Alexandria Minerals Corporation (TSX-V: AZX; Frankfurt: A9D) reports today on assay results from 9 drill holes that include shallow, wide intersections, as well as high grade intersections, expanding the near-surface gold potential at its Akasaba gold-silver project in Val d'Or, Quebec.
Significant, wide intersections were received from holes drilled from 100 m to 600 m west of the past-producing Akasaba Mine, aiding in the expansion and delineation of the western area low grade zone.
These follow-up step-out holes tested targets provided by Alexandria's initial round of shallow drilling (less than 75 m depth) in early 2010. The results deepen known gold mineralization in this area to below 100 m. Furthermore, hole #110, the deepest of the holes located just 100 m west of the mine, defines a down-plunge trend 175 m below and to the west of drill hole IAX-10-72, which intersected 1.91 g/t Au over 63.3 m (TW) in Spring of last year (See Press Release, June 17, 2010).
Eric Owens, President of Alexandria Minerals, said, "These outstanding results strongly demonstrate the potential for shallow, bulk tonnage mineralization at Akasaba. We are still early in this programme, and with the arrival of two drill rigs shortly, we will be able to accelerate the delineation of the mineralization's fuller dimensions."
In addition to these holes, DDH IAX-10-115, 300 m west of the mine, intersected 16.64 g/t Au, 16.20 g/t Ag, and 1.33 % Cu over 1.0 m, also at a shallow depth of less than 100 m. The polymetallic nature (Au-Ag-Cu) of the mineralization is a common characteristic at Akasaba, and, together with local high grade zinc assays (up to 6.31 % Zn over 0.3 m, in DDH IAX-09-61), suggest a geologic model distinct from some of the other targets on Alexandria's large Cadillac Break property group. Specifically, such characteristics are similar to either skarn or replacement deposits or gold-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, examples of which include the Horne Cu (+Au) Mine in Noranda (10 million ounces of gold produced) and Agnico-Eagle Mines' La Ronde Mine (9 million ounces of gold).
The first of two drill rigs will arrive at Akasaba this week, with initial focus on shallow drilling in the mine area in order to better determine the gold content in the un-mined veins ("lenses") immediately to the north of the underground stope. However, 11,000 m of drilling out of 20,000 m planned, have been detailed, including shallow and deep-level targets along much of the target Mine Horizon. The second rig will arrive following completion of a winter drill programme on the Company's Sleepy project, located 12 km east of Akasaba, where a 3-hole drilling programme is underway.
The Company's sampling protocol has been outlined in previous press releases, and additional information is available by request. Currently, due to the long lead times for assaying, the Company is using two laboratories, AGAT Labs, of Mississauga, and Techni-Labs, of Val d'Or and Noranda, a division of Actlabs, for its sample analysis. Because of the concern of a "nugget effect", the company routinely re-checks its assay results, and where re-checked assays vary by greater than 10%, the samples are subjected to a metallic screen assay technique whereby a 1 kg separate of the original sample is screened to a 30 g aliquot prior to a FA gravimetric finish.
The results presented in this press release are exploratory in nature and have been reviewed by the company's Qualified Persons, Jared Beebe, PGeo, and Dr. Eric Owens, PGeo. These results have not been verified by an Independent Qualified Person ("QP") and therefore should not be relied upon except for their exploratory value. There is no Current Resource underlying the Akasaba property as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and no guarantee that an economic gold deposit is present. Further work by Alexandria and an Independent QP will be required to bring the data into compliance with NI 43-101.
Source: Alexandria Minerals Corporation