Southern Arc updates Mencanggah Prospect drilling

Canadian mineral exploration firm Southern Arc Minerals provided on Wednesday an update on drilling at the Mencanggah Prospect on Southern Arc's West Lombok Property, West Nusatenggara.

Assay results have been received for drill holes MCG003 to MCG011. All intersections are reported as down-hole lengths. Assay results are pending for completed drill holes MCG012 to MCG019, and six drill holes are currently in progress (MCG020 to MCG025), the company said.

At the Waterfall target, outcrops of banded and brecciated, epithermal chalcedonic-quartz veins have been tested with the objective of intersecting high-grade "boiling zones" at depth. Mineralization intercepted to date includes multiple vein zones with encouraging grades of up to 1.6 m @ 11.0 g/t gold and 2.6 g/t silver. The structural model for the area has been updated and drill holes currently underway are targeting favourable vein intersection zones.

Seven drill rigs are now operational at Waterfall with a total of 5,395 metres of drilling completed at Mencanggah to date. Three more rigs are expected to arrive on site this week. Upon completion of holes currently underway, the drill rigs will move north to the Bising and Tibu Serai targets. Surface channel sampling along the extensive strike lengths at Bising and Tibu Serai has returned high grade intervals up to 7.1 m @ 53.5 g/t gold and 5.0 m @ 12.2 g/t gold, as well as some very wide intervals of lower-grade gold mineralization up to 66 m @ 1.1 g/t gold.

Since re-commencing drilling at Mencanggah in October, Southern Arc has confined its drilling activities to the Waterfall target. Operational procedures have now been developed that will allow the company to spread its drilling operations onto multiple targets as it advances toward its objective of completing National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimates for both the Mencanggah and Pelangan prospects in the first half of 2012, it added.(romel)