Release: Austindo updates Java, Papua exploration projects

April 27, 2007 -- Total Expenditure for exploration completed on the Trenggalek and Pekalongan projects totalled A$ 117,590 during the quarter.

 

The Trenggalek KP exploration area in East Java covers 17,586 ha.

Mapping and prospecting were continued on this tenement during the quarter whilst awaiting a permit from the Department of Forestry to undertake more extensive surface disturbance activities, such as trenching and scoot diamond drilling, on the key prospect areas, most of which lie within forestry production areas.

 

Additional high-grade gold results were obtained from new samples of banded chalcedony-quartz float found between 0.5 and 2 km north of the Paces Prospect. Three angular float samples of between 20 and 30 cm diameter returned 9.4, 14 and 19.3 ppm Au respectively with relatively low silver and base metals but elevated arsenic, antimony and mercury. Large quartz breccia boulders (up to 1-2 m diameter) and possible subcrops containing angular fragments of banded chalcedony-quartz were also identified through prospecting in the general area of this mineralised float late in the quarter. These will be mapped and sampled in detail during the next quarter to confirm whether a source of the high grade float has been identified.

 

Mapping was completed on the Jati Prospect, located about 1.5 km southeast of Paces, and has defined a roughly circular area of about 1.2 km diameter containing large residual boulders and subcrops of polymictic breccia showing pervasive replacement by variably sulphidic microcrystalline quartz and clays. This rock type is interpreted to be hydrothermal eruption breccia and contains law gold but locally anomalous arsenic, antimony and mercury geochemistry in rock chip samples, Including up to 220 ppm As, 19 ppm Sb and 2.48 ppm Hg. A cobble of banded chalcedony-quartz float found in soil on the northern edge of the area containing the polymictic breccia boulders returned 88 ppm Au; this result highlights potential for a inineralised vein system located either beneath or peripheral to a shallow hydrothermal breccia pipe. The prospect wilt be further evaluated by soil geochemical sampling to better define the margins of this interpreted pipe in the next quarter.

 

Mapping and sampling were commenced at the Kojan Prospect located about 1.5 km southwest of Paces. In this area, a swarm of at least six subparallel quartz-chalcedony breccia veins was previously identified by Antam. These veins were thought to be generally narrow (<0.5-2 m wide) and have defined strike-lengths of about 100 m to greater than 500 m. Early results received from recent selective chip sampling on some of these veins has confirmed the presence of locally significant gold and silver mineralisation, with three particular samples registering 10.1, 13.5 and 28.6 ppm Au and 209, 424 and 932 ppm Ag, respectively. Limited drilling of only one of the veins in the swarm was previously done by Antam. This program comprised three diamond holes and the results proved to be inconclusive due to poor collar positioning and probably low core recoveries.

 

The Pekalongan KP exploration area in Central Java covers 5,618 ha.

Fieldwork continued at a significantly reduced level during the quarter due to the shift of work priorities to the other projects.

 

At the Kuning prospect, a trench was completed on the Dasto structure, which is one of three mineralised west-northwest trending fracture-fault zones identified on this prospect. The trench exposed oxidised, fractured and silicified porphyritic andesite almost throughout its length, returning 47 m at 0.9 g/t Au and 28 g/t Ag and including 8 m at 2.8 g/t Au and 45 g/t Ag from continuous-chip samples. This intersection is located about 50 m east of an earlier trench that returned 9-m at 2.6 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag within a similarly broad zone of lower grade mineralisation.

 

Plans for further detailed trenching on this prospect must await a permit from the Department of Forestry because it lies within a forestry production area.

 

The presence of relatively broad zones of low-grade gold-silver-lead mineralisation associated with diffuse quartz stockwork at the Kuning Prospect suggests a possible association with a deeper mineralised porphyry intrusion. The geochemical zoning patterns within and surrounding the Kuning Prospect will be further investigated from the existing database in the next quarter to test the validity of this model and the potential for porphyry-related deposits in the KP exploration area.

 

Aisasjur Project - Anglo Strategic Alliance

The Company has a strategic alliance with the Angie American Group (Anglo) to explore for large copper/gold porphyry deposits in Papua The Company has a 20% joint venture interest in the Aisasjur Project while Anglo has the obligation to fund all exploration activities pursuant to the terms of the strategic alliance.

 

The Aisasjur Project covers an area of 9,486 hectares in the Kepala Burung area of West Papua Province. Geologically, the project area lies within one of Indonesia’s young Tertiary volcano plutonic arcs and is prospective for both porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold mineralisation styles.

 

Anglo has reported results of diamond drilling completed on the Aisasjur Prospect early in the quarter. Eight holes (ASD-01 to ASD-25) were drilled in the program for a total of 3,347.9 in but more detailed information on the drill-hole details and locations is awaited. Sampling and assaying were done at 1 to 3 in sample intervals on half-core. The weighted average intercepts reported in the following table oiliest intercepts were calculated by Anglo at a 0.1 g/t Au cut-off.

 

Of primary interest was the intersection in ASD-23 of deep low-grade copper-gold mineralisation associated with broad zones of replacement silicification and diffuse quartz + chalcedony + pyrite + arsenopyrite ± chalcopyrite stockwork in metasedimentary rock and a blind porphyry intrusion.

 

This hole returned encouraging intercepts of up to 26 m at 021% Cu and 0.25 g/t Au from 539 m down-hole returned in metassedimentary rock, and 33 m at 0.06% Cu and 0.18 g/t Au from 568m down-hole in the intrusion. Furthermore regular low-grade copper-gold intercepts were also returned in other pans of the drill-hole, starting from 230 m down-hole, and also ended in significant gold mineralisation with an intercept of 10 m at 1 .38 g/t Au from 753 m down-hole.

 

It appears that only a few of the holes were actually completed to the originally planned depths. Technical difficulties associated with the light-weight and depth capacity of the man-portable rig, and the presence of karstic limestone, meant that some of the other boles were abandoned well short of their respective planned depths.

 

Anglo is currently evaluating the results with the view of planning a more extensive follow-up drilling program. (end of release)