mineweb article

This article appeared in MineWeb on 30 March.

GOOD RESULTS AT JABAL SAYID
Saudi gold play a big spark for Australian junior

Positive exploration results at a Saudi Arabian gold project have ‘pleasantly surprised’ the Australian participants in the project.
Author: Ross Louthean
Posted: Friday , 30 Mar 2007

PERTH -

Saudi Arabia, recognised as one of the great gold and gold jewellery markets, has produced positive first pass drilling for a joint venture made up of a big local conglomerate, a Bahraini company - run by expatriate Australians -- and Sydney-based junior explorer ADV Group Ltd (ASX: ADS).

Veteran mining company director and consultant Ralph Stagg told Mineweb from Sydney today that the partners were "pleasantly surprised" with the first RC drill holes into Zone 1 at the Jabal Sayid deposit. They included 49 metres grading 3.75 grams/tonne gold, including 15m @ 6.61 g/t Au. Another hole hit 45m of gold and silver mineralisation with the last 11m assaying 112.3 g/t Ag.

There were also minor copper-zinc values from the drilling.

The holes were from surface and went through the oxide zone into the transitional zone where established oxide copper sat above massive sulphide copper. Early historic drilling had focused on the sulphides, with the upper oxides essentially ignored.

ADV is moving to take over Bahraini-based Vertex Group (Middle East) WLL which owns 70% in Bariq Mining Ltd that holds 50% of Jabal Sayid and a package of other projects with significant mineral deposits on the Arabian Shield in Saudi Arabia. That deal would see Vertex gaining 342 million shares in ADV, giving its shareholders more than a 50% stake in ADV, with Stagg and Ines Scotland joining the Sydney company's board.

Vertex' Middle East-domiciled principals are former Queensland project operator Russell Luxford and Inés Scotland, chief executive of the company and Bariq. In an earlier life she worked for Kennecott, Lihir Gold and Comalco.

Ms Scotland was quoted in ADV's announcement as saying the "presence of ore grade mineralisation from surface plus the exploration upside at the project are particularly encouraging for our open pit mining concept, highlighting the potential to generate early cash flow from near-surface material in a future mining scenario."

She said the results were "far better than we expected" and that these results were not included in the JORC Code resource that was now being finalised.

Jabal Sayid is one of a package of properties held by Bariq and the big industrial and resources group Al Qatani through its subsidiary CMCI. Many of the properties were discoveries generated as far back as the 1960s when Saudi Arabia wanted to evaluate its mineral potential, and hired France's BRGM geological survey group and others as contractors.

ADV director Kris Knauer told Mineweb that several of the projects needed to be brought up to JORC Code status. It is a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit, with Zone 1 having an established strike of 1.5 kilometres, outcropping as a 50m high and 250m long gossanous hill.

Earlier exploration had shown Jabal Sayid to have copper dominated deposits with zinc-silver-gold totalling 0.75 million tonnes.

Other prospects 100% owned by Bariq include:

•· Jabal Shayban with 253,000 oz Au and target potential for 500,000 oz.

•· Jabal Baydan, a high grade zinc deposit with a known 600,000 tonnes @ 17% zinc and 2 g/t Au. It has an oxide cap of VMS.

•· Bari which has ancient gold workings and drill intercepts including 39m @ 7.32 g/t Au and 84m @ 6.75 g/t au.

•· Wadi Kamal, where earlier drilling hit nickel and platinum group metals in an unexplored layered ultramafic.

•· Muraijib-Bil'iwy, where there are ancient gold workings and scope for a +1 M oz au alteration system.

Assays from three more drill holes on Jabal Sayid's Zone 1 are expected shortly.

A presentation to Australian corporate investors by ADV earlier this week detailed drilling of Lode 1 at Jabal Sayid where the hits illustrated the strong polymetallic nature of the VMS system. The holes included 91m @ 1.5% Cu, 2.27% Zn, 0.6 g/t Au and 30.8 g/t Ag; another with 115m @ 1.77% Cu, 1.54% Zn, 0.45 g/t Au and 26.9 g/t Ag, and a third with 96.85m @ 3.28% Cu, 1.55% Zn, 0.71 g/t Au and 41.6 g/t Ag.

Drilling of Lode 2 gave wide hits including 112m @ 2.7% Cu, 0.22 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag; 164m @ 2.8% Cu, 0.44 g/t Au and 23.2 g/t Ag; and 143m @ 2.2% Cu, including 28m @ 3.24%.