Lara Exploration Ltd.: Caninde Graphite Acquisition, NE Brazil
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/05/11 -- Lara Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: LRA) ('Lara' or the 'Company') is pleased to report that it has acquired 12,325 hectares of exploration licenses near the town of Caninde, in Ceara State, north-eastern Brazil. The licenses cover high-grade metamorphic lithologies that are host to bodies of both disseminated and massive flake graphite mineralization.
Initial geological reconnaissance has identified a number of anomalous areas with massive flake graphite bodies up to approximately 10 metres wide associated with wider zones of lower-grade disseminated graphite flake occurrences along a twelve kilometer long, north-northwest trend within the license block. Analytical results for rock chip sampling of surface outcrops from eight of these occurrences has indicated graphitic carbon contents as high as 32.48% as shown in the following table:
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Target Locality Sample Graphite Carbon %
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Caninde 1 Sao Luis CAN-R-9 32.48
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Caninde 1 Sao Luis CAN-R-10 29.23
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Caninde 1 Sao Luis CAN-R-11 0.80
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Caninde 1 Sao Luis CAN-R-12 23.93
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Caninde 2 Sao Luis West CAN-R-1 13.21
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Caninde 2 Sao Luis West CAN-R-20 1.02
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Caninde 2 Sao Luis West CAN-R-21 0.83
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Caninde 2 Sao Luis West CAN-R-22 1.17
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Caninde 2 Sao Luis West CAN-R-23 1.20
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Caninde 3 Caninde River Dam CAN-R-2 1.08
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Caninde 4 Barra da Cancao CAN-R-3 1.12
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Caninde 4 Barra da Cancao CAN-R-4 1.07
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Caninde 4 Barra da Cancao CAN-R-5 1.12
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Caninde 5 Barra do Cancao North CAN-R-6 6.32
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Caninde 5 Barra do Cancao North CAN-R-7 4.20
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Caninde 5 Barra do Cancao North CAN-R-8 1.79
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Caninde 6 Chapada do Cachoeirinha CAN-R-13 11.60
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Caninde 7 Cancao Central CAN-R-26 0.79
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Caninde 8 Barra da Cancao South CAN-R-29 0.45
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Results for chip sampling from a number of other more recently identified massive graphite zones and disseminated flake graphite occurrences along this trend are still pending. Representative samples from two of the high-grade massive flake occurrences and from one low-grade disseminated flake occurrence have been collected and are being dispatched to specialised laboratories in Brazil for graphite flake size characterization and for preliminary beneficiation testing.
The occurrences are hosted within gently dipping schistose rocks and shear zones developed within a complex of felsic gneisses with local meta-sedimentary schist enclaves. The mineralized zones are conspicuously related to a system of sheeted pegmatite veins with individual veins from a few centimeters up to a meter or so in width. The structural setting and local topography would be generally favourable for the use of open pit mining methods if significant resources can be identified through future systematic exploration.
The Company has agreed to pay a success-based fee in cash and production royalties totalling R$1 million (approximately US$550,000) to SPFragomeni Servicos Financeiros Ltda., for its assistance in identifying and acquiring this property.
Quality Control: Assaying was completed by AcmeLabs Analytical Laboratories (Vancouver) following sample preparation at the Acmelabs sample preparation facility in Goiania, Brazil. Analysis for graphitic carbon content was by the Leco analysis on the acid leached residue following initial sample ignition to 600 degrees C. Industry standard quality assurance and quality control procedures have been adopted by Lara for the sampling campaigns, including the insertion of blank and duplicate samples into the batches. Acmelabs also inserted a number of standard and blank samples at the analytical stage in Vancouver and exercised special measures during the sample preparation stage in Goiania.
Michael Bennell, Lara's Vice President Exploration and a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and is responsible for the preparation and verification of the technical information in this release.
About Lara
Lara is an exploration company following the Prospect Generator business model, which aims to minimize shareholder dilution and financial risk by generating prospects and then exploring them in joint ventures funded by partners. The Company currently holds a diverse portfolio of prospects and deposits primarily in Brazil and Peru where it has signed agreements for fifteen joint ventures. Lara's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'LRA'.
For further information on Lara Exploration Ltd. please consult our website www.laraexploration.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Lara Exploration Ltd.
Chris MacIntyre
VP Corporate Development
1 416 703 0010
info@laraexploration.com
www.laraexploration.com