RNS Number : 8004V
Leyshon Resources Limited
03 June 2008
3 June 2008
Exploration Programme Commences Targeting Gold and Porphyry Copper
Leyshon Resources Limited ("Leyshon") (AIM & ASX: LRL) is pleased to advise that the 2008
exploration programme has commenced at the
Zheng Guang gold project in Heilongjiang, northeast China.
The 35,000 metre drill programme will continue with resource development drilling at Zheng
Guang and will embark on a major regional
exploration programme on the recently acquired exploration licence areas.
The programme will cost 34.75RMB (US$4.96 million).
The Main Ore Zone remains open along strike to the north and south and at depth. The
resource development drilling programme comprises
14,700 metres of diamond drilling and 8,800 metres of reverse circulation drilling.
* Diamond drilling has commenced targeting potential extensions to the current open
pit design over a 600 metre strike length to the
south of the Main Ore Zone to a vertical depth of 200 metres.
* The programme will also target the northern extension to the Main Ore Zone over a
strike length of 300 metres and to a depth of
300 metres. On the northern most section drilled to date, mineralisation has concentrated on
one continuous primary lode which has returned
intercepts of 4 metres @ 13.56g/t Au, 1.66% Zn and 3 metres @ 7.5g/t Au and 2.63% Zn. The gold
grade appears to be improving with depth.
* Reverse circulation drilling has commenced at Zheng Guang North and will target
Zheng Guang East and other previously identified
prospects with deeper reverse circulation drilling where previous shallow rotary air blast
drilling has returned significant gold results.
This programme follows on from the 2007 programme which increased the overall resource of
the Main Ore Zone by approximately 25% from 24
to 30 million tonnes containing 1.16 million ounces gold, 4.5 million ounces silver and
120,000 tonnes of zinc and increased the Measured
and Indicated resources by approximately 60% from 10 to 16 million tonnes.
Following structural interpretation of the core from the 2007 drilling programme, a new
model for the mineralisation has been developed
by the Company's geological consultants. This has highlighted the potential for en echelon
pods of mineralisation to occur within dilation
zones within a north-west trending regional shear. The Main Zone at Zheng Guang has been
interpreted as one of these dilation zones.
The regional exploration programme on the recently granted 120 km2 licence areas will
represent the greatest regional exploration effort
by the joint venture to date and if successful will greatly enlarge the scope and scale of
activities.
The new licence areas will be explored for porphyry-style gold-copper deposits, Zheng
Guang style gold and base metal carbonate deposits
and for epithermal gold. The programme is designed to evaluate the licence areas by satellite
imagery, aeromagnetic survey, reconnaissance
soil sampling and follow up reverse circulation drilling of soil anomalies.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8004V_-2008-6-3.pdf
Of particular interest will be three potential porphyry copper targets, one which is located
on the Zheng Guang licence itself and the other
two on the 4th Exploration Licence located approximately 5 km from the planned mill site.These prospects have been identified by broad
spaced soil geochemistry and will be followed up with closer spaced soil sampling and reverse
circulation drilling.
The project area is dominated by the Duobaoshan and Tongshan porphyry copper gold deposits
located 8 kilometres to the north-west of
Zheng Guang, both of which are currently under development. Previous mapping by the
Heilongjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources has
indicated that these porphyries intrude the Late Ordovician formations which also host the
Zheng Guang deposit, however little follow up
work and very limited drilling has been undertaken to explore for them.
The Company continues to make good progress on a number of fronts. It is in the final
stages of gaining approval to commence project
construction and has construction management and contractor teams ready to mobilise to site.Construction of the access road and power line
are expected to commence shortly. Detailed engineering is well advanced and detailed mine
design is well under way following the release of
the recently announced upgraded resource estimate. Financing is well advanced and is expected
to be finalised by the end of this month.
Managing Director Paul Atherley commented:
"Unlike last year, when most of our efforts were focussed on upgrading existing resources
at the Main Ore Zone, this year's exploration
programme is aimed at increasing the mineable gold inventory at prospects across the Zheng
Guang licence area and targeting copper and gold
in a major regional programme on the new exploration licence areas."
For further information contact:
Leyshon Resources Limited
Paul Atherley - Managing Director
Tel: +86 137 1800 1914
Mob: +61 417 475 038
Pelham Public Relations
Candice Sgroi
Tel: +44 (0)207 743 6376
Mob: +44(0)7894 462 114
Seymour Pierce
Jonathan Wright
Tel: +44 (0)207 107 8000
http://www.leyshonresources.com
Background Information
Leyshon is fully engaged in China with its main operating office in Beijing its Chairman,
Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer
all based in China. Over 80% of employees are either native Chinese or Mandarin speaking.
The Company is rapidly progressing the Zheng Guang gold zinc project to production status
and is aiming to jointly develop it as the
first ever Sino Foreign owned mine in the mineral rich province of Heilongjiang in 2008.
The project benefits from exceptional infrastructure as it is located within a well
established coal and copper mining community with
rail, power, water and mining contractor services immediately available.
Changchun Design Institute has recently reported that the capital cost estimate for the
1.5 million tonne per annum combined carbon in
leach and flotation circuit process plant is RMB323 million RMB (US$46 million). Orders have
been placed for two 4.6 metre diameter ball
mills at a cost of RMB15.2 million (USD 2.1 million) and a RMB12.1 million (USD 1.7 million)
order has also been placed for the supply of a
700 tonne per hour Nordberg crushing circuit.
Leyshon's partner, the Qiqiha'er Brigade of the Heilongjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral
Resources, one of the largest organizations
of its kind in China, is providing a range of services to the joint venture from its
complement of 4,000 technical staff, drill rigs,
laboratory and other technical facilities. This valuable support is enabling the project to
rapidly move ahead on an extremely
cost-effective basis.
Competent Persons Statements
The information in this report that relates to the exploration programme is based on
information compiled by W K Woodhouse, who is a
full time employee of CSA Global and a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy. W K Woodhouse has sufficient
experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity which he is
undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the
'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results,
Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. W K Woodhouse consents to the inclusion in the report of
the matters based on his information in the
form and context in which it appears.
The information in this report that relates mineral resource estimation is based on work
completed by Mr Jonathon Abbott who is a full
time employee of Hellman and Schofield Pty Ltd and a member of the Australasian Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Abbott has
sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit
under consideration and to the activity which he
is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the
'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' and as a Qualified Person as defined in the AIM
Rules. Mr Abbott consents to the inclusion in
the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it
appears.
The exploration data on which the Mineral Resource estimate is based has been compiled by
Mr Irvine Hay who is a member of the
Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Hay is a fulltime employee of CSA Australia
Pty Ltd a consultancy which provides
geological services to Leyshon and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as
defined in the 2004 Edition of the
'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.'
Mr Hay consents to the inclusion in the report
of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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