PEEL SECURES HIGH-GRADE SILVER PROJECT
Highlights:
· EL7711 covering historic Ruby-Tulloch-Rockvale silver-field granted 22 February 2011
· Ruby silver mine produced 350,000 ounces silver at 620 g/t Ag
· Tulloch silver mine produced 50,000 ounces silver at 6,200 g/t Ag
· Minor modern exploration - minimal drilling
· 1968 drill intercept of 5.08m at 6,700 g/t Ag from 90.5m at Ruby mine; never followed up
Peel Exploration Ltd is pleased to announce that it has recently been granted a 21 unit (~60 km2) exploration licence covering the historic Ruby-Tulloch-Rockvale silver-field. EL7711 is located approximately 30 km east of Armidale in north-eastern New South Wales.
EL7711 encompasses much of the central part of the Rockvale Adamellite which hosts silver-gold-antimony-arsenic mineralisation both at its margin and within the intrusion on northeast/northwest fracture zones, possibly associated with aplite dykes. Major known deposits are the Ruby and Tulloch silver mines and the Rockvale arsenic mine. There are, however, many other underexplored prospects and anomalies within EL7711, adding to its prospectivity for silver and gold.
The Ruby silver mine, associated with an outcropping aplite dyke, has a lode up to 1.4 metres wide and was worked to a depth of 120 metres between 1895 and 1905. Historic production is estimated to be about 350,000 ounces silver at a recovered grade of ~20 ounces per ton (~620 g/t Ag).
In 1968, a nine-hole diamond drill program was undertaken by Silver Valley Minerals to test the main workings at Ruby. Records of this work are poor, but it is known that the first hole intersected 5.08 metres at a grade of 216 ounces per ton (~6,700 g/t Ag) from 90.5 metres downhole. True width was estimated at about 3 metres. Three of the other drillholes intersected old workings, while values in a further three were reported only as “low”. No results were recorded for the other two drillholes. No further drilling has been completed at Ruby.
Results from an IP geophysics survey completed in 1969 suggest that sulphide mineralisation possibly extends well beyond the known silver-rich shoot at Ruby, and presents future exploration targets.
At the Tulloch mine, mined between 1913 and 1928, an estimated 50,000 ounces silver at a recovered grade of ~200 oz/t (~6,200 g/t Ag) have been won. The silver mineralisation is developed in fissures associated with three obliquely intersecting sets of shears near the contact of sediments.
The Rockvale arsenic mine was discovered in 1923, and in the period to 1928, produced 2,950 tonnes of ore containing about 600 tonnes of white arsenic. Mineralisation occurs as irregular shoots in altered aplite within the Rockvale Adamellite. Mineralisation is predominantly pyrite-arsenopyrite, but gold-silver-lead mineralisation (similar to both the Ruby and Tulloch mines) is recorded.
The Silver Point prospect lies about 2 kilometres along strike from the Ruby silver mine and comprises a pipe-like body of aplite approximately 50 metres in diameter. Previous exploration has identified highly anomalous silver-gold mineralisation in surface rock chips. Peel believes that Silver Point has bulk tonnage potential and should be drill tested accordingly.
The Happy Valley and G Reef prospects lie along strike to the west of the Tulloch silver mine. These prospects also contain historic workings, along with highly anomalous silver-gold mineralisation in surface rock chips. A strong IP anomaly between the Tulloch mine and Happy Valley which has an associated magnetic anomaly also remains untested.
Commenting on the acquisition, Managing Director Rob Tyson said: “The Ruby Silver Project is an excellent addition to Peel’s existing precious and specialty metals mineral assets and offers potentially high-grade exposure to an increasingly valuable metal – silver. Peel has commenced landowner negotiations and is looking to kick start exploration over the near term.”
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