| Mon 3 Dec 2007, 11:00 | | SIM - Simmer and Jack Mines - Limited major boost for Simmers` Mpumalanga |
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SIM
SIIF
SIM - Simmer and Jack Mines - Limited major boost for Simmers` Mpumalanga
Exploration Project
SIMMER AND JACK MINES LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1924/007778/06)
Share code: SIM
ISIN: ZAE000006722
("Simmers")
MAJOR BOOST FOR SIMMERS` MPUMALANGA EXPLORATION PROJECT
Johannesburg - Simmers today announced that drill results from one of its 43
surface gold exploration targets in Mpumalanga had produced gold grades that
were materially higher than initially indicated in the concept study.
Simmers` wholly-owned mining subsidiary, Transvaal Gold Mining Estates Limited
(TGME), is conducting an exploration project to confirm the findings of a
detailed conceptual study that has outlined the potential to define one
million resource ounces in the Mpumalanga area by March 2009.
To date nine kilometers of the total strike length of 70 kilometers of known
gold occurrences from Elandsdrift in the south, to Hermansburg in the north,
have been geologically investigated and sampled. TGME`s new order prospecting
permits cover approximately 56,000 hectares of the gold belt. A further 10,822
hectares of land are under application for New Order Mining Rights.
The drill campaign for this particular anomaly is taking place on the
Hermansburg Farm which falls within the northern-most block of the prospecting
rights belonging to the Company. The Hermansburg drilling programme began in
August 2007 and comprises 103 reverse circulation (RC) boreholes to be drilled
on a 25 metre grid to a designed depth of 50 metres, bringing the planned
Phase One campaign to a total of 5,150 metres of drilling.
To date, sixty-eight vertical RC boreholes have been drilled at Hermansburg
accounting for 3,115 metres of the planned campaign. The balance of the Phase
One drilling programme is scheduled for completion by January 2008.
Quality controlled laboratory results for 1,593 metres of chip samples (38
boreholes) have been returned to date. The highlight of the drill campaign is
borehole HB58 where an average grade of 6.09 grams per tonne (g/t) was
encountered over a full drill interval of 44 metres. This intersection
contains a zone grading at 18.6g/t over 12 metres (from 16 to 28 metres below
collar). Other important drill hole values, when measured from surface,
include boreholes HB46 with a grading of 3.49g/t over 19 metres, HB69 at
2.12g/t over 19 metres, HB59 grading 1.48g/t over 18 metres, HB105 at 0.94g/t
over 21 metres, HB106 at 1.32g/t over 10 metres, HB109 at 1.1g/t over 7 metres
and HB88 at 0.73g/t over 15 metres.
Selected intersections in other boreholes include HB78 at 4.58g/t over 6
metres (8-14m), HB89 at 3.6g/t over 9 metres (14-23m), HB70 at 1.68g/t over 16
metres (7-23m) and HB49 at 1.24g/t over 16 metres (14-30m).
"The aim of the Mpumalanga exploration programme is to define heap leach
targets in the near surface oxide zones and define the deeper feeder systems
of the surface gold occurrences," explained Gordon Miller, CEO of Simmers.
"Some of the gold grades defined during Phase One of the drilling campaign are
an order of magnitude greater than we had anticipated for the Hermansburg
project, given that our economic cut-off for heap leach projects is a recovery
grade of 0.2g/t."
According to Chris McKnight, Managing Director of Horizon Blue, lead
exploration geologist for Simmers and Competent Person as defined by the
SAMREC and NI 43-101 codes*, the findings validate the potential for near
vertical epithermal gold and pyrite mineralization systems along the length of
the goldfield. This style of mineralization, although different in some
aspects, has many similarities with the Carlin-style gold mineralization found
in the Nevada gold fields.
"These findings confirm the hypothesis of the potential discovery of a whole
new gold mineralizing phenomenon, totally unrelated to the mesothermal flat
quartz vein system that has been mined in the Pilgrims Rest/Sabie goldfield
for the past 130 years. Ongoing geological evaluation of the results of the
extensive exploration programme indicates that there may be other similar
occurrences throughout the region which could herald a new era of safe, low-
cost open-pit gold mining in the area," said McKnight. "At Hermansburg, it is
apparent that Phase One of the drill campaign has not yet defined the full
extent of the deposit, as initial drilling results indicate that gold
mineralization is open-ended in all directions. We will now be drilling wider
and deeper to investigate this exciting deposit.
"We have also received exciting new geophysics results that point to large
pipe-like bodies in the DG area close to the Simmer`s gold plant and we are
investigating the possibility that these could be plumbing systems for the
historically rich Theta Reef bodies" comments McKnight.
McKnight ascribed the success of these new findings to the fact that the
company had deployed a revolutionary casing system for RC drilling known as
Symmetrics.
