MAI upgrades Los Azules resource!!Wouldn't be surprised if they want to deal with TNR much earlier now!
Higher grade zone cut off of 0.7% - mostly from the Northern drill zones which TNR still has a lawsuit for... delaying this doesn't do anyone much good!!
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Minera Andes's Los Azules indicates 2.2 million lbs Cu
2010-06-21 11:33 ET - News Release
Mr. James Duff reports
MINERA ANDES REPORTS MINERAL RESOURCE INCREASE AT LOS AZULES PROJECT
Themineral resource at Minera Andes Inc.'s 100-per-cent-owned copperproject, Los Azules, has been expanded and the confidence levelincreased. A total of 137 million tonnes of the previous inferredmineral resources have been upgraded to the indicated category, and anadditional 116 million tonnes of inferred mineral resources have beenadded.
Rob McEwen, Chairman and CEO of Minera Andes commented:"Los Azules is shaping up to be a world-class copper deposit, and weare excited about its upside potential. We have commenced planning forthe next field season with the objective of completing a pre-feasibility study by the end of 2011."
In September of 2008, two independent qualified persons, RobertSim and Bruce Davis, completed a resource estimate for Los Azulesshowing inferred mineral resources of 922 million tonnes grading 0.55percent copper, equivalent to 11.2 billion pounds of copper. Based onthis season's drilling (23 holes totaling 10,007 meters) Mr. Sim andMr. Davis have prepared an updated estimate, results of which areoutlined in the table below. Due to tightening of the drill holespacing, portions of the resource were upgraded to the indicatedcategory. Also, the inferred mineral resources increased due to acombination of step-out holes drilled at the north end of the depositand greater drill hole depths.
TOTAL MINERAL RESOURCE COMPARISON
2008 vs 2010
Mineral Tonnes Copper % Contained Gold Silver
Resource (millions) Copper (MM grams/tonne grams/tonne
Category lbs)
2008(i) Inferred 922 0.55 11.2 0.06 1.7
2010 Indicated 137 0.73 2.2 0.07 1.7
Inferred 900 0.52 10.3 0.07 1.7
Cut-off grade of 0.35% was applied to both 2008 and 2010 estimates
(i) Sept 26, 2008 technical report available on Sedar
Drilling this year was also successful in further delineating andexpanding the high-grade secondary enrichment zone. We use a cut-offgrade of 0.70% copper to define "high-grade" mineralization. Thehigh-grade mineralization approximates the secondary enrichment zone,but it is not exactly coincident. The portions of the deposit thatexceeded the 0.70% copper limit based on previous drilling totaled 161million tonnes at an average grade of 0.87% copper. The updatedestimate shows a slight increase in grade for portions exceeding 0.70%copper compared to the previous resource estimate. Results are outlinedbelow.
COMPARISON OF MINERAL RESOURCES GREATER THAN 0.70% COPPER
2008 vs 2010
Mineral Tonnes Copper % Contained Gold Silver
Resource (millions) Copper (MM grams/tonne grams/tonne
Category lbs)
2008(i) Inferred 161 0.87 3.1 0.07 2.0
2010 Indicated 67 0.95 1.4 0.08 1.9
Inferred 127 0.86 2.4 0.09 1.9
(i)Sept 26, 2008 technical report available on Sedar
The approximate limits of the mineralization are shown on the attachedplan view map (Figure 1). Longitudinal and cross sections through thecentral portions of the deposit generated from the mineral resourcemodel are shown on Figures 2 and 3.
Drilling Results
The location of the 23 holes drilled during the 2009-2010 fieldseason are shown on Figure 1, and the assay results for the final sixholes of this season are reported in Table 1. The results from theseholes are generally consistent with the results of the other holesdrilled this year, and were included in the new mineral resourceestimate. Highlights include good intercepts in the secondaryenrichment zone of 0.70% Cu over 118 meters in Hole 62 and 0.81% Cuover 138 meters in Hole 63. Hole 63 also contains 0.74% Cu as primarymineralization in the bottom 141 meters of the hole.
Geophysical Survey
During this field season Quantec Geoscience Ltd. completed aTitan 24? Deep Earth Imaging geophysical survey. The purpose of thissurvey was to identify drilling targets at Los Azules.
The survey identified a number of promising anomalies, particularly to the southwest of the existing deposit.
The results of the geophysical survey for Los Azules will beintegrated with an updated geological interpretation of this year'sdrilling in order to pinpoint new targets for the coming field season.
About Los Azules
Los Azules is a large copper porphyry system located in westernSan Juan Province, in Argentina. The Los Azules project is contained ina region consisting of other major porphyry copper deposits straddlingthe Chilean/Argentine border. This belt contains some of the world'slargest copper deposits, including Codelco's El Teniente and Andinamines, Anglo American's Los Bronces mine, Antofagasta PLC's LosPelambres mine and Xstrata's El Pachon project, among others.
