| Fri 24 Aug 2007, 8:00 | | AFE - African Eagle Resources plc - Further positi |
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AEA
AFE - African Eagle Resources plc - Further positive drilling results
from The Mkushi Copper Mines Project, Zambia
African Eagle Resources plc
(Incorporated in England and Wales, registered number 3912362)
AIM share code: AFE AIM ISIN: GB0003394813
JSE share code: AEA JSE ISIN: GB0003394813
FURTHER POSITIVE DRILLING RESULTS FROM THE MKUSHI COPPER MINES PROJECT,
ZAMBIA
- Latest drill results confirm L Zone as a significant potential
resource with high grades of copper over substantial widths
- New zones of mineralisation defined in L Zone Hanging Wall
- Pre-feasibility study on track for completion in Q3, 2007
African Eagle plc ("the Company"; Ticker "AFE") announces latest drill
results and a progress update from the Mkushi Copper Mines joint
venture in central Zambia. Mineralised intercepts included:
37m at 2.42% copper
16m at 1.51% copper
17m at 1.39% copper
11m at 1.80% copper
6m at 3.36% copper
African Eagle`s Managing Director Mark Parker comments "The latest
drilling results from L Zone continue to impress and suggest that this
newly defined mineralised zone is likely to contribute significantly to
the existing resource at Mkushi. We look forward to completion of the
pre-feasibility study and resource update, scheduled for completion by
the end of September."
The Mkushi Copper Mines Project is a Joint Venture between CGA Mining
Limited (CGA) and African Eagle Resources plc (African Eagle), through
their respective Zambian subsidiaries. CGA manages and funds the
resource drilling and feasibility operations while African Eagle
manages a jointly funded regional exploration programme.
The latest results, shown in the table below, come from the resource
drilling programme at L Zone and H Zone, which will form the basis of a
pre-feasibilty study (PFS) scheduled for completion by the end of
September. Based on the findings of the PFS, a further drill programme
will be designed to ensure the bankability of the final feasibility
study.
Hole No Prospect From (m) Width (m) Copper %
MH048 L Zone 113 10 1.26
and H Zone 175 12 1.20
MH069 H Zone 224 6 3.36
MH071 New Zone 64 5 0.94
and New Zone 73 5 0.94
MH073 New Zone 71 6 0.50
and L Zone 119 37 2.42
and H Zone 223 16 1.51
and H Zone 250 17 1.39
and H Zone 270 5 0.71
MH075 New Zone 107 4 0.85
and New Zone 129 6 1.61
MH076 L Zone 256 2 3.68
and L Zone 279 2 0.43
MMU036 L Zone 132 11 1.80
and New Zone 147 6 1.33
and Munshiwemba 175 3 0.95
L ZONE
The results highlight the growing potential of L Zone to be a
significant contributor to the copper resource. L Zone intersections
included 37m at 2.42% copper from 119m in drill hole MH073. At greater
depth, the same hole also intersected H Zone, including 16m at 1.51%
from 223m and 17m at 1.39% from 250m. Intersections previously reported
from L Zone, from diamond drilling extensions of RC pre-collar holes,
include 23m at 1.38% copper in MH047, 25m at 1.79% copper in MH061 and
21m at 1.68% copper in MH062.
Indications are that, in the vicinity of these intersections, L Zone is
a single broad copper zone with a true width between 10 and 25m,
extending approximately 100m along strike and at least 150m down dip.
North and south of this area, L Zone fragments into a series of
narrower discontinuous mineralised zones of varying grade, extending
over a further 250m of strike. These are more difficult to correlate,
from the existing data, however.
An unmineralised dolerite dyke in the middle of the L Zone intersection
in drill hole the MH073 is of interest. A review of relevant RC and
diamond drill holes is being undertaken to assess whether this dolerite
intrusion can assist in defining the L Zone structure, as this would be
useful in locating repetitions of similar mineralisation along strike.
The current drilling programme includes drill holes PH222 and PH224 to
a depth of approx 150 vertical metres in the core area of L Zone and an
additional 1,000m of diamond drilling is planned to confirm the current
interpretation.
FOOTWALL AND HANGING WALL TARGETS
The drilling programme targeting L Zone has stepped out progressively
to the west and has uncovered new zones of mineralisation in the
hanging wall. The intersections so far are relatively shallow and
mostly of lower grade than H Zone, but as the grade of mineralisation
in both H Zone and L Zone generally increases with depth, these
discoveries warrant further testing. The better examples include 6m at
1.52% copper from 73m in MH071, 6m at 0.5% copper from 71m in MH073 and
6m at 1.61% from 129m in MH075. These targets will be tested using
reverse circulation drilling with short diamond tails if required. Ten
holes are planned for a total of 1,500m.
