Australia?s Herald releases Q1 2003 project results
Wednesday, April 30 2003 - 10:33 AM WIB
| Project Name | : DAIRI ZINC/LEAD PROJECT |
| Project Location | : North Sumatra |
| Project interests | : Herald (80 percent), PT Aneka Tambang (20 percent) |
Pre-feasibility Study
These activities continued throughout the quarter and are expected to be completed in mid May. The aim of the overall study is to demonstrate the viability of developing an underground mine and flotation concentrator based on the Anjing Hitam massive sulphide deposit in the Sopokomil Project Area.
Final reports are to hand from Golder Associates on Mine Geotechnical, Site Geotechnical and Transportation Studies and from Western Metals Ltd on Metallurgical Testwork. The latter suggests a primary grind of 36 micron and regrind of rougher flotation concentrates followed by conventional cleaner flotation to produce relatively high grade zinc and lead concentrates for shipment.
Mining studies are being undertaken by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants in conjunction with Frank Sibbel & Associates. A cut and fill method using cemented paste tailings backfill is being planned with an extraction rate of 1 Mt/year. Plant design and costing is being carried out by Ausenco Ltd with preliminary total direct capital costs for a 1 Mt/year concentrator plus site power plant tailings and roadworks estimated at A$ 58.1 M. Ausenco are also designing the paste tailings plant.
Resource Estimation
Following completion of the most recent drilling in December 2002, re-assessment of mineral resources was carried out. In addition, the denser drilling in sections has resulted in elevation in classification to Measured for part of the Main Mineral Horizon (MMH) on which mining studies are being concentrated. The Measured and indicated Resources total 7.1Mt @ 16.6% Zn, 10.2% Pb, 13g/t Ag with a zinc equivalent grade of 22.4% using a 5% zinc equivalent cutoff.
An initial resource assessment for the Lae Jehe sector, 1.5km NW of Anjing Hitam, has pointed to an inferred resource of 8.2Mt @ 7.7% Zn, 4.1% Pb, 5g/t Ag from broadly spaced drilling. Modeling of DHEM and surface geophysics points to stronger anomalism at depth and provided viability can be demonstrated for the Anjing Hitam mine, this is likely to provide a future source of mill feed, if viable.
A tabulation of resources is presented below:
++++++++++++++++++
| Project Name | : MELUAK PROJECT |
| Project Location | : Regency of Gayo Lues, Aceh |
| Project interests | : Herald beneficial (100 percent) |
The Herald group, was granted a SIPP permit (Prospecting Permit) in January 2003, to explore an area of l0,620ha in the Meluak district of the Regency of Gayo Lues. Meluak is 125km north of Herald?s Dairi zinc/lead project. The district centers on an agricultural area farmed by ethnic Gayo and Alas people and has no known previous mining.
Attraction to the area was drawn by the apparently close analogy with Newmont Mining?s Martabe gold deposits, ~ 250km to the SW and with purported multi-million ounce gold resources. This is in turn said to resemble the Newmont operated Yanacocha deposits in Peru, which had reported 35M oz reserves in 2002.
Herald commenced preliminary exploration in late January with gridding, soil sampling and mapping at the Siongal Ongal center where extensive areas of locally derived sulphidic/gossanous vuggy silica altered volcanic float were previously observed, in addition regional reconnaissance has been carried out, starting in creek catchments shedding significant mineralised float.
At this stage significant areas of siliceous alteration with varying gold values have been discovered over 18km of NW ? SE trend of the Sumatran Fault System. The deposits occur in a corridor, apparently aligned along two previously mapped fault strands ? the Blangkejeran-Toru and the Kla-Alas extending along the valley floor of Lawe Alas river. NE-SW cross faulting may control some of the deposits, e.g. in the Siongal Ongal / Merpunge district. While most alteration is in the Quaternary Kembar volcanics some has also been found in the Permo Carboniferous Alas Formation limestones which adds another target to the search.
At Siongal Ongal, soil sampling has partly delineated the main western deposit over in excess of 1 sq km, more or less in keeping with observed pyritic, vuggy silica mineralised float. About 500m east is the Telengat deposit ? a narrower trend about 800m long trending NNE. A further 500m east is the stronger Merpunge, also apparently NNE trending and with soil values to 1000ppb Au. The mineralised float, thus far observed, extends beyond the presently gridded 1000m x 300m anomaly. Younger, unmineralised volcanics appear to separate this from Telengat and thus the altered horizon may continue under cover. No outcrop has been observed to date here and so the thickness and geometry is uncertain although the significant vertical range of the occurrences and observations at other occurrences nearby at Meluak suggest that thicknesses could exceed tens of meters or even approach the +/- l00m type thicknesses as at Martabe and Yanacocha.
To the west of the grid an ~ 8m silicitied zone in Alas limestone assayed 2.3g/t Au, 15g/t Ag, 811ppm Cu. This zone appears to trend 320?, i.e. parallel to the Kla-Alas Fault.
The Koro A prospect is a February discovery made by following float boulders up the valley of Lawe Air Panas. Pervasive argillic alteration was noted in creek outcrop and thick (pyritic?) gossan noted on a spur above although this is barren of gold. Extensive float boulders higher up the spur carry values to 1.8g/t Au and there is the possibility of extension to the NW towards the Meluak deposits. This prospect is some 600-800m vertically higher than Siongal Ongal and hence possibly fault dislocated.
Gumpang prospect was only discovered in March by observation of large siliceous boulders from the main road. Only weakly anomalous gold results have been obtained from the six samples collected to date.
There is no question that the Meluak gold district represents a major new field with potentially significant economic ramifications.
The Directors are looking at various alternative methods of funding this project.
++++++++++++++++++
| Project Name | : BELITUNG TIN PROJECT |
| Project Location | : Belitung Island, Sumatra |
| Project interests | : Herald beneficial (100 percent), PT Timah (NSR tin royalty 5 percent and NSR other products royalty 3 percent) |
Herald has a cooperation agreement over 2 x KP tenements of about 40,000ha to explore and develop hard-rock tin deposits in the NE part of Belitung, a world-renowned former tin producer.
No tie field-work was carried out during the quarter and Herald is seeking another investor to fund the next phase of work. (robert)