All amounts are expressed in CA dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 1,006,000 ounces of gold (402,400 oz attributable to La Mancha)
- 297,000 tonnes of copper (118,800 tonnes attributable to La Mancha)
- Confirmation of an enriched supergene zone at the top of the structure
- Resource remains open at depth
- La Mancha reaffirms its target of growing its consolidated M&I resources to 4 million ounces of gold within the next few years
La Mancha Resources Inc. (TSX:LMA) (hereinafter "La Mancha" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a National Instrument 43-101 compliant inferred resource estimate for the Hassai pit, the first of six visually-identified volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) targets at La Mancha's Hassai property in Northeast Sudan.
An aggressive exploration program, started in December 2007, has successfully delineated an estimated inferred mineral resource of 1,006,000 ounces of gold (402,400 oz attributable to La Mancha) and 297,000 tonnes of copper (118,800 tonnes attributable to La Mancha). The gold equivalent of the copper resource represents 1,680,000 ounces of gold (672,000 ounces attributable to La Mancha) using a long term gold price of US$750/oz, long term copper price of US$2/lb and a zinc price of US$1,911/t.
On average, the resource is contained between the Hassai pit floor and the 300-meter level. The mineralization has an enriched supergene zone at the top of the structure with locally higher grades, and remains largely open at depth. To date, an inferred resource of 20,150,000 tonnes (8,060,000 tonnes attributable to La Mancha) at 1.55g/t Au, 1.48% Cu and 0.18% Zn has been delineated.
A breakdown of the initial NI 43-101 inferred resource for the VMS lens found below the Hassai pit is as follows:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Au (in oz) Cu (in t) attri- attri- Material Ore Au Total Au butable Cu Total Cu butable Type (in t) (g/t) (in oz) to LMA (in %) (in t) to LMA -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Supergene Zone (d equals 4.19) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zn envelope 93,000 2.18 6,500 2,600 3.31 3,089 1,236 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cu-Au envelope 1,437,000 2.29 106,800 42,720 2.71 38,983 15,593 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Supergene zone 1,530,000 2.29 112,000 44,800 2.75 42,000 16,800 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Primary Zone (d equals 4.31) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zn envelope 1,990,000 1.75 111,500 44,600 1.69 33,500 13,400 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cu-Au envelope 16,630,000 1.46 782,200 312,880 1.33 221,500 88,600 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Primary zone 18,620,000 1.49 894,000 357,600 1.37 255,000 102,000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total VMS Inferred resource 20,150,000 1.55 1,006,000 402,400 1.48 297,000 118,800 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reported resource figures were calculated using a cutoff grade of 0.8% Cu Eq, a long term copper price of $4,409/t ($2/lb), and a long term gold price of US$750/oz. In addition to the gold and copper content reported in the previous table, the Cu envelope also contains 36,000 tonnes of zinc (14,400 tonnes attributable to La Mancha), calculated using a cutoff of 1% Zn and a zinc price of $1,911/t.
Dominique Delorme, President and CEO of La Mancha, commented: "Delivering this resource estimate for the first of our six visibly identified VMS targets, according to the objective set out at the start of this exploration program in 2007, is a huge stepping stone for La Mancha. This should give our VMS project greater visibility within the investment community as it establishes the Hassai mine as one of the most promising properties in the prolific Arabo-Nubian shield, alongside Nevsun's Bisha project. Furthermore, this resource increase re-establishes our ability to organically grow the Company's consolidated M&I resource to 4 million ounces within the next few years, over three times what it was in December 2007."
Mr. Jean-Jacques Kachrillo, La Mancha's Vice President of Exploration, commented: "A $5 million, 40,000-metre drilling program ($2 million attributable to La Mancha) is being prepared to upgrade this Inferred resource to the Measured and Indicated category. The 15-month program is expected to further delineate the enriched ore zone in the upper part of the structure, and increase the volume of the primary ore zone, as the lens remains open at depth."
