Helio
Resource Corp (TSXV: HRC) is pleased to report it has begun a planned 5,000m+
drill programme and geochemical and geophysical
surveys on its 100%-owned Damara Gold Project
(DGP), in Namibia
The DGP comprises four licences (covering
318,500ha or 3,185km2) and is situated 25km - 130km east of Anglogold-Ashanti's (AGA) Navachab
gold mine.
The DGP licence map is presented in the link
below:
www.helioresource.com/i/pdf/2010-02-28_NRM1.pdf
The Navachab mine, has currently mined over
1.5M oz of gold and still contains resources /
reserves of approximately 3.7M oz of gold. The same
geology and styles of mineralisation at Navachab have been discovered at the DGP.
Data review of historical work (mapping, soil sampling, rock chip
sampling, percussion, reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling)
conducted by AGA and other companies, and recent field work conducted by Helio has delineated several high priority targets within
2 of the 4 licences that make up the DGP: Wilhelmstal and Otjimbojo .
Initial Focus of Diamond Drill Programme
The initial drilling is designed to develop a strong understanding of
the structural controls on mineralisation and guide
the future exploration programme on the Wilhelmstal licence in the
southern part of the DGP. Helio has identified a
number of targets displaying Navachab-style mineralisation and has begun a diamond drill programme to collect oriented drill core from these
targets, including Cheshire Cat and Bird's Nest.
The exact location of the targets is presented in the link below:
www.helioresource.com/i/pdf/2010-02-28_NRM2.pdf
Previous drilling of these targets by AGA subsidiaries in the early
1990s intersected up to 17m grading 2.8g/t Au and 6m grading 3.6g/t Au
(open), respectively.
The Cheshire Cat target is an arcuate,
1.5km long, Au ± Cu soil anomaly overlying a tremolite-altered
zone of dolomitic marble with discordant quartz veining and sulphidation. Rock grab sampling recently conducted by Helio over the central portion of the Cheshire Cat anomaly,
300m SE of where AGA drilled, has recorded grades of up to 6.5g/t Au and
0.48% Cu.
Re-assaying RC Drill Chips
Helio
has conducted selective check sampling from a 20m section of reverse
circulation (RC) drill samples from a drill programme
conducted by Desert Minerals ("Desert") in late 2008 on the Otjimbojo licence at the Gold
Kop target. Check sampling was conducted using screen fire assay techniques,
due to the suspected presence of coarse gold, to give a more accurate
reflection of the gold content.
Desert's analysis of the 20m section graded 0.6g/t Au. Helio has re-assayed the same section by screen fire
assay and this returned an intersect of 20m
grading 1.2g/t Au.
A complete re-sampling exercise is due to be finished shortly. Results
will be reported once they are available.
Geophysical and Geochemical Surveys
The company has also commenced geophysical and geochemical surveys programme on the Wilhelmstal licence
A stream-sediment sampling programme,
covering 40km2, has been completed over the main target areas on Wilhelmstal. Results are expected within the next month
and will identify prospective drainages for follow-up soil sampling.
A detailed soil sampling programme, using
50m x 25m sample spacing has been initiated over the Leatherman target,
covering an area measuring 1,000m x 450m. Leatherman is an area where rock-
and channel-sampling by AGA previously returned grades of up to 11.3g/t Au
over 5m, and anomalous gold-in-rock sample values were found over a
1,000m+ strike extent. Follow-up rock sampling by Helio
has confirmed the presence of bedrock gold mineralisation
in altered marbles with grades up to 2.6g/t Au being recorded. The mineralisation has a
Au + Ag + Cu + Fe ± As ± Bi ± Sb
association, similar to AGA's Navachab gold mine.
Geophysical surveys (ground magnetics and induced polarisation
[IP]) are being conducted over the Cheshire Cat and B1 targets.
On the adjoining Ojtimbojo licence, Helio has been
conducting geological mapping over the Gold Kop target, the most
advanced target on the licence.
A detailed map of the Gold Kop target is presented in the link below:
www.helioresource.com/i/pdf/2010-02-28_NRM3.pdf
Gold Kop is a 4km-long Au ± As ± Cu soil anomaly which
was drilled in a number of places by AGA in the late 1980s and early 2000s.
Drilling results from the AGA campaigns include:
- 1m
at 71g/t Au;
-
- 7m
@ 5.6g/t Au (open);
-
- 4m
@ 8.6 g/t Au (open);
-
- 8m
@ 3.0g/t Au;
-
- 31m
@ 0.9 g/t Au.
-
Significant drill intercepts (>3m @ >2.0g/t Au) were received
from drill holes over a 2.2km strike extent of altered marble. The mineralisation is open along strike to the northeast and
southwest and to depth.
Helio
has conducted rock sampling over the Gold Kop anomaly, and confirmed the same
Au + Ag + As + Bi + Cu + Fe ± Sb association
that is found at both the Navachab gold mine and on
the Wilhelmstal licence.
The mineralisation often has a high silver content:
one chip sample returned 5.6g/t Au and 68.0g/t Ag.
Diamond and RC drilling plus geophysical surveys (detailed magnetics
and IP) over the Gold Kop target will commence once the work at Wilhelmstal is finished.
The DGP Gold Project
The DGP comprises four licences (covering
396,000ha or 3,960km2), namely Etjo
South, Okakango, Wilhelmstal
and Otjimbojo. Helio
holds a 100% interest in the project.
The DGP is located between AGA's Navachab
Mine to the southwest and Auryx Gold Corp.'s Otjikoto Project to the northeast.
The Navachab mine has been in production
since 1989 and, as of December 2009, has produced approximately 1.5 Moz of gold and has a non-NI 43-101 compliant resource of
3.73 Moz grading 1.13g/t Au (source AngloGold
Ashanti Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve Report 2009).
Auryx's Otjikoto Gold Project, located approximately 150km
northeast of Helio's licences
has a NI43-101 indicated resource of 28Mt grading 1.34g/t Au and an inferred
resource of 17.1Mt grading 1.28g/t Au for total of 1.93 Moz.
Chris MacKenzie, M.Sc., C.Geol., Helio's COO and a Qualified Person as designated by NI
43-101, supervises the exploration at the Damara
Gold Project, including the sampling and quality assurance / quality control programmes, and has reviewed the contents of this news
release.
|