Newcrest, Mindoro to commence drilling in S. Sumatra gold project

Canadian based mining company Mindoro Resources Ltd. announced Thursday that it had granted Newcrest International Pty Limited of Australia, the right to undertake a drilling program, and to elect to earn a 75 percent interest in its Tiris gold project, South Sumatra.

According to company statement, approximately 1,250 meters of HQ/NQ core drilling will commence around mid-June on the Selatan Anomaly, one of three large gold-in-soil anomalies within the Tiris Project's Harimau Prospect. Newcrest will supervise and fund the drilling. At least 1,000 meters of the drilling must be completed, regardless of whether Newcrest elects to earn an interest in the Project.

The company said Newcrest might elect to earn a 75 percent interest in the project by funding US$2,700,000 of work (including the initial drilling) within six years. Newcrest would operate the Project.

Mindoro, through its wholly owned local companies, currently has a 100 percent interest in the Tiris Project, which covers 10,000 hectares in the Lebong Gold District of South Sumatra.

The principal target is the Harimau Prospect, a very large and strong epithermal gold-silver system, containing multiple zones of gold-silver mineralization, that has been defined over an area in excess of two by five kilometers.

Gold grades in excess of 1 gram per ton (g/t), and up to 10.6 g/t, from outcrop and float, are widely distributed across the prospect. Silver values range up to 520 g/t. (*)