White Cliff Minerals Ltd.: Finalises Drilling Contract
Perth - White Cliff Minerals Ltd. (ASX:WCN) ("White Cliff" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has finalized a drilling contract with mining contractor Geostandart LLC ("Geostandart").Geostandart and its predecessor company Geotechservices LLC have a 15 year history in the Kyrgyz Republic. Geostandart's services includes diamond drilling, reverse circulation (RC) drilling, downhole surveying, directional drilling, mining related earthworks and road construction. They have become a substantial provider of drilling services to varied clients including several western domiciled exploration companies. Geostandart is one of only two drilling companies in the Kyrgyz Republic to conduct reverse circulation drilling.
The Company is also in negotiations with Quest Exploration Drilling (QED) to conduct diamond drilling which will test the deposit at depth later in the 2017 field season.
QED have a 30 year history and QED has grown their business to be an industry leader in the provision of drilling services to varied clients. QED's services includes diamond drilling, reverse circulation (RC) drilling, RC grade control, geothermal, geotechnical drilling, water boring and slope stability solutions. QED acts as a drill contractor for multiple public and private companies around the world including major, mid-tier and exploration focused companies.
Drilling is expected to commence as soon as all the access tracks and drill pads are completed.
Exploration Program
Phase one of the exploration program has focussed on extensions to the Quartz Zone both along strike and at depth.
Once the access tracks are completed geologists will map and sample the outcropping mineralised zones. Assays from these zones will be available in approximately four week. Once Company geologists have determined the location and strike extent of the Quartz Zone the drill hole positions can be finalised. Most drill holes are sited on the access tracks and a small amount of additional clearing is required to make enough room for the rig to operate safely and efficiently.
The Quartz Zone appears to extend at least 200 metres further south east of the existing drilling. Outcropping mineralised shear zones occur in a track cutting 50 metres southeast of the existing drilling with channel sample assay results of 2 metres at 5.4 g/t and 1 metre at 0.7 g/t gold within sandstone. Quartz veins outcrop a further 100 metres southeast of the channel samples.
Phase one drilling at the Quartz Zone consists of 15 holes (1200 metres) of RC drilling. The drilling is targeting the Quartz Zone structure along strike from the existing drilling which defined an inferred resource of 244,000 tonnes at 9.5 g/t containing 75,000 ounces. Once the strike extent of the Quartz zone has been defined the company will drill a series of deeper holes to test the mineralisation at depth.
Subsequent drill programs (Phase 2-3) will be conducted at the north western end of the Lower Gold Zone where drilling identified 6 metres at 38 g/t gold in LGZ15-29a. This target is hosted in a quartz vein having the same orientation as the Quartz Zone. The vein has been mapped along strike for 250 metres. Several bulldozer tracks and drill pads need to be completed prior to drilling and these will be constructed once the Quartz Zone dozer program is completed.
Aucu Gold Deposit-Inferred Resource Summary
In April the Company reported an updated inferred resource reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012) for the Aucu gold deposit (refer to ASX announcement 21 April 2017). The estimate above a cut-off grade of 1 g/t gold is:
1.8 million Tonnes grading 5.2 g/t gold, for 302,000 ounces of contained gold.
The new resource represents a 93% increase in contained gold ounces and a 23% increase in average grade over the previous gold resource using the same cut-off grade reported in April 2015.
Importantly the new resource contains a new very high grade zone (Quartz Zone) of 244,000 tonnes at 9.5 g/t gold containing 75,000 ounces of gold, which starts at surface. Surface extensions of the high grade Quartz Zone have been identified and will be drilled in the coming field season.
This latest resource estimate also identified a new inferred copper resource reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012), using a bottom cut of grade of 0.25% copper, of 608,000 tonnes at 0.64% copper, containing 3,870 tonnes of copper.
The new gold and copper resources start at surface, have only been drilled to 100 metres vertical depth and remain open along strike and at depth.
The reported gold resources represent less than 5% of mineralised faults identified by rock-chip sampling to date. Approximately 95% of the mineralised faults identified by rock chip sampling are still to be drilled. The gold bearing mineralised structures extend beyond the current resource estimate area over a length greater than 3,000 metres and occur as multiple lodes (see Figure 8 in the link below).
To view figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/MSJ621LJ
About White Cliff Minerals Ltd:
White Cliff Minerals Ltd. (ASX:WCN) is a Western Australian based exploration company with the following main projects:
Kyrgyz Aucu Gold Project (90%): The Project contains extensive porphyry related gold and copper mineralisation starting at the surface and extending over several kilometres. Drilling during 2014 has defined a major gold discovery with an initial inferred resource of 1.15Mt at 4.2 g/t containing 156,000 ounces of gold. Additional drilling in 2015 identified extensions of known high grade gold mineralisation with intersections as high as 8 metres at 55 g/t gold. In addition drilling has also defined a significant copper deposit at surface consisting of 10Mt at 0.41% copper containing 40,000 tonnes of copper. Extensive mineralisation occurs around both deposits demonstrating significant potential to increase the existing resources.
The project is located in the Kyrgyz Republic, 350km west-southwest of the capital city of Bishkek and covers 83 square kilometres. The Chanach project is located in the western part of the Tien Shan Belt, a highly mineralised zone that extends for over 2,500 km, from western Uzbekistan, through Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic and southern Kazakhstan into western China.
Merolia Gold and Nickel Project (100%): The project consists of 771 square kilometres of the Merolia Greenstone belt and contains extensive ultramafic sequences including the Diorite Hill layered ultramafic complex, the Rotorua ultramafic complex, the Coglia ultramafic complex and a 51 kilometre long zone of extrusive ultramafic lava’s. The intrusive complexes are prospective for nickel-copper sulphide accumulations possibly with platinum group elements, and the extrusive ultramafic rocks are prospective for nickel sulphide and nickel-cobalt accumulations.
The project also contains extensive basalt sequences that are prospective for gold mineralisation including the Ironstone prospect where historical drilling has
Contact:
White Cliff Minerals Ltd.
Todd Hibberd Managing Director
T: +61-8-9321-2233
E: info@wcminerals.com.au
www.wcminerals.com.au
