iron duke high grade results

13 Mumford Place, Balcatta, WA, 6021 ph: +61 8 6241 1888 fax: +61 8 6241 1811
Website: www.tantalumaustralia.com Email: [email protected]
ACN 009 127 020 ABN 58 009 127 020
1
T A N T A L U M
A U S T R A L I A N L
22 March 2004
The Companies Announcement Office
Australian Stock Exchange Limited
Level 4, 20 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000
By ASX Online
NORSEMAN PROJECT – SIGNIFICANT HIGH GRADE MINERALISATION OPEN AT DEPTH
Tantalum Australia NL is pleased to announce that it has now received one metre resplit results
(five metre composite results have been reported previously) from Reverse Circulation (RC)
drilling completed during January and February at its Iron Duke deposit within the Norseman
Project in Western Australia. These significant results confirm earlier interpretations, indicate the
potential for depth extensions and are likely to increase the size of the Iron Duke deposit.
The company’s strategy is to identify mineable reserves/resources that could lead to medium
term production from the project. The RC drilling program was aimed at infilling the Iron Duke
gold mineralised zone over a strike length of over 250 metres to a nominal pattern of 20 x 10
metres to a vertical depth of 40 metres. Drill testing within this zone has shown that there are
two main high-grade parallel lodes which have now been defined to a vertical depth of 30-40
metres in the southern half over a strike length of 120m.
Follow up Drilling
A 2,000 metre program of RC drilling will commence in late March at Iron Duke. The program
will focus on testing the northern and southern strike extensions of the two main lodes and the
depth extensions to about 100 metres vertical depth all of which remain open. Further infill
drilling will also be completed to test the up and down dip extensions of the two main lodes and
complete the drill pattern of 20 x 10 metres to a depth of 40 metres. The mineralisation is hosted
within a 50 metre wide shear zone that cuts a sequence of dolerite, basalt and minor sediments.
The mineralised zones are characterised by silica-pyrite sericite alteration with associated
quartz veining and the whole sequence is oxidised to a depth of about 40 metres
The better intercepts from each of five separate drill lines include:
11 metres @ 22.00 g/t Au (including 2m @ 82.23 g/t Au)
2 metres @ 21.30 g/t Au
2 metres @ 9.29 g/t Au
8 metres @ 4.88 g/t Au
2 metres @ 9.63 g/t Au
11 metres @ 4.35 g/t Au
Significant intercepts of resplit results are detailed in Table 1. The mineralisation has a dip of
about 40 degrees to the west therefore intercept widths approximate true thickness.
Hole NDC 108 (11 metres at 22.00 g/t) ended in mineralisation (40.00 g/t) and was drilled in the
southern zone down dip from a previous high grade intercept in NDC 49 (14 metres at 9.86 g/t)
to test the down dip extension of the high grade mineralisation. The results indicate significant
potential exists to extend the mineralisation below the 40 metre depth limit tested to date. A step
out hole has been drilled on this section and further drilling is now planned to test the entire
strike length (about 300 metres) to a depth of 100 metres.
Feasibility Study
As part of progressing the Norseman project - Iron Duke to production stage, Tantalum is
undertaking a feasibility study based on utilising its significant existing plant at Norseman. The
study will now be update fro the most recent drilling and should be completed no later than late
May/early June. The study includes:
• A new resource estimate incorporating all drilling to date
• Preliminary pit optimisation.
• Metallurgical test work
• Engineering study and cost estimates of re-establishing the company’s 300,000 tpa
Norseman CIP processing plant (currently on care and maintenance).
• Use of existing Infrastructure at Norseman which includes crushing, grinding, leaching
circuits, tailings storage facility, process water supply and dams.)
The availability of this infrastructure should enable a low cost and rapid start up of operations
following a favourable feasibility.
Results are awaited for drill holes completed late in the current program including shallow holes
drilled to extend the laterite mineralisation discovered by the previous drilling programme.
Yours faithfully
Michael Fotios
Managing Director