<< Hole 09SWC466 intercepts 10.8% Cu & 10.4g/t Au over 13.4m (including 15.0% Cu & 15.7g/t Au over 8.2m) Hole 09SWC475 intercepts 7.8% Cu & 3.0g/t Au over 23.9m (including 13.9% Cu & 1.8g/t Au over 7.1m) >>
VANCOUVER, May 12 /CNW/ - Capstone Mining Corporation (CS: TSX) today announced assay results from 15 additional exploration drillholes completed on the "Minto North" discovery at the Minto Mine. These most recent drill intercepts from Minto North, which is located approximately 600 metres north-northwest of the current open pit mining operation, returned the highest ever copper-gold intercepts in the history of the Minto property. Highlights of assays from these most recent drillholes are summarized in the table below and the full results for the fifteen holes released today are provided in the attached table.
Highlights from Minto North Drilling ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hole ID Target From To Interval Interval Copper Gold Silver Area (m) (m) (m) (ft) (%) (g/t) (g/t) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09SWC-459 Minto North 84.2 109.2 25.0 82.0 3.65 2.25 14.3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 84.2 100.0 15.8 51.8 5.03 3.09 19.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09SWC-465 Minto North 79.8 88.5 8.7 28.5 3.69 0.98 18.3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09SWC-466 Minto North 80.6 95.0 13.4 44.0 10.84 10.41(x) 43.6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- including 83.3 91.5 8.2 26.9 14.98 15.68(x) 60.4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- including 83.3 87.0 3.7 12.1 23.49 30.33(x) 94.8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09SWC-475 Minto North 76.2 100.1 23.9 78.4 7.82 3.05 32.4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- including 76.7 94.4 17.7 58.1 9.75 3.36 39.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- including 76.7 83.8 7.1 23.3 13.92 1.83 56.3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- including 76.7 79.8 3.1 10.2 24.30 1.63 98.6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (x) Includes a 0.3m sample with coarse grained visible gold that grades 336g/t Au (10.80 oz/ton).
"The copper-gold grades and thicknesses intercepted in recent drilling at Minto North are unprecedented in the history of the Minto Mine property and surpass even the Minto Main deposit discovery intersections of the early 1970's," said Stephen Quin, President & COO of Capstone. "The intervals in drillholes 09SWC-466 and 09SWC-475 are easily the best intercepts on the Minto property since the original discovery, and the continuity of the very high grade between drillholes is also impressive," he said. "The discovery of the Minto North deposit could significantly enhance the economics of the Minto Mine since the very high grades over significant thicknesses are at relatively shallow depths, and could potentially be brought into production relatively early in the mine life, enhancing head grades in the early years of production. Capstone aims to fast-track the definition drilling of Minto North to reserve standards, metallurgical testing and environmental base line work to allow the economic impact of this discovery to be fully appreciated."
Current drill spacing likely supports the definition of an inferred mineral resource. Geologic modeling in support of mineral resource estimation has commenced at Minto North, based on drilling completed to date. A program of infill drilling is planned for the summer of 2009, with drillhole spacing to be similar to that used to support definition of measured & indicated mineral resources and mineral reserves elsewhere on the Minto property.
The discovery of Minto North also opens up significant additional exploration potential in the northern half of the Minto Mine property, where little exploration has been carried out over the past 35 years. During the balance of 2009, Capstone intends to lay the foundation for more extensive exploration of this largely neglected, northern half of the Minto Mine property. Additional targets in the vicinity of the Minto North discovery will also be drill tested when drilling resumes in the summer of 2009.
Minto North Deposit
As previously reported, mineralization at Minto North has been outlined over a minimum area measuring approximately 200m by 125m in aerial extent, as defined by an initial drill program using a drillhole spacing of 40 metres by 40 metres. Capstone intends to infill drill the initial pattern in 2009 to provide for a maximum spacing of approximately 28 metres between holes, similar to that used to define mineral reserves elsewhere at the Minto Mine.
High grade drillholes 09SWC-459, -466 and -475, reported today, lay on a continuous northeast-southwest oriented trend, without any intervening lower grade drillholes in between. This suggests excellent continuity of the very high copper grades over a minimum of 50 metres and highlights an area where possible extensions of this high grade may lie - this potential will be tested during the summer 2009 infill drill program. Drillholes 09SWC-457, -464, -465 and -469 also returned significant intercepts grades, but are somewhat eclipsed by the exceptional results in those holes listed above. Other drillholes of potential significance are holes 09SWC-470 to -473 inclusive. These relatively shallow intercepts are much higher grade than was anticipated and indicate the deposit is still open toward the east, where the mineralization is shallowest.
For current drillhole locations please view the accompanying map: https://www.capstonemining.com/2009_20_CS_cdl.jpg
For a current view of drill results in priority areas across the property please view the accompanying map:
https://www.capstonemining.com/2009_20_CS_drpa.jpg
For an inset view of drill results at Minto North please view the accompanying map:
https://www.capstonemining.com/2009_20_CS_mnd.jpg
The TSX does not accept any responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Quality Assurance
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed by Stephen P. Quin, P. Geo., President & COO for Capstone Mining Corporation. The exploration activities at the Minto project site are carried out under the supervision of Brad Mercer, P. Geo., V.P. Exploration (Canada) for Capstone.
The analytical method for the copper and silver analyses is aqua regia digestion of the samples followed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Gold is analysed by fire assay fusion with atomic absorption spectroscopy finish for gold. Analyses are carried out by ALS CHEMEX in North Vancouver. When visible gold is noted in drill core samples or regular fire assay values appear abnormally high, the pulp and screen metallic assay method is used to determine the total gold content and gold contents of different size fractions. This is considered industry best practice when dealing with coarse gold mineralization where a nugget effect is suspected. This determination is accepted as the most representative value and is used in the assay database for resource calculations. Blank and standard samples are used for quality assurance and quality control. Where more than two check samples assay outside expected ranges, the entire batch is re-assayed. After the completion of planned drill programs at Minto, random check assays will be carried out by Acme Analytical of Vancouver.