Encouraging gold results from Plumridge

Mineral Sands (Minsands) has received early success from a gold in calcrete....

  Mineral Sands (Minsands) has received early success from a gold in calcrete sampling program on its Plumridge project, approximately 250km northeast of Kalgoorlie.Minsands holds an extensive area of granted tenements, totalling 2300sqkm, within the Albany-Fraser Province. The area was recently confirmed as highly prospective for gold mineralisation, with the discovery of the Tropicana and Beachcomber prospects by the Anglogold-Ashanti-Independence joint venture. Tropicana and Beachcomber are located 55km north and 85km southwest of Minsand’s Plumridge project. A reconnaissance drilling program in 2006, testing the thin Tertiary sediment sequence for mineral sands, intersected felsic gneisses and intermediate rocks in the basement, similar to the host rocks at Tropicana, and also returned anomalous gold results (maximum 20ppb Au) from the pedogenic carbonate (calcrete) horizon in each hole. In July 2007 Minsands commenced a systematic regional calcrete sampling program on a 1000m by 200m grid. The company has drilled a total of 3200 holes, representing 32 percent of the planned program, and said it expects to achieve first pass coverage by the end of 2007. Anomalous gold results, to a maximum 42ppb Au, have delineated several anomalies over a large area defined by the 15ppb contour. These results resemble calcrete sampling values associated with mineralised areas elsewhere in the belt and on the Gawler Craton where the technique was successfully used to delineate the Challenger gold deposit. Of the 3200 samples collected to date, 38 samples are >20ppb and seven samples >30ppb Au. Minsands said the results have prompted an infill program over the main anomalous area on a 500m by 100m grid spacing. The company said this work, which is currently underway, will help define follow-up drill targets.