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Met program drilling surprises with coarse gold veins within Cabaal mine's VMS Cu-Au-Ag layers
LONDON, Dec. 13, 2021 /CNW/ - Meridian Mining UK S (TSXV: MNO) (Frankfurt: 2MM) (Tradegate: 2MM) (OTCQB: MRRDF) ("Meridian" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update from its ongoing metallurgical drill program ("the Program") at its camp scale Cabaal Copper-Gold VMS Project ("Cabaal") in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Program is designed to optimize recovery from the VMS hosted Copper ("Cu"), Gold ("Au") and Silver ("Ag") mineralization. The Company believes the Program has the potential to replicate the commercial high recoveries achieved during its former production life from 1987 to 1991. Unexpectantly, vertical drill hole CD-088, has also cored veins hosting visible gold within the old mine's workings; this is a first within the Cabaal mine zone by Meridian. The veins were hosted within a strong zone of layered Cu mineralization. Meridian can confirm that its Cabaal drill program has intercepted coarse visible gold veins overprinting Cabaal's broad VMS-Cu-Au-Ag layers Northwest of the mine, the mine itself and to the Southeast. A distance of 1,700m that remains open. The extent of the gold mineralization within the visible gold identified requires confirmation by assay.
Highlights of today's update:
- Meridian intercepts further veins of visible gold within the broad Cabaal VMS Cu-Au-Ag layers;
- Unexpected veins of visible gold from vertical hole CD-088 overprints strong copper zone;
- Cabaal metallurgical drill program confirms gold veins overprinting the historical mine's Cu-Au-Ag layers;
- 1st occasion that Meridian has cored visible gold within the mine and via vertical drilling;
- Meridian confirms that the Cabaal mine's (and its near mine extensions) broad VMS Cu-Au-Ag layers are overprinted by later stage veins hosting visible gold;
- Cabaal's metallurgical samples to be tested now appropriately replicate Cabaal's mineral characteristics;
- Zones of broad layers of VMS hosted copper-gold-silver;
- Veins hosting visible gold overprinting the VMS sequence; and
- Samples provide will be used for floatation and gravity studies.
Dr Adrian McArthur, CEO and President of Meridian, comments: "The visible gold intersected in CD-088 is a pleasant surprise, encountered in an area of veining and silicification between 61.2 to 65.7m in a vertical hole. CD-088 was drilled adjacent to historical drill hole JUSPD388 in the Central Copper Zone, which intersected (pre-mining) 41.9m @ 1.1% Cu 0.9g/t Au & 2.5g/t Ag from 44.0m. CD-088 has intersected two levels of mining voids, between 69.5 - 73.7m, and 79.8 - 83.4m. We had expected the higher-grade zones to have been extracted within these positions. Encountering visible gold between the mining levels shows the high-grade late vein event persists in vein arrays, ideally suited to a bulk mining approach within this broad mineralized envelop to ensure full extraction, with gravity recovery expected to play an important role as it had done in the prior production history."
Metallurgy Program
The Metallurgical Program will gather representative samples from the Eastern, Central and Western Copper Zones in the Cabaal mine environment, with additional drilling to target the northwest extension. The Company is expecting 9 holes for 1100m of drilling planned (Figure 1; some additional meterage may be required where hole cross voids to gather sufficient volume for the Program). Metallurgical holes will be cored with larger diameter HQ core, with quarter to be sent for analysis, a quarter retained, and half sent for metallurgical tests within Brazil and Canada. The prior operational processing history of Cabaal indicates a simple sulphide assemblage which is dominated by Chalcopyrite (65%), with minor iron sulphides (25% pyrite, 10% Pyrrhotite). Local zones in the basal horizon have more elevated zinc, and some work will be conducted to understand and optimize the properties of this material.
The metallurgical samples will be tested to quantify the floatation characteristics and recoveries of chalcopyrite with associated gold and silver, with gravity separation testing on the free gold and associated silver content. This test work will also include the estimation on the quality of the Copper concentrate with gold & silver contents, and the gold (+silver) dore estimate, produced from the gravity separation trials. The objectives of the metallurgical test are to replicate or improve on the recoveries of the historical data and to replicate the end products of copper +gold-silver concentrates and gold +silver dore that the mine produced during its previous period of operation.
Qualified Person
Dr Adrian McArthur, B.Sc. Hons, PhD. FAusIMM., CEO and President of Meridian as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining UK S
Dr. Adrian McArthur
CEO, President and Director
Meridian Mining UK S