24th Sep 2010 12:06
24 September 2010
AIM: TPJ |
|
Triple Plate Junction PLC
(the "Company" or "TPJ")
NEWMONT TO PROCEED TO PHASE II OF MOROBE GOLD JV IN PNG
Triple Plate Junction plc the AIM listed gold exploration company focused on South East Asia announces that Newmont Mining Corporation ("Newmont") through its wholly owned subsidiary NVL PNG Ltd, has advised the Company that NVL has met the Phase-I earn in requirement of $US6 million in project expenditure and has elected to proceed to Phase-II in order to earn a 70% interest in the project.
Highlights:
·; Newmont completes Phase I of Morobe Gold Project JV
·; US$6m expended to date by Newmont on 3,720km2 Morobe licences and licence applications
·; Morobe JV is within the Wafi Trend where the 16Moz Wafi-Gulpo gold deposits have been discovered
·; Previous scout drilling on Otibanda by TPJ includes high grade intercepts of 14.6 g/t Au over 2m, and 16.2 g/t Au over 2.29m
·; Bonanza grade gold values have been detected during exploratory channel and chip sampling by TPJ, with the best results including:
o 139 g/t Au over 2m
o 66 g/t Au over 4m
o 18 g/t Au over 10.4m
In order to earn a 70% interest in the Morobe Gold Project Newmont must now:
i) complete a detailed feasibility study in the form of a Newmont Stage 3 Study Report; or
ii) fund an additional US$9,000,000 in Venture Expenditures on or before 23 December 2014 being the sixth anniversary of the JV Agreement Effective Date, whichever comes first.
Bill Howell, Interim CEO and Director of Exploration, commented:
"We are most encouraged by Newmont's decision to proceed to Phase II of the Morobe gold project Joint Venture. The Morobe licences include a number of high priority targets defined by Newmont in addition to others previously defined by TPJ, including the Otibanda prospect, where previous channel and chip sampling of exposed rock in trenches encountered multiple bonanza grade veins including 139 g/t Au over 2m, 66 g/t Au over 4m and 18 g/t Au over 10.4m, and subsequent scout diamond drilling intersected very encouraging gold grades.
The Morobe project licences cover an area of over 3,700km2 and border the Wafi & Golpu deposits of the Newcrest - Harmony Gold joint venture, where a resource of 16 million oz of gold and 4.8 million tonnes of copper has reportedly been defined to date.
With Newmont working at Morobe and Barrick working at Wamum , TPJ is starting to benefit from its strategically located licences in a region which is highly prospective for the discovery of multi million ounce gold deposits."
TPJ expects to provide an update statement, including the results of the Board's assessment of the exploration projects, with the Annual General Meeting on 30 September 2010.
Mr WJS (Bill) Howell, BSc (Hons), FAusIMM as the qualified Executive Director has reviewed this statement and authorised its release.
Enquiries:
Triple Plate Junction Plc
Tony Shearer, Chairman
Tel: +44 (0) 207 602 1570
Arbuthnot Securities
Nick Tulloch/Richard Johnson
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7012 2000
About Triple Plate Junction
Triple Plate Junction is an AIM listed (AIM: TPJ) gold exploration company focused on establishing a portfolio of world class projects in South East Asia. In Papua New Guinea, TPJ has attracted two of the world's largest gold mining companies as partners, with Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold earning into its projects. Further information on the Company is available at its website www.tpjunction.com. This website contains full details of TPJ announcements made previously with respect to its exploration and scout drilling work at the Otibanda prospect in the Morobe licences.
END
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