Email: [email protected] RESOURCE TRIPLES TO...

Email: [email protected]

ATHENA RESOURCE TRIPLES TO 343,000 OUNCES BRINGING HIGGINSVILLE RESOURCE BASE TO
OVER ONE MILLION OUNCES.

Highlights

• 320% increase of Athena resource estimate to:
- 1.0 million tonnes @ 11.1 g/t gold for 0.34 Moz.

• Higginsville resource base exceeds one million ounces for the first time:
- 8.7 million tonnes @ 4.0 g/t gold for 1.11 Moz

• Trident resource base (including Athena) approaches the one million ounce mark:
- 4.3 million tonnes @ 6.2 g/t gold for 0.86 Moz

• Significant exploration upside remains at Athena following results of new drill intersections (recorded outside updated resource envelope):
- 3.6m @ 22.8 g/t gold from 390.6m in HIGD089
- 3.0m @ 8.6 g/t gold from 353m in HIGD094

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Avoca Resources Limited (Avoca or the Company) is pleased to announce the results of an update to the JORC resource estimation of the Athena Lodes from within the Company’s 100% owned Trident Gold Project, located at Higginsville in Western Australia.
The new JORC resources inventory for the Athena Lodes represents a 320% increase in ounces from the May 2006 resource estimate of 107Koz. The new Athena Lodes high grade resource estimate which comprises the 30, 10, 40 and 45 surfaces is:
960,000 tonnes @ 11.1 g/t gold for 343,000 ounces.
Significantly, the resource estimate increase at Athena has generated a new total resource base for Avoca’s Higginsville Gold Project of:
8.7 million tonnes at 4.0 g/t gold for 1,106,000 ounces.
Since mining commenced in the late 1980s, it is the first time that a Higginsville resource has exceeded one million ounces of gold.

The classification of the Higginsville resources inventory is shown below in Table 1 and a summary of the estimation methodology and competent persons attributions is included at the end of this announcement.

Athena Lodes (Trident Gold Deposit)

The Athena Lodes characteristically comprise a one to five metre wide laminated vein array and commonly exhibit caurs visible gold. The style and structural vein setting is very similar to that seen at Norseman (+6Moz gold field, located 55km south of Higginsville) and at Two Boys (a small 82,000 ounce high grade deposit (14 g/t gold recovered), located 1.5km south of Trident). Like many of the Norseman deposits, and the main Two Boys vein, Athena is a blind deposit and has required very detailed geological documentation of oriented surface diamond drill holes to develop an understanding of the mineralisation style and controls. To date, seven different mineralised surfaces have been identified from Avoca’s surface diamond drilling at Athena, however only four of the surfaces have been included in the updated resource estimate (see Figure 1) due to insufficient drill density on the three non-estimated surfaces. The new resources for the four estimated surfaces (at a 3 g/t gold cut off grade) are:

