Joint Venture
24 Septembre 2003 - 3:59PM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:1267Q
Caledon Resources PLC
24 September 2003
Caledon Resources ("Caledon" or the "Company")
Joint Venture on the Hengxian Gold Mine: One of Guangxi's Premier Gold Mining
Operations
* Caledon has signed an agreement with Guangxi Taifu Gold and Minerals
Development Ltd, covering granted mining and exploration tenements at their
Hengxian Gold Mine, Guangxi Province
* Caledon can earn a 70% interest in the Hengxian Gold Project by conducting
advanced stage exploration on the mine and its extensions over a three year
period
* The United States Geological Survey (USGS), in their report on "Carlin-style"
gold potential of Southern China, has described the Hengxian Mine zone as
having a strike length "3 kilometres long and 800 metres wide". From recent
field reconnaissance, Caledon geologists have determined that the Hengxian Mine
zone carries on well past the mine itself, for a further strike length of over 3
kilometres on either side
* Past exploration at Hengxian has been focused on shallow zones of oxide gold
mineralisation, down to an average depth of 50-60 metres below surface,
covering a minor portion of the 10 kilometre long structure
Caledon Resources Plc, through it's wholly owned subsidiary Blackwatch
Resources, has signed an agreement with Guangxi Taifu Gold and Minerals
Development Ltd Co (Taifu) covering granted mining and exploration tenements at
Hengxian, Guangxi Province, PRC. Taifu is a privately run mining company
conducting mining activities across southern China.
The Hengxian project is a classic example of a sediment-hosted, disseminated
gold system ("Carlin-style"), with considerable exploration potential. Caledon
has targeted the area for some time having witnessed the impressive strike
length and width of the near surface oxide focused mining that is currently
being carried out.
At Hengxian, gold is being mined in a north-east trending zone measuring up to 3
kilometres long and up to 800 metres wide. Gold occurs in steeply dipping, high
grade "feeder" structures (> 4.5 g/t gold avg.), feeding flat-lying moderate
grade (1-4 g/t avg.) stratiform zones. To date, at least four sub parallel
feeder structures have been defined. The gold mineralisation occurs on a major
regional structure that can be traced for more than ten kilometres away from the
existing workings. Access and infrastructure in the area is excellent - Hengxian
is a two hours drive from Caledon's office situated in the Guangxi Provincial
capital, Nanning.
The full potential of Hengxian has hitherto gone unrecognised and the mine,
together with the surrounding area, has been subjected to only cursory
exploration due to a lack of exploration funding. Previous exploration has been
almost entirely focused on shallow oxide zones. The drill indicated resource at
Hengxian was reported by the Chinese government's geology Team No. 4 to be
310,000 ounces grading approximately 4.6 g/t gold, with those resources having
been defined by only a limited amount of shallow focused drilling, concentrated
on the surface oxide zones (0 - 60 m depth). Exploration to date has only been
focused on a 2.5 kilometre long portion of the entire 10 kilometre long
structure, initiated on obvious outcropping oxidized sulphides.
Caledon's due diligence of the limited past drilling conducted at Hengxian shows
that the system has provided intensely mineralized sections on selected portions
of the various ore bodies.
Representatives diamond drill intersections from some of the better drill-holes
reported by geology team no. 4 from Hengxian are:
Section Hole Number Depth (m) Intercept (M) Grade g/t Au
44 ZK 14 13 50.6 2.02
435 ZK 4351 25 10.1 8.0
ZK 4351 49 14.5 5.03
43 ZK 432 45 41.4 6.44
ZK 5 49 31.0 8.8
ZK19 102 27.0 4.0
425 ZK 251 50 42.5 3.91
ZK 4255 103 29.1 6.93
ZK 4252 72 12.8 6.16
ZK 4252 90 18.6 4.02
415 ZK 152 42 20.7 3.0
ZK 153 65 13.9 4.68
41 ZK 16 10 11.1 3.79
ZK411 33 24.6 4.0
The above results are a selection of mineable intervals reported by Taifu over
ten years ago. Intervals between the higher grade mineralisation carry
significant disseminated gold mineralisation, typical of such gold deposits. For
example, drill hole ZK19 reported a 27 metre wide interval grading 4.0 g/t gold,
occurring within a much wider down-hole interval reporting a width of 133 metres
grading 3.24 g/t Au.
Under the terms of the agreement, Caledon, through its wholly owned subsidiary
Blackwatch Resources, has the right to earn a 70% equity stake in the combined
mining and exploration project by conducting exploration over a three year
period. Taifu will hold a 30% equity interest, of which one third will be free
carried and the remainder carried by a loan, repayable from future gold
production. The equity holdings will be structured through the formation of a
Co-operative Joint Venture Company.
Caledon plans to commence exploration immediately on the project, and has
planned drilling to commence in approximately ten weeks time.
George Salamis, Managing Director of Caledon, remarks; "The signing of the
Hengxian agreement marks an important stage in the growth of the Company. Given
the apparent geometries of the Hengxian ore bodies and their open, near-surface
extensions, we feel that the project can be rapidly moved to an advanced
exploration stage within the next year."
Stephen Dattels, Chairman of Caledon, reports; "With the addition of Hengxian,
Caledon Resources now has four major projects in our exploration portfolio, each
of which has clear potential to host multi-million ounce gold ore-bodies. The
lead-up and final signing of this latest agreement shows the ability of the
Company to remain focused on quality gold projects in China".
Enquiries:
Stephen Dattels Executive Chairman Tel: 020 7318 5783
Email: sdattels@caledonresources.com
Donal Douglas Investor Relations Tel: 020 7318 5788
Email: ddouglas@caledonresources.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
JVELIMJTMMATBAJ