Nov 22 2011
Red Crescent Resources Limited, a base metals focused mineral exploration and mine development company with operations in Turkey, announced today an update on progress at its 100% owned Tufanbeyli Zinc Mine Project situated in South Central Turkey within the Adana Province.
Since the release of the initial NI43-101 resource report on August 2nd, 2011, the planned rehabilitation of the project access roads and of the old mined pits and underground adits accompanied by mining/removal of zinc oxide mineralised material left on the ground at these locations has been progressed substantially. In excess of 3500 tonnes of mineralised material has been stockpiled as concentrator plant feed material for later processing, and it is expected that this will be further added to in 2012.
Further, given the unexpected low return from the independent resource model reported, with overall higher tonnage and lower grade compared to the predicted model based on exploration works completed, Red Crescent commissioned an independent data set review on the tonnage and grades estimation by MineRP Eurasia, a subsidiary of GijimaAst Americas Incorp., before committing to further drilling works.
The Gijima study uncovered some significant gaps and holes in the model and also problems with the coordinate system of the original licence boundaries forming the properties held within the Tufanbeyli project. Significant work was completed to rectify the coordinate system errors and as a result permit applications for restating licence boundaries were concluded and awarded by the authorities. Resultant from this work MineRP Eurasia produced a conceptual mine design on given resource block model for all areas at Tufanbeyli and completed a conceptual scheduling for open pit operations at a 2.5% Zn cut-off grade.
Highlights of the Report:
- The extensive zinc and lead soil geochemical anomalies to the southeast of these showings have still not yet been tested by drilling due to the corrective work described above.
- The anomalous geochemistry straddling the two licenses and the statements in the earlier 2006 NI43-101 technical report on Tufanbeyli by Peter George P.Geo (for Silvermet Corp) in respect of the potential within the mineralized system extending further than is currently known has informed the current site work to prove this.
- And the significant un-drilled strike lengths between these mineral resource blocks at surface and down-dip to the south-east which could potentially yield additional mineral resources are being planned for drilling in 2012 along with the extensions.
- The Tufanbeyli Zn CMDS Study consisted of 5 local Zinc deposits; Akçal, Belbasi, Camlik, Meselik, and Kucukteknecik. A selected mining zone from the Akçal Zn deposit was the only location showing significant mining potential with its high tonnage and grades, little disturbance from old surface or underground workings and its easy mining access cropping to the surface.
- At this point of the study with the information available and scope of this project, it would be beneficial to continue the drilling exploration especially with special focus on the Tufanbeyli - Akçal Selected Mining Zone.
- Other recommendation that are now going to be executed in the next stage were completion of the following further studies:
- Cost Revenue Analysis Study
- Geotechnical Engineering Study
- Pit Optimization Study
- Detail Pit Design & Scheduling Study.
"The primary focus of our exploration, development and production activities continues to be centred on our flagship projects, Hakkari Zinc and Sivas Copper," said Mr. Alan M. Clegg, Executive Chairman and CEO of Red Crescent Resources. "However, we believe that Tufanbeyli can deliver modest returns over the medium term and this is why we are taking a methodical approach to maximize its potential."
Source: www.redcrescentresources.com