Reliance obtains forestry permit to begin exploration in Sulawesi gold project

By Ruli Setiawan

TSX-listed Reliance Resources Ltd. reported it has received Ministry of Forestry's approval for the so-called "borrow to use" forestry permit covering its Anggrek gold mining project in Sulawesi.

The forestry approval allows for exploration in production forest areas. Access to the entire Anggrek tenement is now available and if a discovery is made, all forms of mining are permissible.

"With approval from the Indonesian government to undertake drilling within the Anggrek tenement the company can now advance its exploration program with confidence,? said Reliance President Nicholas Clark in a statement obtained Wednesday.

"Previously we have undertaken surface reconnaissance mapping and sampling, this approval now permits us to plan a drilling program to test the targets defined by our work and from historical exploration activity".

The immediate focus of the company will be to undertake infill geochemical sampling and mapping within known prospects in order to define priority drill targets, Reliance said in the statement. This will support the company's goal of commencing drill testing of the Anggrek Project in the second half of 2013.

The Anggrek property lies along a composite volcanic island arc which runs through the north arm of the island of Sulawesi and extends northwards into the Philippines. The island arc is host to a number of well-known gold and copper-gold mines (Mesel - 2Mozs, Lanut - 1.0Mozs, Toka Tindung - 1.8Mozs) and deposits in development phase (Bakan- 0.5Mozs). The Bakan deposit is approximately 12km from Anggrek.

Past exploration of Anggrek, has outlined six zones of alteration and gold mineralization. These are hosted by quartz veins in hydrothermal breccias and fault breccia zones which are up to 20metres in width and can be traced up to 1.2 kilometers along strike. Grab samples include 46.0 g/t gold from the Maleo Zone and 10.2 g/t gold from the TongTong Zone.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak