12
August 2008
INITIAL
RESOURCE AT SUNNY CORNER
Argent Minerals Limited
("Argent" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the
following Inferred Resource at the Sunny Corner exploration licence:
1.5 million tonnes @ 2.1% lead, 3.7% zinc, 0.4% copper, 0.3 g/t gold and
24 g/t silver containing:
- 32,200 tonnes of lead;
- 55,800 tonnes of zinc;
- 5,700 tonnes of copper;
- 12,640 ounces of gold; and
- 1.2 million ounces
of silver.
The resource
estimate has been estimated by Hellman and Schofield Pty Ltd
("H&S") and reported using a cut-off grade of 2.5% combined base
metals (CBM) using data derived from Golden Cross Operations Pty Ltd's (GCO)
2004 drilling campaign and Argent's three hole June 2007 drilling programme. The
GCO campaign comprised 49 RC holes for a total of 4090 metres drilled
beneath and adjacent to the historical Sunny Corner silver mine which is
reported to have produced 210,000 tons @ 13.8 ounces of silver
per ton for 2.9 million ounces of silver between 1881 and 1893.
The flat
lying to 20-30? westerly dipping resource has a strike length of approximately 260 metres, a width of 230 metres and an
average thickness of 6.5
metres (see the cross section in Figure 1). The resource
is partially open 120m to the south with hole GSC010 containing 20 metres of 3% CBM. The
mineralization is Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) style and lies between 12
and 30 metres
from the surface making it likely to be amenable to open pit mining. The
mineralization comprises fresh, massive pyrite with sphalerite, galena and
chalcopyrite hosted by silicified siltstones with rhyolites in the footwall..
JORC
Classification.
The resource
is classified as an Inferred Resource under the JORC code. The work involved in
bringing parts of it to Indicated or Measured status will include diamond
drilling to obtain samples for density and structural information. The current
Inferred Resource is based on the results of RC drilling only and a
conservative estimate of density of 2.8 has been used although typically VMS
ore has a density of over 3.0.
Drilling
Programme
A drilling
programme is being planned for September comprising four vertical PQ diamond
drill holes to obtain core for bulk density measurements and metallurgical test
work. In addition, it is planned to complete approximately 1300 metres (15 holes)
of RC drilling to test for extensions of Sunny Corner mineralization to the
south and west as well as drill testing some of the best VTEM geophysical
anomalies within the licence.
Potential
Development Scenario
Over the
next few months Argent will investigate the potential synergies between the
Sunny Corner resource and the Kempfield resource. The grade of the Sunny Corner
resource may be sufficient, subject to satisfactory metallurgical recoveries,
to warrant considering it as the initial feedstock for a flotation plant at
Kempfield which is 82 km
away by road. The objective of this review would be to see whether the Sunny
Corner resource might cover the costs of establishing a processing plant at
Kempfield which would then be available to profitably treat lower grade
Kempfield ore over the following 10 years or more.
Argent's
Executive Chairman Mr Kerry McHugh said that the new resource estimate was a
very important milestone for the Company as the resource could potentially
provide relatively high grade material to pay for the construction of a
treatment plant at Kempfield. It also provides a solid base that might be
augmented by additional resources in the immediate vicinity and from any
resources discovered from drilling targets identified by the recent VTEM
survey. That survey identified 14 anomalies, several of which are near the
Sunny Corner resource, and these will be investigated to establish whether they
represent extensions or repetitions of the VMS style of mineralization found at
that resource. VMS mineralization is known to occur in clusters and Argent's
on-going exploration will target such repetitions.
Argent may
earn a 70% interest in the Sunny Corner tenement from Golden Cross Resources
Limited by spending $0.686 million by June 2013 of which $233,000 has now been
spent.
Competent
Person Statement
The
information in this report that relates to mineral resources at Sunny Corner is
based on information compiled by Mr Simon Tear who is a Member of the
Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a full time employee of
Hellman & Schofield Pty Ltd.
The data
used to derive the mineral resource estimates was supplied by Argent and
compiled by Dr Vladimir David who is a Member of the Australian Institute of
Geoscientists and Registered Professional Geoscientist in Mining, Mineral
Exploration and Regional Geology.
Simon Tear
and Vladimir David have sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity
which they are undertaking to qualify as "Competent Persons" as
defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr Tear and Dr
David consent to the inclusion in this Report of the information compiled by
them in the form and context in which it appears.
The
information in this Report that relates to Exploration Results is based on
information complied by Mr David Timms, who is a member of the Australian
Institute of Geoscientists, is a Technical Consultant to Argent, and has
sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of
deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking to qualify as
a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian
Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore
Reserves". Mr Timms consents to the inclusion
in the
report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which
it appears.
Enquiries to -
Kerry McHugh
Executive Chairman,
(m) 0404 465 154
Argent Minerals Limited A.C.N 124 780
276
Level 1, 115 Cambridge Street,
Postal PO Box 1305 West Leederville, Western Australia
6901
Ph + 61 8 9322 6600 Fax + 61 8 9322 6610
Issued by
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PERTH
WA 6005
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