Hillgrove to commence drilling on West Papua copper-gold project.
Thursday, March 1 2012 - 09:30 AM WIB
Australian listed miner Hillgrove Resources Limited said it will commence the drilling on West Papua Bird's Head copper-gold porphyry prospect in late March 2012 with an initial program of 5,000 meters. Drew Simonsen, Hillgrove Resources'Managing Director said the company has secured the Izin Pinjam Pakai (forest borrow & use permit) from the Department of Forestry in late December 2011 for the project through its 80%-owned subsidiary, PT Akram Resources.
Hillgrove has an 80% beneficial interest in PT Akram Resources through a JV Agreement. PT Akram holds IUP No. 40/2010 in the Bird's Head region of West Papua. Hillgrove is responsible for the sole funding and management of all exploration and development activities up to a decision to mine. The IUP covers 992.3 km2 and is valid until March 2017. "Exploration activities this quarter focused on continuing geological mapping, trenching and preparation for planned drilling," added Simonsen in the company's quarterly report to ASX.
The company said the most significant event during this reporting quarter period has been the granting of an Izin Pinjam Pakai from the Department of Forestry. The Pinjam Pakai grants Akram Resources the right to undertake drilling activities, under certain conditions, within a specified area of limited production forest. This process has taken approximately 1 year to complete but now clears the way to commence drill testing of the West Delta porphyry copper-gold target, and preparations are now well underway.
The statements added that geological mapping, surface channel and rock chip sampling continued this quarter within the West Delta prospect area, focusing on extending coverage to the south over the Rak Rak and southern porphyry target areas. With grant of Pinjam Pakai, drilling equipment is currently being mobilised to site to commence drill testing of the West Delta target. Drilling will commence this coming quarter, testing porphyry targets to depths of up to 800 m within an initial program of 5,000 m.
The company revealed that the cash on hands as at 31 January 2012 was AUD 22.5 million. Debt as at 31 January 2012 was AUD 40.0 million. The market value of Hillgrove's listed investment portfolio as at 31 January 2012 was approximately AUD 1.25 million. Hillgrove is an Australian mining company focused on developing its Indonesian and Australian base precious metals projects. The Company is targeting the discovery of world class epithermal gold and porphyry copper/gold deposits in eastern Indonesia.
Editing By David Mustakim