Minor Metals News - Metals Place

Metals prices heading for the roof

2010-02-08T01:19:06Z

Speakers at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town this week seemed as one in warning of a near-term supply-demand squeeze and some solid price increases for a swathe of metals.
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They made the point that China and India will be central to minerals demand growth. And among the so-called rare-earth metals that are crucial to many of today's high-tech products, China is the leading producer and is curbing exports unless they are already processed into manufactured products. As consultant Jack Lifton saw it, stronger demand has not (and cannot) lead to greater production.

Many of the metals that are needed for items such as solar panels, super-conductors and jet engines are produced as by-products of lead, zinc, copper, manganese or aluminium mining. There is no chance of increasing production of indium, gallium, germanium, rhenium, thorium and tellurium from primary mines.

It is not the same for copper, the metal showing the second-highest price increase over the past year - lead was first and zinc third. These are metals that better reflect the state of demand in the real economy.

Chinese demand is growing and, there are supply constraints. New mines cannot be brought on stream at the flick of a switch. Iron ore is in much the same boat. Price rises will be far more restrained than they were a year or two ago.

Value-added production and diversification hold keys for growth in Western Canada

2010-02-08T01:04:26Z

With $216 billion in resource-based projects under construction or planned, Alberta has become the leading location in the Western Hemisphere for energy development.

The only question now is: Can Alberta and Western Canada show the world that the region is primed for a healthy mix of diversified industry?

A top Canadian official says yes, and he points to a variety of recently announced projects to bolster his claim.

"A lot of investment is going on across the West," says Brant Popp, executive director of policy, planning and performance measurement for Western Economic Diversification Canada in Edmonton, Alberta. "Some of it is driven by the government of Canada's stimulus plan, but it is also coordinated with other agencies of government to modernize the infrastructure."

Popp cites new investments in biotechnology, financial services, aerospace, agriculture and food processing, nanotechnology, metallurgical processing, distribution centres, renewable energy and genomics. Large investments have come from companies such as Magellan Aerospace, which announced a $104-million, 100-job expansion in Winnipeg, Manitoba, earlier this year.

In British Columbia, Maher Terminals announced that it would construct a $516-million container terminal in Prince Rupert. In Alberta, LaFarge Canada announced a $485-million expansion of its cement plant in Exshaw. And in Saskatchewan, International Debranning Inc. announced it would build a new $172-million barley plant in Rosthern.

Still, the largest capital investments in the West continue to rise from the resource-based industries. In Alberta alone, six resource projects of more than $1 billion each were announced during 2009. The two largest were both unveiled by UTS Energy/Teck Cominco in Wood Buffalo. The twin oilsands investments are $5.176 billion and $2.156 billion, respectively.

'We Have Weathered the Worst'

"We are poised for recovery," Popp says. "The forecast for next year and 2011 is pretty positive, with growth expected in the three- to four-percent range. We have weathered the worst of the recession, and we are seeing big investments in Alberta coming back on line after they were put on hold for a while. The recovery is starting to take hold. Imports of technology equipment are beginning to rise again."

The big gains are occurring in the mining and energy industries. Approximately $130 billion of Alberta's resource-based projects are in oil sands investments. "The investors are coming back," says Popp, noting that "the Firebag oilsands project (by Suncor Energy Inc.) is $9 billion. That was suspended in 2009, but it has been reinstated."

Throughout the West, about 31 oil and gas pipeline projects represent some $9 billion in construction. The largest is the Alberta Clipper Pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. "It provides capacity to export heavy oil from the oil sands much cheaper," explains Popp. "As these pipeline projects get established, the product gets more competitive on price in the world market."

In Saskatchewan, Popp says, "we are seeing new investment in potash. There is some retail expansion going on in Regina, and there is a major distribution center going up there too. Plus, a $150-million metallurgical processing facility is coming on line soon."

Fortune Minerals Ltd., which will build the plant between Langham and Saskatoon, credited the Government of Saskatchewan with passing several new tax incentives - including a corporate income tax incentive - to make the facility investment possible. The gold, copper, cobalt and bismuth refinery will employ 85 people in highly skilled positions, the company said.

