Mindoro Resources Ltd.: Mindoro and Avocet Announce Joint Venture on Archangel Project
(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) RDATE:23092008
Edmonton, Alberta CANADA -- Mindoro Resources Ltd. (MIO - TSX Venture, WKN - FWB), is pleased to report that a Memorandum of Understanding (the "MOU") has been signed with Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet"), a London-based AIM listed gold producer, which will allow Avocet to earn up to a 75% interest in Mindoro's Archangel Project, Batangas Province, Philippines. Archangel includes the Kay Tanda epithermal gold-silver resource as well as several porphyry copper-gold prospects (see map available with this release on Mindoro's website). Avocet will undertake an initial six month due diligence period which will include a minimum requirement of 1,500 meters of diamond drilling.
Under the terms of the MOU, Avocet may earn up to a 75% economic interest in the Property from Mindoro's Philippine subsidiary, MRL Gold Phils, Inc., by funding all exploration on the Property until reaching a Decision to Mine. At Decision to Mine, Mindoro will receive a cash payment of four million dollars, a two percent net smelter royalty on identified ounces, and may participate at production with a 25 percent interest; Avocet and Mindoro would then be responsible for funding their share of capital and operating costs. Avocet will undertake a preliminary six month program, including a minimum 1,500 meters of diamond drilling, designed to complete a fast-tracked, but comprehensive evaluation of the Kay Tanda Project, with a view to making a decision to enter Pre-Feasibility and progress to Feasibility. Additional terms are described with this release on Mindoro's website at www.mindoro.com.
"Avocet's experience in successfully upgrading and advancing to production its open pit gold mines in Malaysia and Indonesia makes it an ideal partner to advance our Kay Tanda Project," commented Tony Climie, Mindoro's CEO. "Avocet has also demonstrated it's commitment to building long-lasting relationships with the community and the government in the regions in which it operates, reflecting Mindoro's own philosophy. We welcome Avocet to the Philippines and look forward to a successful and financially rewarding joint venture."
Jonathan Henry, Avocet's CEO, commented, "This transaction adds to our portfolio of advanced exploration projects with the potential to become a producing asset within three to four years. Entry to the Philippines represents an expansion of our geographic presence to an extremely prospective new country in South East Asia."
ABOUT KAY TANDA
Epithermal gold-silver mineralization at Kay Tanda is associated with extensive and intense quartz stockworks, veins and hydrothermal breccias, with accompanying base metal sulphides. Kay Tanda is reflected by an induced polarization chargeability anomaly that is about 1.5 kilometers by 1.4 kilometers in extent, which is part of a much larger chargeability anomaly and which extends over six kilometers along strike to the north-east. To date, drilling has been conducted only on the Kay Tanda part of the trend.
Mindoro has completed 147 reverse circulation (RC) and 26 core drill holes at Kay Tanda. Almost all holes have encountered near-surface, generally flat-lying to gently-dipping blanket-like low-grade stockwork mineralization. This is strongly to partially oxidized to depths of 40 to 160 meters and non-oxide below this. Drilling, especially at deeper levels, has encountered at least five steeply-dipping, much higher-grade zones with bonanza grades to 246 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and over 1,000 g/t silver, which are interpreted as structurally controlled upflow, or "feeder" zones.
The high-grade mineralization appears to occur preferentially at elevations below 250 meters (ASL) interpreted to be a paleo-boiling zone. Few holes have penetrated to this depth to date. Such upflow zones can be associated with bonanza mineralization and constitute some of the world's best epithermal gold-silver deposits.
On February 6, 2008, Mindoro released a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate, indicating that from 40 to 67 percent of the previously defined Exploration Target, at a cut-off of 0.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold had been converted to resources. The complete report is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and Mindoro's website (www.mindoro.com). Summary results of the NI 43-101 report were:
* Total Inferred Resource: 11,599,000 @ 0.70 g/t Au, 3.0 g/t Ag (262,000 contained ounces Au)
* Total Indicated Resource: 3,365,000 @ 0.88 g/t Au, 8.0 g/t Ag (95,000 contained ounces Au)
The tonnage and contained ounces figures above have been rounded to the nearest thousand and gold grades to the nearest 2nd decimal.
Many gold mineralized intercepts, including much of the bonanza grade material, were not included in the resource estimate due to wide drill spacing, averaging 50 meter centers, and lack of information on geological controls. High grade intercepts were top-cut to 9 or 10 g/t gold. Additional drilling is required to understand these geological controls and potentially increase both the grade and tonnes of the gold-silver resource.
Tony Climie, P.Geol, is the Qualified Person responsible for monitoring
the supervision and quality control of Mindoro's programs and who has reviewed and verified the technical information contained in this news release.
ABOUT AVOCET
Avocet is a mining company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (Ticker: AVM). The Company's principal activities are gold mining and exploration in Malaysia (as 100 per cent owner of the Penjom mine, the country's largest gold producer), and Indonesia (as 80 per cent owner of the North Lanut gold mine and Bakan project in North Sulawesi). The Company has a number of other advanced mining and exploration projects in South East Asia.
ABOUT MINDORO
Mindoro is a Tier 1 Issuer trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (MIO) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN 906167). Mindoro is focused on copper-gold and nickel exploration in the Philippines with a strategy of advancing early stage opportunities to production or joint venture. Mindoro has announced initial NI 43-101 compliant resource estimates on its Agata North nickel-iron-cobalt project, where resource expansion drilling is on-going with four rigs, and on both its Lobo (SWB) and Archangel (Kay Tanda) gold-silver projects. Mindoro has also identified 22 porphyry copper-gold prospects and recently announced that Gold Fields is carrying out due diligence on the balance of its Batangas projects. Mindoro is well-financed, and will be involved in multiple drill programs in the latter half of 2008 and in 2009.
.) Ian Rozier, president of the company, reports that an initial drill program at the Archangel property has confirmed and expanded the area of known gold mineralization
Archangel is located in Batangas Province about 120km south of Manila, within the Batangas FTAA
application area which also includes the Company's Taysan and El Paso Projects.
Exploration at Archangel has focused on three prominent hills near the center of the property (Kay Tanda, Pulang Lupa and Balibago) where flat lying zones of sheeted quartz veins and intensely silicified
gold mineralization. Earlier mapping and limited drilling by previous operators outlined approximately 10 million tonnes in the silica sheet at Kay Tanda alone.
Thirteen reverse circulation drill holes totalling 1,544 metres were completed by the Company in January. Nine holes were drilled at Kay Tanda and two at Pulang Lupa. Two additional holes were drilled to the northwest of Kay Tanda to test for extensions of the silica sheet below younger volcanic cover.
A summary of assay results from the first nine holes drilled at Kay Tanda is as follows: -0- Hole No. From/To Width Grade (m) (m) Au g/t
^ These drill results expand the silica zone at Kay Tanda to approximately 400m by 350m and confirm the continuity of gold values suggested by earlier drilling, (see News Release dated January 28, 1997). Thickness of the gold bearing layer has also increased to between 50 and 75m. The mineralization remains open to the west towards Pulang Lupa which is about 1,000m west of Kay Tanda.
Assays are awaited for other holes drilled at Archangel that test possible extensions of the mineralized
zone to the northwest and the previously identified mineralization on Pulang Lupa Hill to the west. Visual inspection confirms that these holes have intersected the silica sheet in these areas.
The company is very encouraged by the results of the drilling completed to date in that it confirms a larger zone than previously estimated with potential for further expansion. The company has the right to earn a 100 percent interest in the Archangel Property subject to a 3 percent NSR
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