"This is the first time that this drilling technique has been used
successfully in Africa to define gold deposits in carbonate stratigraphy that
is dominated by extensive subsurface cavities and poor ground conditions. The
technique comprises of an advanced casing system that protects the `down-the-
hole` RC drill hammer allowing us to penetrate through prolific subterranean
voids within the altered and mineralized dolomite. Without it, we would have
been unable to advance the boreholes in this area which might explain why
these gold deposits have never been identified or properly evaluated before,"
says McKnight.
Miller added that the results were an important breakthrough in terms of
understanding the deposit.
"This is a very significant step towards achieving our aim of defining one
million ounces out of this exploration programme. Given these exciting
results, we are accelerating the drill programme by increasing the number of
shallow surface drilling RC drill rigs from two to five, bringing the total
drilling fleet to ten drill rigs.
"These additional rigs will further accelerate the current planned drilling
programme and the additional expenditure incurred by the use of Symmetrics
drilling is warranted, given that our conversion rate is proving to be better
than predicted," said Miller.
Thus far, the exploration programme has yielded 123 724 SAMREC and NI 43-101
compliant ounces of the million ounce target. This excludes the latest
Hermansburg drill results, which are tabulated below:
Bore Drill Average Highlights Total
Hole ID Length Grade gram
(m) Zero cut- metres
off
(g/t)
From To Intersectio g/t
(m) (m) n (m)
58 44 6.09 16.00 28.00 12.0 18.60 267.96
46 19 3.49 0.00 19.00 19.0 3.49 66.31
59 18 1.48 0.00 18.00 18.0 1.48 26.64
89 42 1.20 14.00 23.00 9.0 3.60 50.40
69 38 1.07 0.00 19.00 19.0 2.12 40.66
70 50 0.73 7.00 23.00 16.0 1.68 36.50
49 30 0.70 14.00 30.00 16.0 1.24 21.00
105 50 0.64 0.00 21.00 21.0 0.94 32.00
78 50 0.58 8.00 14.00 6.0 4.58 29.00
47 43 0.31 42.00 43.00 1.0 10.50 13.33
71 37 0.31 0.00 9.00 9.0 1.00 11.47
106 50 0.30 0.00 10.00 10.0 1.32 15.00
112 32 0.27 0.00 20.00 20.0 0.35 8.64
109 44 0.26 0.00 7.00 7.0 1.10 11.44
88 50 0.23 0.00 15.00 15.0 0.73 11.50
122 26 0.21 0.00 4.00 4.0 0.54 5.46
116 12 0.19 2.28
90 21 0.14 0.00 5.00 5.0 0.45 2.94
115 45 0.14 0.00 3.00 3.0 0.50 6.30
80 50 0.13 0.00 4.00 4.0 1.47 6.50
61 50 0.12 0.00 4.00 4.0 1.47 6.00
97 49 0.11 0.00 5.00 5.0 0.78 5.39
104 50 0.11 0.00 3.00 3.0 1.32 5.50
130 48 0.08 0.00 2.00 2.0 0.75 3.84
113 48 0.08 0.00 7.00 7.0 0.49 3.84
50 45 0.07 41.00 42.00 1.0 1.38 3.15
98 51 0.07 3.57
79 47 0.06 0.00 5.00 5.0 0.37 2.82
118 27 0.06 0.0 1.62
125 47 0.06 0.0 2.82
72 50 0.05 0.00 6.00 6.0 0.43 2.50
119 30 0.05 0.0 1.50
107 49 0.04 0.0 1.96
124 33 0.04 0.0 1.32
100 49 0.03 0.0 1.47
60 50 0.02 1.00
110 50 0.02 1.00
81 50 0.00 0.00
62A 19 0.00 0.0 0.00
38 1593 0.45 714.63
To date Simmers has spent R25 million on exploration in the Mpumalanga area
with the aim of defining the potential for surface and near-surface mining in
the historically rich Sabie/ Pilgrim`s Rest gold fields. Based on the initial
concept study, the company raised R130 million in June 2007 to complete a pre-
feasibility study by March 2008, and a bankable feasibility study by March
2009.
Competent Person
* This announcement has been reviewed and approved by Chris McKnight, a
competent person as defined in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects as set out by the Canadian National Instrument 43 101, as
well as the South African Code for the Reporting of Mineral Resources and
Mineral Reserves (the SAMREC Code). Chris McKnight has 20 year`s experience as
a geologist and is a registered member of the South African Council for
Natural Scientific Professions (membership number is 400153/93).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
GAIL STRAUSS ON +27 (0) 84 777 4060
gailstrauss@mweb.co.za
www.simmers.co.za
JOHANNESBURG
03 December 2007
Sponsor
Sasfin Capital
A Division of Sasfin Bank Limited
Date: 03/12/2007 11:00:21 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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