Athena 30 576,000 tonnes at 13.3 g/t gold for 246,000 ounces,
Athena 10 185,000 tonnes at 9.5 g/t gold for 56,000 ounces,
Athena 40 165,000 tonnes at 6.4 g/t gold for 34,000 ounces, and
Athena 45 34,000 tonnes at 5.9 g/t gold for 7,000 ounces
TOTAL 960,000 tonnes at 11.1 g/t gold for 343,000 ounces
Figure 1: Spatial association of the four Athena surfaces (yellow and pink) used for the updated resource estimate, in relation to the Western Zone (in red) and the Eastern Zones (green).
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The Athena 30 surface is the largest of the Athena Lodes comprising in excess of 70% of the Athena resource base, due principally to its high average grade (13.3 g/t gold) and true thickness (4.5m). Its strike length currently measures 350m long, and its dip extent is in excess of 100m. The Athena 30 surface also contains a small high grade Indicated Resource of 79,000 tonnes at 14.3 g/t gold for 36,000 ounces, which significantly, has a higher grade than the Inferred Resource. The Company believes that with additional drilling from underground development, much of the Athena 30 surface Inferred Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated Resource.
Figure 2 below is a long section showing the dimensions and estimated grade distribution within the Athena 30 surface.
Figure 2: Estimated grade distribution in the 246,000 ounce Athena 30 surface. The existing Poseidon South underground development is shown in the top left hand corner of the image. The white grid cells are 100m (horizontal) x 50m (vertical) in size.
The 56,000 ounce Athena 10 surface lies approximately 25m west of, and strikes parallel to the Athena 30 surface (see Figure 1). It has a strike length of 350m, a dip extent of 70m and an average thickness of 2.5m. Figure 3 below is a long section showing the dimensions and estimated grade distribution within the Athena 10 surface.
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Figure 3: Estimated grade distribution in the 56,000 ounce Athena 10 surface. The existing Poseidon South underground development is shown in the top left hand corner of the image. The white grid cells are 100m (horizontal) x 50m (vertical) in size.
Excellent Potential to Further Increase Athena Lodes Resource Base
The Company believes there remains considerable upside to the Athena resource base for the following reasons:
• The Athena 30 and Athena 10 Lodes remain open to both the north, south and at depth.
• Five recently completed drill holes on the Athena Lodes have intersected visible gold in quartz veins. Each of the new drill holes intersect Athena Lodes outside the updated resource boundary of the Athena 10 surface. Results received to date include:
�� 3.6m @ 22.8 g/t gold from 390.6m in HIGD089
�� 3.0m @ 8.6 g/t gold from 353m in HIGD094
• The following high grade drill results from Athena-style veins are located within 60m of the existing decline development, and are not included in the new resource estimate due to insufficient drill density. :
�� 5m @ 31 g/t gold from 205.8m in HIGD088
�� 3.7m @ 37 g/t gold from 225.4m also in HIGD088
�� 0.25m @ 582 g/t gold from 21.49m in PSD121*
�� 0.42m @ 80 g/t gold from 41.65m in PSD122*
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�� 0.45m @ 45g/t gold from 240.7m in PSD18** and
�� 1.1m @ 30.7g/t gold from 214.9m also in PSD18**
* Denotes underground diamond drill holes completed by Resolute Mining Limited in the 1990s.
** Denotes surface diamond drill holes completed by Resolute Mining Limited in the 1990s
Yours faithfully,
AVOCA RESOURCES LIMITED
Rohan Williams
Managing Director
Resource Estimation Summary - Athena
Four geological domains were interpreted and then wireframed separately for Athena.
Grade Estimation utilised the 1kg / eight hour bottle roll LeachWell Analyses of half NQ2 diamond core. If no LeachWell Analysis was available the 50g Fire Assay analyses were used (20%). Sample data was composited to 1 metre. Athena received top-cuts of 200g/t over 1m for the Athena 30 lode, 120g/t over 1m for the Athena 10 Lode, 35g/t over 1m for the Athena 40 Lode, and 35g/t over 1m for the Athena 45 Lode.
An orthogonal block model was created using 4m x 20m x 10m blocks. A bulk density of 2.8 was globally assigned to Athena.
Estimation of the blocks was by ordinary kriging for the principal veins at Athena (30 and 10), while a mean grade was assigned to all other domains (40 and 45).
A lower cut off grade of 3.0g/t Au was applied to Athena to reflect likely mining scenarios.
The resource estimate has been classified based on data density, data quality, confidence in the geological interpretation and confidence in the estimation.
The information in this report which relates to the Athena Mineral Resource is based on information compiled by Chris Newman, a full time employee of Avoca Resources Limited and who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy; and Steve Le Brun, a full time employee of LBC Resources and who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Chris Newman and Steve Le Brun have sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as Competent Persons as defined in the 2004 Edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.” Chris Newman and Steve Le Brun consent to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.
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