The mineral resource estimate presented in this press releasehas been reviewed and approved by Robert Sim, P.Geo. and Bruce Davis,PhD, FAusIMM, both independent Qualified Persons as defined by NationalInstrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" ("NI43-101"). Robert Sim and Bruce Davis are responsible for the mineralresource estimate. The drill hole results presented in Table 1 of thispress release have been reviewed and approved by Nivaldo Rojas,President of Rojas & Asociados Mining Consultants, a miningengineer and independent consultant to the Corporation, who is aQualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and who isresponsible for oversight and review of the exploration program at theLos Azules Project. Bruce Davis is responsible for the quality controlfor the assaying of the Los Azules drill core. All samples werecollected in accordance with industry standards. Splits from the drillcore samples were submitted to the ACME sample preparation laboratoryin Mendoza, Argentina and then transferred to ACME's laboratory inSantiago, Chile for fire assay and ICP analysis. Accuracy of results istested through the systematic inclusion of standards, blanks and checkassays.
Mineral resources are generated using ordinary kriging with anominal block size of 20x20x15m. Block grade estimates are derived fromdrill hole sample results and the interpretation of a geologic modelwhich relates to the spatial distribution of copper, gold, silver andmolybdenum in the deposit. There are a total of 114 drill holes in theLos Azules database with a cumulative length of 30,997 meters and atotal of 15,260 samples analyzed for a suite of elements includingtotal copper, gold, silver and molybdenum. A total of 58 of the drillholes have some portion of the sample intervals tested for sequentialcopper analysis. This information contributed to the development of themineral zone domains. The portion of the new mineral resource that hasbeen defined as "indicated" is based on a drilling configuration thatexhibits the degree of continuity required for higher level mineralresources. Inferred mineral resources are limited to blocks within amaximum distance of 200 meters from a drill hole. As required by NI43-101, the possible future economic viability of the mineral resourcehas been exhibited by restriction within a pit shell derived about thecopper content in indicated and inferred class blocks at a copper priceof $2.50/lb, total operating costs of $5.25/tonne and an average pitslope of 34 degrees. Mineral resources are presented at a cut-off gradeof 0.35%Cu, which is the same base cut-off grade used in the 2008mineral resource estimate. These are mineral resources, not mineralreserves.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements:
SUMMARY OF DRILL HOLE RESULTS FOR HOLES 62 THROUGH 67
Hole 62 (-90 degrees) Hole terminated at 280.0 m due to bad ground
conditions
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Vertical
Intersection Thickness (m) % Cu Comments
--------------------
from (m) to (m)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 3.0 3.0 - Gravel overburden
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3.0 130.0 127.0 0.01 Leached cap
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130.0 248.0 118.0 0.70 Secondary enrichment zone
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Chalcopyrite with local weak
248.0 280.0 32.0 0.40 chalcocite enrichment
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Hole 63 (-90 degrees)
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Intersection Vertical
Thickness (m) % Cu Comments
--------------------
from (m) to (m)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 46.0 46.0 - Gravel overburden
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46.0 94.0 48.0 0.07 Leached cap
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94.0 232.0 138.0 0.81 Secondary enrichment
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232.0 286.0 54.0 0.43 Primary chalcopyrite and bornite
veinlets and disseminations with
weak chalcocite enrichment
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286.0 427.1 141.1 0.74 Primary chalcopyrite and bornite
veinlets and disseminations with
weak chalcocite enrichment
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Hole 64 (-90 degrees) Hole suspended at end of season. The hole will be re-
entered and completed next season.
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Intersection Vertical
Thickness (m) % Cu Comments
--------------------
from (m) to (m)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 3.0 3.0 - Gravel overburden
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3.0 136.0 133.0 0.01 Leached cap
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136.0 170.1 34.1 0.47 Chalcopyrite veinlets and
disseminations with weak
chalcocite enrichment
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Hole 65 (-75 degrees) at 260 degrees Azimuth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vertical
Intersection Thickness (m) % Cu Comments
--------------------
from (m) to (m)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 22.0 21.3 - Gravel overburden
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22.0 148.8 122.5 0.02 Leached cap
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148.8 214.0 63.0 0.33 Mixed primary and secondary
mineralization
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214.0 362.0 143.0 0.21 Chalcopyrite with local weak
chalcocite enrichment
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362.0 388.0 25.1 0.34 Chalcopyrite with local weak
chalcocite enrichment
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388.0 431.0 41.5 0.18 Primary chalcopyrite veins and
disseminations
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Hole 66 (-75 degrees) at 260 degrees Azimuth Hole suspended at end of
season. The hole will be re-entered and completed next season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intersection Vertical
Thickness (m) % Cu Comments
--------------------
from (m) to (m)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 50.0 48.3 - Gravel overburden
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50.0 118.4 66.1 0.02 Leached cap
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118.4 150.0 30.5 0.58 Secondary enrichment zone
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150.0 204.0 52.2 0.24 Primary chalcopyrite-bornite
veinlets and disseminations
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204.0 257.5 51.7 0.35 Primary chalcopyrite veinlets and
disseminations
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Hole 67 (-90 degrees) Hole suspended at end of season. The hole will be re-
entered and completed next season.
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Intersection Vertical
Thickness (m) % Cu Comments
--------------------
from (m) to (m)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 56.6 56.6 Gravel overburden
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56.6 89.7 33.1 0.03 Leached cap
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
89.7 161.4 71.7 0.29 Primary chalcopyrite veinlets and
disseminations with weak
chalcocite enrichment
----------------------------------------------------------------------------