The Hassai mine, composed of twelve pits, has produced more than 2.1 million ounces of gold since it opened in 1991 and is expected to produce 62,500 to 75,000 ounces of gold in 2009 (25,000 to 30,000 ounces attributable to La Mancha). While the first 15 years of mining focused on the more-easily-minable oxidized portion of the deposit, the VMS structure is visible at the bottom of six of the mined-out pits.
NEXT STEPS
The resource estimate for the second target, the Hadal Awatib pit VMS lens, is currently in progress and should be released by the end of October 2009. Preliminary drill results on the second target, published in May 2009, intersected grades as high as 26 m at 1.19 g/t Au, 5.71% Cu and 1.17% Zn from 104 meters. A preliminary metallurgical study is being conducted by SGS Lakefield and should be completed by the end of October 2009. The Company plans to publish the results of a scoping study early in the first quarter of 2010 that will summarize all the technical and economical aspects of the project.
TECHNICAL NOTE
The updated resource review and estimation conform to the requirements of NI43-101 and the CIM Best Practices for Estimation of Mineral Resources. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating mineral resource, including many factors beyond the Company's control. Resource estimation is a subjective process, and the accuracy of any resource estimate is a function of the quality of available data and engineering and geological interpretation and judgment. Results from drilling, testing and production, as well as material changes in metal prices subsequent to the date of an estimate may justify revision of such estimates. To the best of La Mancha's knowledge, at the time of estimation there were no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political or other relevant issues that would materially impact on the eventual extraction of the mineral resources.
The technical information contained in this news release was prepared by Remi Bosc, who is a Member of the European federation of Geologist and an independent consultant, by Jean-Jacques Kachrillo who is Vice President Exploration and a full time employee of La Mancha Resources and by Martin Bennett who is the Exploration Manager for the Company's Sudanese property and a full time employee of La Mancha Resources. The three have sufficient experience in the resources calculation, the style of mineralization and type of deposit to qualify as a Qualified Persons as defined in the 2005 Edition of "National Instruments 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects". Based on their information, Mr. Bosc, Mr. Kachrillo and Mr. Bennett have consented to the content of this press release in the form and context in which it appears. They have read the National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101") and have ensured that this press release has been written in compliance with the Instrument.
La Mancha has established an Analytical Quality Assurance Program to control and assure the analytical quality of assays in its gold exploration. This program includes the systematic addition of blank samples, pulp duplicates and internal material references ("standards") to each batch of samples sent for analysis. Blank samples are used to check for possible contamination in laboratory, duplicates allow the overall precision to be quantified while standards determine the analytical accuracy. All samples are half HQ or NQ diamond drill core sampled on a one metre basis. Samples were assayed at the Intertek Laboratory in Indonesia, which is ISO 17025 qualified, using respectively for gold fire assays on 30g sample followed by AAS and for base metals triple acidic digestion followed by AAS.
CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT
La Mancha's management team will be presenting at the Denver Gold Forum on Monday September 14th at 8:00 am.
ABOUT THE HASSAI MINE
The Hassai mine is located in the Red Sea Hills desert of northeastern Sudan, some 450 km from Khartoum. Inaugurated in 1992, it is Sudan's first and only gold mine in production. Twelve pits have been mined over the years, generating a cumulative production of more than 2.1 million ounces of gold. La Mancha owns 40% of the mine through a subsidiary and is the mine operator. The Hassai exploration licenses effectively encompass the entire geological district that extends over 24,000 square kilometres. The Hassai mine exploration budget is expected to reach $6.44 million in 2009 ($2.57 million attributable to La Mancha), distributed among several gold targets (quartz, SBR and tailings) and VMS targets.
ABOUT LA MANCHA RESOURCES Inc.:
La Mancha Resources Inc. is an international gold producer based in Canada with operations, development projects and exploration activities in Africa, Australia and Argentina. La Mancha's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "LMA".
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