Excellent Drill ResultsThis one just keeps looking better and better.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(CCNMatthews - Sept. 21, 2006) - African Copper Plc (TSX:ACU)(BSE:African Copper)(AIM:ACU) -
- A twin hole drill programme has been completed at the Dukwe deposit in Botswana. Twin hole drilling of near-surface oxide and supergene mineralization has returned higher values than historic drilling.
- 21.38 metres grading 4.02% copper against a historic intersection of 24.38 metres grading 2.27% copper.
- 25.93 metres grading 2.01% copper against a historic intersection of 25.61 metres grading 0.91% copper.
- 15.36 metres grading 2.71% copper against a historic intersection of 16.00 metres grading 0.77% copper.
- 16.88 metres grading 4.29% copper against a historic intersection of 14.63 metres grading 0.27% copper.
- Historic database of near surface drilling has been verified by RSG Global Consulting ("RSG") and will be utilized in a comprehensive resource estimate for the entire Dukwe mineralized system.
- RSG is currently completing a block model for resource estimation. Results are expected to be released in early October.
- Caracle Creek International Consulting ("CCIC") is completing a parallel resource estimate with results also expected to be released in early October.
African Copper Plc ("African Copper" or the "Company") announces the results of a twin hole drill programme specifically targeted at verifying and improving the confidence in the historic estimates of the near-surface oxide and supergene mineralization available at the Dukwe deposit in northeastern Botswana (see Table 1 below). The Dukwe deposit is planned to be exploited by mining the near-surface sections of the deposit over the first four years. A twin hole drill programme was completed in late July in order to test the historic grades encountered in the oxide and supergene zones of the deposit.
The twin hole programme was supervised by RSG, an independent consultant to the Company. The current programme used exclusively diamond drilling while historic drilling was a mix of percussion, reverse circulation and diamond drilling completed over numerous campaigns between 1962 and 1997. Percussion and reverse circulation drilling methods may have reported lower grades when compared to diamond drill core recovered from the twin holes.
The historic database used for resource estimation was comprised of 235 drill holes (28,079 metres) although only 86 (10,484 metres) of these holes were diamond drilled with recovered core. The results of the current oxide and supergene twin hole programme show that at least some of the historic drilling likely underestimated the grade of the near-surface mineralization at Dukwe (see Table 1). The only historic hole that reported a significantly higher grade than its twin was hole B12. This historic hole was drilled utilizing pre-wireline standard drill rigs and showed poor recovery. The entire series of these holes drilled between 1962 and 1973 were ignored in historic resource estimates.
The core recovered from the twin hole programme compares favourably with the historic drilling in terms of geology and width of mineralization. The inclusion of most of the historic database is therefore considered to be valid. The historic database has been verified and accepted by RSG. This database has been integrated with the current 38,000 metre sulphide drill programme and is being utilized in a comprehensive resource estimate for the entire Dukwe resource to a depth of 550 metres below surface. The results of this study should be available in early October.
The coarse-grained semi-massive to disseminated nature of the sulphide mineralization at Dukwe has the potential to lead to estimation errors. For this reason, the Company has commissioned CCIC to run a parallel resource estimate utilizing the same database. The use of two globally recognized independent consultants should allow the Company to finalize the resource base that is available to support an extended mine life at Dukwe.