Spitfire Resources Limited (ASX Code: SPI)
ASX RELEASE
28 April 2008
MAIDEN DRILLING PROGRAM COMMENCES AT
SOUTH WOODIE WOODIE MANGANESE PROJECT
KEY POINTS
���
Initial 7,000m RC drilling program starts at the South
Woodie Woodie manganese project, East Pilbara
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Seven priority targets to be tested in initial phase
of drilling
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Second round of drilling planned for October 2008 to
test expanded range of targets from geological mapping
Australian exploration company, Spitfire Resources
Limited (ASX Code: SPI ��� ���Spitfire���), is pleased to
announce the commencement of its maiden drilling
program at the Company���s 80%-owned South Woodie
Woodie Project, located in the East Pilbara region of Western
Australia.
The initial program will comprise of up to 34 holes
for approximately 7,000 metres of Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling at seven
defined targets which were selected on the basis of geophysical surveys and
field work previously undertaken over the South Woodie Woodie tenements. These
techniques included IP (Induced Polarisation), EM (Electro-Magnetic) and
gravity surveys, which have become an accepted part of manganese exploration in
the district.
Six of the targets were selected on the basis of
geophysical anomalism, with the seventh target representing a manganese
occurrence discovered earlier this year.
Spitfire���s South Woodie Woodie tenements are located 35-70km
south of the Woodie Woodie manganese mining centre. The Company���s exploration
strategy is based on the utilisation of sophisticated geophysical techniques in
conjunction with specific geological knowledge to search for manganese deposits
that are not outcropping.
In addition to this initial drilling program, the
Company has substantially expanded the scope of its exploration program ��� which has
recently identified several additional areas with manganese potential. This
interpretive geological work underpinned Spitfire���s recent decision to secure an additional extensive
portfolio of exploration tenure to the south-east of its South Woodie Woodie
tenements.
A second drilling program is planned for October 2008
which will test some of these newly generated targets. Geological mapping will
be ongoing throughout the year to refine the target selection process.
Commenting on the announcement, Spitfire���s Managing Director, Mr. James Hamilton, said: ���We are very
pleased that our maiden drilling program is now underway, coming after our
successful A$6 million IPO and listing on the Australian Securities Exchange
late last year.
���The current
drilling program represents only the very first stage of our exploration
campaign in this highly prospective district, where we believe the potential to
delineate substantial new manganese deposits is high,��� Mr. Hamilton continued.
���We have
significantly expanded the scope of our 2008 exploration plans, with an
extensive geological mapping program scheduled to commence across our broader tenement
position,��� he said. ���We anticipate
that this will deliver a pipeline of additional targets to be tested by
drilling later in the year.���
Results from the current drilling program will be
announced to the market as they become available.
Spitfire recently attracted the strategic support of
the diversified Norwegian-based industrial, trading and metals & alloys
group, Tinfos AS, as a new major shareholder via a share
placement. On 15 April, leading French mining and metals company Eramet SA announced
that it had reached agreement to acquire Tinfos���s business and operations for cash and shares, valuing
the group at ���593 million.
The acquisition of Tinfos marks a further
consolidation of the global manganese industry as global demand for manganese
continues to rise. Eramet is the world���s second largest manganese alloys producer after
Ukraine-based Nikopol.
The acquisition is expected to increase its manganese alloys production by more
than 20%.
The geological statements and commentary in the above update are based
on information compiled by Nat Cull. Mr. Cull has reviewed the information and
has satisfied himself that the content is accurate. Mr. Cull is a full-time
employee of Spitfire Resources Ltd and holds the position of Exploration
Manager. He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration to qualify as a
Competent Person. Mr. Cull consents to the inclusion in the report of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
ENDS
Released by:
On behalf of:
Mr. Nicholas Read / Mareena Weston
Mr. James Hamilton
Read Corporate
Managing Director
Telephone: (61-8) 9388 1474
Spitfire Resources Limited
Telephone: (61-8) 9381 3733
About Spitfire Resources
Spitfire Resources Limited (ASX Code: SPI) is an Australian resource
company initially focused on the exploration and development of a portfolio of
manganese exploration assets in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia. Spitfire listed on the
Australian Securities Exchange in December 2007 following a successful A$6
million Initial
Public Offer (IPO).
AIM-listed Churchill Mining Plc is the Company���s largest shareholder,
which it received as vendor consideration for the divestment to Spitfire of its
asset, an 80% interest in the South
Woodie Woodie Manganese Project in
Western Australia���s East Pilbara region.
The South Woodie Woodie Project comprises three granted Exploration
Licences covering an area of approximately 490km2. The principal area of
initial exploration focus lies some 50km down-strike from the 1Mtpa Woodie
Woodie manganese mine.
Spitfire also recently announced that it had secured a substantial
portfolio of new exploration tenure near the South Woodie Woodie Project, more
than doubling its existing land holdings in the prospective East
Pilbara region. The Company has lodged applications for four
strategic tenements, covering a total area of 899 square kilometres,
which are located approximately 13km south-east of the South Woodie
Woodie Project.
Some of the new ground package abuts tenements managed by Consolidated
Minerals, the former listed owner of the Woodie Woodie mine, and who was
recently bought by private Ukrainian group Palmary Enterprises. Spitfire
selected the ground after completing interpretive geological work suggesting
that the area to the south-east could
host strike extensions of a potential corridor of manganese host rocks.
ENDS