The footwall of H Zone has been little tested to date, as previous
drilling has typically stopped 20-30m below the main mineralised zone.
With the recent recognition that the Mkushi mineralisation exists on
more than one shear structure, it is likely that further mineralisation
is present. Drilling of 15 further holes for 2,100m, extending 100m
east of H Zone, is planned to test these footwall targets.
John Park
Chairman
African Eagle Resources plc
23rd August, 2007
For further information, see the Company`s web site
www.africaneagle.co.uk or contact one of the following:
Mark Parker
Managing Director
+44 20 7248 6059
+44 77 5640 6899
Nicola Marrin
Seymour Pierce
+44 20 7107 8000
Ed Portman / Leesa Peters
Conduit PR, London
+44 20 7429 6607
James Duncan
Russell & Associates, Johannesburg
+ 27 11 8803924 / +27 82 8928052
Qualified Person
Information in this report relating to exploration results is based on
data reviewed by Mr Christopher Davies BSc, MSc, DIC, FSEG, FAusIMM,
Operations Director for African Eagle, who is a Fellow of the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has more than 26 years
relevant experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person
under AIM rules. Mr Davies consents to the inclusion of the information
in the form and context in which it appears.
Technical terms
Hanging Wall - the name given to the host rock of an ore deposit that
is physically above the ore deposit
Foot Wall - the name given to the host rock of an ore deposit that is
physically below the ore deposit
A glossary of other technical terms used by African Eagle in this
announcement and other published material may be found at
www.africaneagle.co.uk/african-eagle-projects-glossary.html
About Mkushi Copper Mines
African Eagle`s most advanced project, Mkushi is located about 150km
southeast of the Zambian Copperbelt. The Company`s work, coupled with
historical records, suggests that the deposits can be brought into
production quickly and operated profitably, especially at current high
copper prices.
The Mkushi Copper Mines Project is a 51/49 Joint Venture between
Seringa Mining Ltd, a Zambian subsidiary of CGA Mining Limited, and
Katanga Resources Limited, African Eagle`s Zambian subsidiary. Seringa
manages and funds the resource drilling and feasibility operations
while Katanga manages a jointly-funded regional exploration programme.
A full joint venture agreement between the parties was signed in May
2007, supplanting an earlier heads of agreement. A Zambian company,
Mkushi Copper Joint Venture Ltd, has been established to own and
operate the project.
The style of copper mineralisation at Mkushi is very different from
that seen in the Copperbelt, occurring in association with granitic
intrusions within a major shear zone cutting basement rocks
considerably older than the Copperbelt rocks.
Copper was discovered at Mkushi in the 1920s and mined by underground
operations sporadically until the mid 1960s when an open pit mine was
initiated at Munshiwemba. The pit reached a depth of 30m and yielded
2.2Mt of ore at an average grade of 1% copper before operations ceased
in 1975, because of low copper prices and Zambia`s programme of
nationalisation. The sulphide concentrate from the operation was sold
to a smelter at Nkana in the Copperbelt. In 1990, the parastatal mining
company ZCCM estimated that 30Mt of ore grading 1.2% copper remained in
the ground at Mkushi, with 350 000 tonnes of contained copper.
The project has many advantages. The metallurgy is straightforward and
should allow excellent recoveries to a clean concentrate with no
deleterious elements, at a relatively low capital cost. The area is a
brownfield site well served by transport and other infrastructure -
there is a major power line and water supply within the project area, a
network of good gravel roads connecting to a railway and sealed roads
within 25km, and an airstrip within 10km. The copper concentrate
produced could easily be shipped to the nearby smelters in the
Copperbelt.
About African Eagle
African Eagle is a mineral exploration and development company
operating in eastern and central Africa. The Company`s principal
advanced projects are the Mkushi Copper Mines project in Zambia and the
Miyabi gold project in Tanzania, which are being fast-tracked towards
production. The Company also holds a large well-balanced portfolio of
promising earlier stage gold and base metal projects, including the
Ndola copper project and the Eagle Eye iron-oxide copper gold project.
African Eagle`s projects are in Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique,
countries which all have highly prospective geology, relatively low
above-ground risks and track records of successful major investments in
the metals and minerals industries.
African Eagle specialises in project generation and exploration. To
take its discoveries into production, it seeks to sign up industry
partners with records of successful mine development. These joint
ventures and, in time, the revenue from advanced projects, will finance
future exploration and new discoveries.
The Company has a highly motivated team, proven management and an
experienced board. African Eagle prides itself on being a low cost
operator and on average 80p or more of every GBP1 is spent "in the
ground".
Date: 24/08/2007 08:00:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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