west spacing between drill holes). GMS extrapolated their Resource model up to 70m away from the extent of the drilling. The original GMS model was classified as 70/30 Indicated/Inferred, but SRKconsiders that the entire resource should be classified as Inferred, based ongeostatistical parameters, uncertainties about the position and extent of oldunderground workings throughout the orebody, and the limited set of samplesavailable for estimating density. SRK has advised ACR on a drilling programme of 3500m to test possible extensionsto the orebody to a target depth of 150-200m below surface. The additionaldrilling will also aim to infill gaps and increase confidence in the resourceestimate. Much of this will be diamond drilling, which will provide valuableadditional data on structure, specific gravity and rock strength factors. Thisprogramme will commence as soon as a suitable rig becomes available. Total resources at Pickstone - Peerless and Giant Mine projects now stand at: ACR JORC Resources July 2007 Oz Grade Tonnes Cutoff JORC CategoryPeerless ACR drilling 210,000 1.4 4,600,000 0.5g/t InferredConcession ACR drilling 240,000 1.5 4,800,000 0.5g/t InferredDumps Pickstone-Peerless Big Red 15,900 1.3 380,000 1.0g/t Measured Football Field 18,800 1.0 586,000 1.0g/t Measured Concentrate 28,300 4.4 200,000 1.0g/t MeasuredTotal Pickstone-Peerless Resource 513,000 1.5 10,566,000 300,000 2.2 4,400,000 Inferred (deeper drilling required)Giant Resource (SKR interim estimate)1,2 TOTAL ALL 813,000 1.7 14,966,000 Inferred, Measured 1 Excludes Giant Dump Resource which is yet to be calculated 2 Replaces Cambrian 1997 Resource of 4.9mt @ 2.1g/t for 336,000 Oz (3.5mt @ 2.1 g/t =230,000 Oz indicated;1.5mt @2.2 g/t = 106,000 Oz inferred) One Step Gold Project Historic data compilation on the One Step project 35 km SW of Kadoma has beencompleted. Diamond drilling by Rio Tinto plc in the mid-1990's returned a bestintercept of 24m @ 2.6 g/t in the centre of lease, with over 400m of strikeun-drilled to the north. ACR has acquired 24 new claims at One Step and theconsolidated holdings now extend discontinuously over 4km of mineralised trend. The historical diamond drillhole intercepts on ACR's claims have been compiledand re-calculated using the weighted-average method and are listed below. Significant results include: Hole ID Easting Northing From (m) Width (m) Wt. Av. Grade Au ppmOSD1 789,420 7,940,608 21.10 24.1 2.6OSD22 789,510 7,941,012 17.00 30.0 1.7OSD3 789,387 7,940,632 45.13 15.4 1.8OSD6 789,644 7,940,916 2.30 20.5 1.1 The intercepts lie beneath extensive shallow open pit workings with broad zonesof carbonate-silica alteration in basalts and andesites. ACR intends to infillthe mineralised trend over about 600m of strike with Reverse Circulationdrilling as soon as a rig is available. Sampling of two tailings dumps is alsounderway. Dumps In addition, results from sampling of tailings dumps at the Giant Mine and theOne Step project near Kadoma have incurred logistically related assay delays andso will only become available later in August. Marange Diamond Title Further to the announcement on 6 July 2007, the Company still awaits a date inthe Zimbabwe High Court for a hearing to obtain an order confirming that itsclaim over the Marange diamond deposit is valid. The Company expects that thecase will be heard prior to the end of 2007 although it has no certain date oreven reliable estimate as to when the matter will be heard. The Company's legal advice that its claim to title should be successful remainsunchanged. As announced on 2nd July 2007 the Company continues its dialogue with relevantparties with a view to possibly agreeing a joint venture over the deposit priorto the High Court hearing. The Company would like to re-iterate that at this point there can be nocertainty as to the timing or outcome of the civil action or any agreement onthe ownership and operations of the Marange deposit prior to that action.Further statements will be made to update the market in due course. Grant of Options The Company has granted 4,000,000 options over new Ordinary Shares of 1p each inthe Company exercisable at 14.5p per share from 30 June 2008 to 29 June 2011.These options have been granted to an employee trust for a broad range of staffand independent consultants working for the Company mainly in Zimbabwe. Thetrust is a discretionary one and the trustee is a wholly owned subsidiary of theCompany, which through its Remuneration Committee, will advise on allocation ofoptions. Options may be allocated to specific beneficiaries (excludingdirectors of the Company) as reward for performance or for value added. Enquiries: African Consolidated Resources plcAndrew Cranswick +44 7920 189010Roy Tucker +44 1622 816918 / +44 7920 189012 Ambrian Partners LimitedRichard Brown +44 20 7776 6417 College HillNick Elwes / Paddy Blewer +44 20 7457 2020 Competent Persons The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results and MineralResources was compiled by Mr Michael Kellow (Technical Director, ACR) and MrRobin Simpson (Senior Consultant, SRK Consulting). Robin Simpson prepared the geostatistical Mineral Resource estimates for thePickstone-Peerless, Concession Hill, and Giant deposits. These estimates werebased on sampling data and a geological model provided by ACR's team ofgeologists led by Michael Kellow. Michael Kellow also takes responsibility for the Pickstone-Peerless dumpsMineral Resources estimates and the One Step Gold Project Exploration Results. Michael Kellow (BSc) is a Member of AIG and a full-time employee of AfricanConsolidated Resources Plc. Mr Kellow has sufficient experience which isrelevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under considerationand to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person asdefined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting ofExploration Results, Mineral Resource and Ore Reserves" (JORC Code). MichaelKellow consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on hisinformation in the form and context in which it appears. Robin Simpson (MSc) is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists anda full-time employee of SRK Consulting (Australasia) Pty Ltd. Mr Simpson hassufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and typeof deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking toqualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resource and OreReserves" (JORC Code). Robin Simpson consents to the inclusion in the report ofthe matters based on his information in the form and context in which itappears. Glossary of technical terms: JORC The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, as published by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia andesite volcanic rock with intermediate silica, iron and magnesium content basalt finegrained volcanic rock with high iron and magnesium content crown pillar unmined rock from top of underground mine workings to surface; left intact for rock stability purposes diorite medium grained rock often occurring as dykes of andesitic composition dip the orientation of a planar geological feature relative to horizontal Global Mining Services Australian company - estimated the Giant Resources Kriging geostatistical method of estimating Resource lodes gold bearing portion of mineralised zones mafic igneous rock mineralisation metallic minerals such as gold, pyrite and arsenopyrite incorporated in rocks mineralised zones hydrothermally altered structural features containing potentially valuable minerals Orebody economically viable portion of a mineralised zone Resource mineral resource as defined by the JORC Code 2004 Reverse Circulation Drilling rotary percussion drilling whereby the sample is returned from the cutting head inside the rod string to surface thereby avoiding contamination from the walls of the holestrike the horizontal orientation of a planar geological feature sulphide sulphur bearing metallic mineral UNITS cm centimetre cm.g/t centimetre grams per tonne - metal content expressed as grade times thickness g gramme g/t grammes per metric tonne - metal concentration ha hectare kg kilogramme, a thousand grammes km kilometre koz thousand ounces kt thousand metric tonnes kV thousand volt kVA thousand volt amperes m metre mm millimetre mm micron, or millionth of a metre Mt million metric tonnes Moz million ounces oz fine troy ounce equalling 31.1048 grammes - normal unit used in selling gold t metric tonne. t/m3 density measured as metric tonnes per cubic metre. degrees degrees. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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