The plant site has access to a main line of the Canadian National Railway and is near the Trans-Canada Highway and all essential utilities. "With a diversified economy, a highly skilled work force and respected post-secondary institutions, Saskatoon can accommodate everything that is required to construct and operate this process plant," said Robin Goad, president of Fortune Minerals.

In Manitoba, Popp notes, "there is a major investment at the airport in Winnipeg and related expansion around it. This is a $307-million airport expansion, and Standard Aero is coming in with a $19-million expansion of its own."

A Golden Moment for Vancouver

British Columbia, meanwhile, may end up as the region's biggest winner of 2010, explains Popp, after the eyes of the world focus on Vancouver for two weeks in February to watch the Winter Olympic Games.

"Some 833 capital projects are either already on the books or under way in British Columbia," Popp says. "These represent an estimated total of $179 billion in capital investment. A lot of infrastructure development is connected to the 2010 Olympics, including $2 billion for a rapid transit line."

Phil Heard, head of Vancouver Economic Development, tells Site Selection that "the Olympics could not have come at a better time for Vancouver. Our new convention center is a huge expansion and it is covered by one of the largest 'green' roofs in the world. It is a beautiful new place that will serve as the communications center for the Olympics."

Popp says the Olympics will shine a bright light on the efforts of Western Canada to diversify its resource-based economy and make inroads in fields such as aerospace and life sciences.

"The National Institute of Nanotechnology is located at the University of Alberta and supports the growing biotechnology sector of Western Canada," he notes. "Genomics is a growing field here too, as evidenced by the new Academic Health Sciences Center at the University of Saskatchewan. They have recently opened a new vaccine research center for work on animal vaccines."

With Western Canada known worldwide for its rich natural resources, Popp says that increasing "value-added production, through new technology adoption," is one of the region's primary goals for 2010 and beyond. "Our goal is to increase the value of production in Western Canada and attract new types of investment."

Another top goal of WEDC, he said, is to "transfer knowledge into commercial opportunity" by working directly with the region's research universities and institutions. "We call it capacity building," he adds. "There is an awful lot of potential to do more to commercially exploit the research and development that is going on in Western Canada."

Minmetals on the prowl for more overseas, domestic buys

2010-02-08T01:01:16Z

Metals trader China Minmetals Corp yesterday said it expects better fortunes this year on the back of double-digit growth fueled by more overseas and domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

Zhou Zhongshu, president of Minmetals, said revenue for this year may go up by 20 percent.

The company's revenue dipped 4 percent last year to 173 billion yuan from 181 billion yuan in 2008, as the global economic crisis dampened commodity prices.

Profit slumped nearly 50 percent in 2009 to 3.15 billion yuan.

"Minmetals will take advantage of the opportunities arising from due to the restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs)," said Zhou.

The central government is encouraging M&As among SOEs to build larger and more competitive Chinese enterprises.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission announced in January that the number of China's central SOEs would be streamlined at 80 to 100 from the current 129 by the end of this year.

Zhou said Minmetals would also look increasing to overseas acquisitions to help grow into a globally competitive mining group.

"The overseas subsidiary Minerals and Metals Group (MMG) will serve as an international investment platform," said Zhou. "We will continue monitoring mining assets and deals at low costs."

The company paid $1.39 billion for zinc producer OZ Minerals in June 2009 to expand its presence in Australia.

In spite of the revenue decline due to lower commodity prices, the company's assets grew 136 percent as it successfully acquired several domestic and overseas mining assets.

Minmetals holds a majority stake in Hunan Nonferrous Metals Holding Group after increasing its stake in the Hong Kong-listed miner to 51 percent.

The company also acquired two SOEs, Changsha Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (CRIMM) and Luzhong Metallurgy & Mining Group. In September, Minmetals took over five subsidiaries of the bankrupt Ferrochina Ltd.

Zhou also said the company would diversify into nonferrous metals resources.

"We aim to be the world's largest rare earth supplier, and a leading lead and zinc producer, as well as a global supplier of tungsten and antimony," he said.

