Southern Arc Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SA) has announced results from its first two holes of the Phase 2 drilling program at the Central Raja target, Pelangan Prospect.
Drillholes PLD001 and PLD002 intersected the Central Raja gold-bearing epithermal breccia zone at depth below the earlier shallow Phase 1 drillhole RDG01. RDG01 had returned an intersection of 10.70 m (true width 6.8m) @ 2.93 g/t Au (including 4.70m (true width 2.7 m) @ 5.80 g/t Au) previously reported. These new holes targeted depths of 60 m and 120 m below the RDG01 interval.
PLD001 and PLD002 intersected the following mineralized intercepts:
- PLD001 4.85 m (true width 3.3m) @ 7.11 g/t Au 18.5 g/t Ag from 56.55 m
- (including 1.35 m (true width 0.9m) @ 16.67 g/t Au 17.0 g/t Ag from 56.55 m)
- PLD002 17.25 m (true width 5.7m) @ 5.73 g/t Au 11.7 g/t Ag from 121.60 m
- (including 8.75 m (true width 2.9m) @ 10.51 g/t Au 20.7 g/t Ag)
Results from PLD001 and PLD002 support the concept of increasing gold grade with depth in Central Raja and confirm the existence of high-grade shoots within the system. They also highlight the need for further extensive deeper drilling at Pelangan.
"These initial results of Phase 2 drilling are very encouraging and highlight the significant gold potential not only at Pelangan, but also for the Mencanggah area. There, surface mapping and sampling of similar auriferous MSBs with an aggregate strike length in excess of 15 km have already identified a number of high priority drill-ready targets…" commented CEO John Proust.
Pelangan Prospect
The Pelangan gold prospect is located in the northwest section of a 13 km long, northwest trending structural corridor of epithermal and porphyry mineralization. This district-scale field also includes the Company's Selodong porphyry copper/gold prospect and the Mencanggah epithermal/porphyry prospect.
Surface mapping and shallow scout drilling at Pelangan defined extensive, structurally controlled, epithermal gold-bearing breccia zones (termed Mineralized Structural Breccia or "MSB") occurring over an area of 3 by 2 km. Five major zones of mineralisation (Raja, Kayu Putih, Tanjung-Jati, Lala and Ratu) have been delineated, comprising an aggregate strike length of approximately 4.6 km.
Phase 2 of drilling commenced in August 2008. This program was designed to test for down dip continuity of mineralization, sustained vein widths and the potential for higher grades at depth. The Company is pleased to report very encouraging results from these first two holes on all three objectives.
Drilling has identified a 'bonanza' episode within the Central Raja MSBs, characterized by significantly higher gold-tenor (generally >10g/t), low silver/gold ratio, and specific vein textures. Such bonanza episodes can localize within the vein zone to form high-grade 'ore-shoots' which can add significant ounces to a deposit within relatively small areas.
The importance of such ore-shoots in epithermal systems are well illustrated by such examples as the 'Crown Shoot' from the Cracow Mine (Central Queensland, Australia: Newcrest Mining) where 400,000 oz Au were inferred from an approximate 200 by 300m area; similarly the 'Royal Shoot' at Cracow added a resource of 390,000 oz Au from an irregular 100 by 470m plunging elongate-shoot. An extraordinary example is from the Kencana K1 ore-body at Gosowong (North Maluku, Indonesia: Newcrest Mining) which contained 1.8 Moz gold from a roughly ovoid shaped 260 by 500m shoot, (information from Newcrest Mining Limited website).
Early recognition of ore-shoot controls such as structural intersections, favourable host lithologies, and distribution of high-grade surface material will aid in determining the 3-dimensional geometry and hence targeting of the bonanza-event within the mineralised structural breccias. Southern Arc will use this information to aggressively target and define potential ore-shoots with the aim of quickly developing the gold resources at Pelangan.
Qualified Person and Quality Control and Assurance
The information in this release has been compiled under the supervision of Southern Arc's Chief Geologist, Andrew Rowe B. App. Sc. Geology, MAusIMM. Mr. Rowe has over 18 years of international mineral exploration experience throughout SE and Central Asia and Australia. During this time he has held such positions as Chief Geologist – Feasibility Studies, Senior Geologist and Consulting Geologist. Mr. Rowe has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralization under consideration and qualifies as a Qualified Person as defined in terms of NI 43-101.
All assaying of samples was undertaken by the ITS laboratory in Jakarta. ITS is one of the world's largest product and commodity testing, inspection and certification organizations. The Jakarta laboratory is ISO 17025 accredited and employs a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for sample tracking, quality control and reporting.
Source: Southern Arc Minerals Inc.