IN-HOUSE MODELLING OF AFRICAN EAGLE'S
IGURUBI PROJECT IN TANZANIA OUTLINES A 700,000OZ GOLD DEPOSIT
* Modelling outlines a 700,000 ounce gold deposit
* Considerable upside potential, including four prime drill
ready targets
* Partner sought to advance exploration
African Eagle Resources today announces it has calculated an
"in-house" figure of 700,000 ounces of gold at its Igurubi project in
Tanzania, based on polygonal deposit modelling using drill data from
2005 to 2008.
African Eagle's Managing Director Mark Parker, comments "Our
geologists' detailed evaluation of the exploration data from Igurubi
has paid dividends, showing that the project hosts a significant gold
deposit. Although the drill data are not detailed enough to support
a formal resource estimate, the modelling gives strong indications of
the potential for least 700,000 gold ounces. It also shows us exactly
where confirmation drilling is required.
"African Eagle's priority for 2009 remains our major nickel discovery
at Dutwa, so we shall be looking for a partner to join us in the
development of Igurubi. The new evaluation nonetheless contributes
significantly to our growing asset base in Tanzania."
The Igurubi project area hosts a suite of north-west trending quartz
veins over a strike length of at least 6km. African Eagle
investigated several of these veins between 2005 and 2008, drilling
166 air core and 76 reverse circulation drill holes for a total of
15,574m. See below for an outline of the project and our web site
for more detail and maps.
(www.africaneagle.co.uk/african-eagle-projects-igurubi.html)
To make an "in-house" estimate of the potential size of the deposit,
African Eagle's geologists conducted polygonal deposit modelling
using Micromine software, constructing 54 sections along the
principal mineralised vein set. They then interpolated the outlines
of the "ore shells" along strike between the sections and
extrapolated them down dip to 100 -150m depth. The table below gives
the results obtained using a 1g/t gold lower cut-off and a 15g/t "top
cut" of high grade intercepts. The estimate proved generally robust
when tested using alternative cut-off and top-cut values.
+---------------------------------------------------+
| Volume | SG | Tonnage | Grade g/t | Ounces |
|-----------+-----+-----------+-----------+---------|
| 2,933,242 | 2.7 | 7,919,754 | 2.76 | 701,575 |
+---------------------------------------------------+
These results do not constitute a resource conforming to the JORC or
SAMREC Codes because the drilling is relatively widely spaced and
continuity of the mineralisation could not be established with full
confidence on some sections. Nonetheless, the result indicates that
the area has a significant gold endowment and would be very likely to
reward further exploration.
A number of parallel reefs and structures remain to be fully
investigated, notably a probable extension of the main mineralised
zone southward beneath Quaternary lake sediments. Three other prime
drill ready targets are: a 5km zone along the granite greenstone
contact to the north-east of the known mineralisation, which may host
"blind" gold zones; the northwest extension to the main reef zone,
where reconnaissance RC drilling returned intersections of 7.33g/t
over 6m and 4.85g/t over 3m; and a soil geochemical target 1 km west
of the main reefs, where rock chip sampling by African Eagle returned
values up to 27.33 g/t gold and artisanal workers have previously
mined gold.
The Company is actively seeking a partner to advance the project
while it focuses on its Dutwa Nickel laterite project in line with
its 2009 strategy.
Qualified Person
Information in this report relating to exploration results is based
on data reviewed by Mr Christopher Davies BSc, MSc, DIC, FSEG,
FAusIMM, Operations Director for African Eagle, who is a Fellow of
the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has more than 28
years relevant experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified
Person under AIM rules. Mr Davies consents to the inclusion of the
information in the form and context in which it appears.
Technical terms
A glossary of technical terms used by African Eagle in this
announcement and other published material may be found at
www.africaneagle.co.uk/african-eagle-projects-glossary.html
For further information:
Mark Parker
Managing Director
African Eagle
+44 20 7248 6059
+44 77 5640 6899
Nicola Marrin
Seymour Pierce Limited, London
Nominated Adviser
+ 44 20 7107 8000
Charmane Russell
Russell & Associates, Johannesburg
+ 27 11 8803924
+27 82 8928052
Ed Portman / Leesa Peters
Conduit PR, London
+44 20 7429 6607
+44 77 3336 3501
About African Eagle
African Eagle is a diversified mineral exploration and development
company operating in eastern and central Africa. The Company's
principal advanced projects are the Mkushi Copper Mines project in
Zambia, for which a draft Feasibility Study was completed in Q4 2008,
and the Dutwa nickel laterite discovery in Tanzania, where the
Company announced a significant resource at the end of 2008.
African Eagle has also defined a gold resource estimated at half a
million ounces at the Miyabi gold project in Tanzania, and is
evaluating a second promising nickel laterite deposit which it
recently discovered in Tanzania. The Company holds a well-balanced
portfolio of promising earlier stage gold and base metal projects,
including the Ndola and Mokambo projects in the Zambian Copperbelt.
Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, the sites of African Eagle's
projects, are all countries which have highly prospective geology,
relatively low above-ground risks and track records of successful
major investments in the metals and minerals industries.
African Eagle specialises in project generation and exploration. To
take its discoveries into production, it seeks to sign up industry
partners with records of successful mine development. These joint
ventures and, in time, the revenue from advanced projects, will
finance future exploration and new discoveries.
About Igurubi
The Igurubi project is located in the eastern part of the Nzega
Greenstone Belt of the Lake Victoria Goldfields, about 60km east of
the Golden Pride Mine. The southern part of the area hosts a number
of richly mineralised quartz reefs, extending over at least 6km
strike length within sheared and altered porphyritic granite near a
contact with greenstones.
The project comprises three prospecting licences totalling 111km�, in
which African Eagle has a current 75% interest. Several Primary
Mining Licences exist within the area, and the Company has
exploration agreements covering the majority of these.
Most of the licence areas are covered by lake-bed sediments deposited
during wetter climatic periods during the ice ages, but granite and
greenstone rocks outcrop in much of the southern part of the project
area. The contact between these lithologies is sheared and the
granite, which is strongly altered, contains a suite of northwest
trending gold-bearing quartz veins. The main gold zone contains at
least three mineralised structures, extending over a strike length of
at least 5.5km and open at both ends. African Eagle has investigated
these structures by drilling and parts of them support artisanal gold
workings.
The northern part of the area, though largely concealed by lake
sediments, is believed to be largely underlain by greenstones:
inliers of Banded Iron Formation crop out through the sediments.
The area attracted African Eagle's attention because of its artisan
mines and because the gold shows an association with copper, like
that seen at Barrick Gold's Bulyanhulu and Buswagi mines in
Tanzania. The presence of gold veins in altered porphyritic granite
also has echoes of Buswagi.
African Eagle has compiled and synthesised a good deal of survey data
from previous explorers and completed extensive follow up
geophysical, geochemical and geological mapping of its own. The
Company has also drilled 76 reverse circulation (RC) and 166 air core
(AC) holes for a total of 15,574m, targeting the known gold reefs. Of
these, 43 RC holes and 33 AC holes intersected gold mineralisation of
0.5 g/t or greater over 3m or more. Intersections include:
+-------------------------------------------------+
| Hole ID | From (m) | Section (m) | Grade (g/t) |
|---------+-----------+-------------+-------------|
| IGRC-05 | 60 | 3 | 6.8 |
|---------+-----------+-------------+-------------|
| IGRC-12 | 69 | 4 | 14.2 |
|---------+-----------+-------------+-------------|
| | including | 2 | 24.8 |
|---------+-----------+-------------+-------------|
| IGRC-20 | 109 | 6 | 7.3 |
|---------+-----------+-------------+-------------|
| IGRC-26 | 31 | 6 | 7.0 |
|---------+-----------+-------------+-------------|
| IGRC-36 | 82 | 3 | 6.3 |
+-------------------------------------------------+
African Eagle's drilling has shown that the gold mineralisation
extends beneath the lake sediments south from the known structures.
In early 2009, African Eagle's geologists made an "in-house" estimate
of the potential size of the deposit, by polygonal deposit modelling
using Micromine software. They constructed 54 sections along the
principal mineralised vein set and then interpolated the outlines of
the "ore shells" along strike between the sections and extrapolated
them down dip to 100 -150m depth. The table below gives the results
obtained using a 1g/t gold lower cut-off and a 15g/t "top cut" of
high grade intercepts. The estimate proved generally robust when
tested using alternative cut-off and top-cut values.
+---------------------------------------------------+
| Volume | SG | Tonnage | Grade g/t | Ounces |
|-----------+-----+-----------+-----------+---------|
| 2,933,242 | 2.7 | 7,919,754 | 2.76 | 701,575 |
+---------------------------------------------------+
These results do not constitute a resource conforming to the JORC
code for reporting of mineral resources and reserves, because the
drilling is relatively widely spaced and continuity of the
mineralisation could not be established with full confidence on some
sections. Nonetheless, the result indicates that the area has a
significant gold endowment and would be very likely to reward further
exploration.
A number of reefs and structures remain to be fully investigated,
including:
* A 5km zone along the interpreted sheared granite greenstone
contact parallel and to the north-east of the known
mineralisation, which may host "blind" gold zones masked by
silcrete.
* The southeast extension of the main mineralised zone beneath
Quaternary lake sediments.
* The northwest extension of the main reef zone, where
reconnaissance RC drilling returned intersections of 7.33g/t over
6m and 4.85g/t over 3m.
* A soil geochemical target 1 km west of the main reefs, where rock
chip sampling by African Eagle returned values up to 27.33 g/t
gold and artisanal workers have previously mined gold.
The Company is actively seeking a partner to advance the project
while it focuses on its Dutwa Nickel laterite project in line with
its 2009 strategy.
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