re: high grade copper drilling results....
High-grade copper intersected at the Phu Kham Deposit, Laos
14 metres at 3.0% copper, 0.6 g/t gold from a depth of 68 metres
Pan Australian is pleased to announce that diamond core resource drilling at the Phu Kham copper-gold deposit in Laos (Figure 1) has intersected high-grade copper within broad zones of shallow ‘ore-grade’ mineralisation.
Results from three diamond core holes (GDD26-28) have been received: Hole No. Down-hole interval (m) Width (m) Copper (%) Gold (g/t) Peak copper-gold intervals GDD26 34-174 140 0.8 0.3 3.7m at 2.0% copper, 0.9g/t gold 8m at 1.7% copper, 0.6g/t gold 6m at 1.9% copper, 0.6g/t gold 22m at 1.3% copper, 0.5g/t gold
GDD27 32-96 64 1.1 0.4 14m at 3.0% copper and 0.6g/t gold
GDD28 18-102 84 0.5 0.2 18m at 1.5% copper and 0.6g/t gold
GDD26 targeted the main ‘block zone’ of the copper-gold deposit (Figure 2) and was drilled to a depth of 219m. GDD27 and GDD28 were located in the ‘thrust zone’ over the fault that defines the western boundary of the deposit (Figure 2) and both terminated in barren red beds at an average depth of 104m.
GDD27 and GDD28 were drilled through the cap of oxide gold that overlies the coppergold deposit at Phu Kham; the two holes intersected 16m at 0.5g/t gold and 4m at 0.7g/t gold respectively within the gold cap. Pan Australian is currently undertaking a feasibility study to mine the gold cap as part of the Phu Bia Gold Project (which would reduce the pre-strip required to exploit the copper-gold deposit.
Pan Australian has commenced a feasibility study on the copper-gold deposit following the successful completion of a Preliminary Study (reported to the ASX on 5 March 2004) that indicated the potential for the deposit to support an economically viable mining and processing option.
Pan Australian is delighted with the results from this recent drilling as they provide further confirmation (as identified in the Preliminary Study) of the potential of the current inferred mineral resource of 213 Mt @ 0.6% copper and 0.3 g/t gold (0.3% copper cutoff) to be significantly increased in both size and grade. The results also highlight the potential for optimising the mining schedule to extract high-grade (+1.0% copper) zones during the early years of a mining operation.
For further information: Mr Gary Stafford Managing Director Pan Australian Resources NL Tel: (07) 3878 9299 Website: www.panaustralian.com.au Email: [email protected]
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