Abacus Mining & Exploration Corporation (TSX VENTURE:AME) has announced highlights from a major program of delineation and infill diamond drilling on the Ajax copper-gold project located 10 km southwest of Kamloops, British Columbia.
The drill program was carried out as part of the Feasibility Study currently underway on the Ajax copper-gold project being developed by KGHM Ajax Mining Inc., a joint venture between Abacus and KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. ("KGHM"). The objective of the drilling was to upgrade a portion of the near-surface copper-gold mineralization in the existing NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource (See Ajax Copper/Gold Project, Kamloops, BC Preliminary Assessment Technical Report by Wardrop Engineering Inc., July 22, 2009) to the measured and indicated categories.
A total of 27,332 meters of drilling was completed between July and December 2010 with up to five drills operating on the property. Drill hole spacings were based on criteria defined in the NI 43-101 report on the project by AMEC in October 2008. The program confirmed key aspects of the understanding of the Ajax deposit, further increasing confidence in the geological and economic models.
Jim Excell, President & CEO of Abacus stated, "We are very pleased with the results of this major drill program, having positive implications to upgrade a significant percentage of inferred resources to measured and indicated categories. With the Feasibility Study well underway, these results together with our other initiatives provide an encouraging outlook for the robustness of the Ajax project."
Abacus is currently updating the geological model with data from this drill program in preparation for an updated resource estimate which will commence in February.
Based on the existing NI-43-101 compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment, the Ajax deposit is estimated to contain an in-pit measured and indicated resource of 442 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.30% copper and 0.19 g/t gold (2.6 billion pounds copper and 2.4 million ounces gold), with an additional 80.6 million tonnes of inferred resource at 0.22% copper and 0.16 g/t gold (0.3 billion pounds of copper and 0.3 million ounces of gold). This is sufficient to support a 60,000 tonne per day mining operation producing an average of 110 million pounds of copper and 100,000 ounces of gold in concentrate annually over a 23 year mine life.
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dave Laudrum, P.Geo., the Company's Chief Geologist who is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
Source: Abacus Mining & Exploration Corporation