Australia?s Herald releases Q4 2002 project results
Friday, January 31 2003 - 04:43 AM WIB
| Project Name | : DAIRI ZINC/LEAD PROJECT |
| Project Location | : North Sumatra |
| Project interests | : Herald (80 percent), PT Aneka Tambang (20 percent) |
Prefeasibility Study activities continued through the quarter, centered at the Anjing Hitam shale hosted massive sniphide deposit where current resources are 10.0Mt @ 15.3% Zn, 9.4% Pb, 14g/t Ag. Diamond drilling with two rigs was undertaken at Anjing Hitam to the end of December. Several consultant study visits including mine geotechnical, site geotechnical and logistics and transportation took place. In addition a composite core sample was dispatched for further metallurgical testwork, which began in December.
It is intended that the overall results of the Prefeasibility Study shall be known by end March 2003.
Diamond Drilling
The Prefeasibility drilling program is intended to delineate the limits of the Anjing Hitam deposit, to enable revision of resource estimates, and to carry out limited infill drilling to observe any complexity of structure, obtain geotechnical information to assist with preliminary mine planning and provide fresh core samples for further metallurgical testwork.
The program during the quarter has delineated the south-eastern, north-eastern and down dip limits of the Anjing Hitam deposit although thin, high grade mineralisation does persist in places and in several horizons. The holes at the extremities will be geophysically probed to measure downhole EM response and signs of thickening of the conductive horizons. For the time being, work will centre on the mineralisation thus far delineated as forming the basis for the Prefeasibility Study however,
The better intercepts obtained during the quarter included:
| SOP76D | 6.2m @ 16.1% Zn, 9.4% Pb | Main horizon |
| SOP77D | 21.45m @ 18.2% Zn, 11.5% Pb | Main horizon |
| SOP78D | 11.93m @ 20.7% Zn, 10.7% Pb | Main horizon |
| SOP8SD | 7.55m @ 16.4% Zn, 8.9% Pb | Main horizon |
Infill holes have generally provided predictable results on most of the sections. The database is being updated and once the final geological reinterpretation, final results and collar survey is assimilated a resource assessment will be carried out in early February.
Other Studies
The mine geotechnical study is being conducted by Golder Associates personnel from Perth and Jakarta. Several options have been proposed. The study will be finalised by early February and a mining scheme will be drawn up on completion of the resource model.
Site geotechnical studies draw on visual inspection of the ground and relevant core by and assimilation of the database from an accurate ground survey completed in December. Specific drilling would be carried out in feasibility study stage.
Several transportation options are currently being assessed, including upgrade of local roads and linking with the existing national highway to Medan and the modern port of Belawan. Other options involve trucking or part-way barging to the closer west coast port of Singkil Baru.
Regarding power supply, the North Sumatra electricity grid has excess and growing capacity with a new hydro-electric scheme, 40km from Sopokomil, coming on supply in 2004.
Metallurgical testwork is being carried out by the Western Metals Ltd metallurgical research facility at Burnie, Tasmania. Work has been concentrated on a composite sample of representative material while the two main types of mineralisation are also being investigated separately. The desirability for a regrind of rougher flotation concentrates has been noted.
Preliminary indications from the work, prior to further refinement, suggest that 87% Zn recovery into a 56% Zn concentrate and 80% Pb recovery into a 64% Pb concentrate should be possible. The lead result is a significant improvement on the 2001 testwork while the zinc is similar. These results are considered quite acceptable for this style of mineralisation.
Tailings from the metallurgical testwork will be subjected to cemented paste fill testwork at the facility of Golder Associates in Brisbane to determine the suitability and likely cement dosage required to return, hopefully, all tailings back underground. This method would have the dual advantage of providing support in stopes and be the most environmentally friendly means of tailings disposal.
| Project Name | : MELUAK PROJECT |
| Project Location | : Regency of Gayo Lues, Aceh |
| Project interests | : Herald beneficial (100 percent) |
A 100 percent Herald owned subsidiary has been granted a SIPP permit (Prospecting Permit), commencing I January 2003, to explore an area of l0,620ha in the Meluak district in the Regency of Gayo Lues. Meluak is 125km north of Herald?s Dairi zinc project. The district centers on an agricultural area fanned by ethnic Gayo and Alas people.
Limited reconnaissance has demonstrated the existence, thus far of a 10km long belt of auriferous deposits in Quaternary (?) volcanics where gold, silver and copper is associated with pervasive vuggy silica alteration and pyritisation. The initial discoveries were made as silicified boulder trains in major creeks and exposures in road cuttings with assays of chips samples from the float ranging up to 9.98g/t Au, 61g/t Ag in MEluak Creek and 27.Sg/t Au, 69g1t Ag, 5.1% Cu in a road cutting near Siongal Ongal village. The gold appears to be micron scale (not visible or pannable) and no known previous workings exist.
The area is adjacent to a main strand of the Sumatran Fault System and is overlain by recent volcanics emanating from the Gunung Kembar volcanic center and with a basement of Permo-Carboniferous sediments intruded by Jurassic tin(?) granites, in other words a potentially important poly-metallic center. The auriferous deposits are classified as Thigh sulphidation epithermal?.
There is quite conceivably a very close analogy with the Newmont Mining?s Martabe deposits which are also vuggy silica altered, volcanic hosted and proximal to a Sumatran Fault System strand, --250km to the SW. The oxidized section of one deposit in the Martabe Group was reported by Normandy in 2001 as containing 27Mt grading 2.2g/t Au, with almost continuous exploration by Newmont since. It is believed to be a multi-million oz gold project and a strong analogy is believed to exist between that and the Newmont operated Yanacocha project in Peru where 2002 reserves contain about 35M oz gold.
A Herald reconnaissance and sampling program at Meluak in 2002, concentrating on the Siongal Ongal district of about 3 x 1 .5km, has revealed several areas of silicified volcanic bouldery float, totalling in excess of l00ha, in undulating plantation land. The largest area thus far revealed, termed Siongal Ongal Main, yielded an average of 3.32g/t Au, 77g/t Ag from 18 boulder chip samples collected from a north-south and an east-west traverse (see diagram).
A program of more detailed reconnaissance is due to commence by end January, 2003 within the farming area.
Herald is considering various funding options for this exciting new project. The possibility of forming a new company, which may also include some Australian projects, is currently being considered. If this proceeds, Herald shareholders would receive some generous entitlements prior to any initial public offering.
| 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)