Franklin Mining in Bolovian antimony mine JV

2010-02-08T01:00:10Z

Franklin Mining, Inc. announced having formed a joint venture with Planet Resource Recovery, Inc. for development and operation of Bolivia's San Antonio de Turiri antimony mine.

Franklin holds the operating agreement for the Turiri. Planet Recovery manufactures and markets PetroLuxus™ and other "green" technologies for the remediation and recovery of base and precious metals. Each company will share equally in joint-venture revenue distributions after recovery of development costs and operating expenses.

Terms of the joint-venture divides mining operations into two phases: Phase One is the immediate mining of high grade antimony with an estimated initial production of 50 tonnes per month building to incremental increases of an additional 50 tonnes per month.

Phase Two, enhanced mining recovery, will commence with deployment and implementation of Planet's enhanced mining recovery technology which includes unique environmentally friendly proprietary chemical compounds and processes.

The Turiri's main ore bodies range between 60 and 67% pure antimony; secondary ore bodies consist of 5 to 10% antimony. And a recent geological study and laboratory analysis has indicated that less than 5% of the Turiri's antimony has been mined.

With commodity pricing for antimony having recently reached $6,400 USD per ton (in January 2010), the joint-venture anticipates a quick recovery of Phase One development costs.

Nortec Minerals Corp.: Rock chip sample returns 69.8g/t gold from Seinajoki Project, Finland

2010-02-05T06:25:14Z

Nortec Minerals Corp. is pleased to announce the excellent results from rock chip samples taken from the Seinajoki Gold Project in December last year.

High grade gold mineralisation was encountered in two lines of rock chip samples taken from outcropping bedrock on the Sikakangas prospect. A 0.5m chip line returned 69.8g/t gold hosted in quartz veins within altered metavolcanic rocks (mica gneiss). A second sample taken 25m to the south, returned 21.1g/t gold also hosted in quartz veins within altered mica gneiss.

Ian F. Laurent, Nortec's Executive VP commented, "We are very excited at these results. We are looking forward to drill testing these targets. We have always believed that Seinajoki has the potential to become a multi-million ounce gold district."

Nortec conducted a reconnaissance surface sampling programme over several prospects identified within the 10,000 hectare claim reservation covering the Seinajoki Gold Project. A total of 29 rock chip samples were collected from the Sikakangas, Marttalanniemi, Kalliosalo and Kaatiala prospects during a field visit by Nortec. The samples collected were representative of the several styles of mineralisation already identified within the Seinajoki Project, including:

1. Native GOLD in dacitic to rhyodacitic metavolcanic rocks and graphitic schists, associated with native antimony, minor arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite;
2. Disseminated stratabound antimony-gold mineralization associated with shear zones in metasediments;
3. Native GOLD in quartz-tourmaline veins in metavolcanic rocks;
4. Antimony mineralization in pegmatites and metavolcanic rocks; and,
5. Tin, tungsten, lithium, tantalum, beryllium, niobium and other REE mineralization in pegmatite dykes.

Anomalous gold mineralisation (>0.2g/t) was also returned from rock chip samples at the Marttalanniemi and Kalliosalo prospects. Both prospects lie along a 5km long, northwest trending "Shear Zone". One rock chip sample from the pegmatite dyke at Kalliosalo returned lithium mineralisation (1.47% Li) and another rock chip sample from the southern part of Marttalanniemi returned elevated values (0.04%) in rare earth elements ("REE").

The Company has already begun staking claims in the Seinajoki district and will complete staking the most prospective areas before the end of February. The Company has begun discussions with drill contractors in Finland with the aim of commissioning an initial small exploration drill programme targeting these high grade gold zones identified on surface.

San Anton announces business combination with Kings Minerals

2010-02-05T00:29:34Z

San Anton Resource Corporation announces that, subject to certain conditions, it has agreed in principle with its controlling shareholder, Kings Minerals NL (ASX: KMN) ("Kings"), to complete a business combination whereby Kings will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of San Anton not presently owned by Kings in exchange for shares of Kings. In connection with the transaction, Kings intends to apply for a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") and to complete a financing to be used for the development of the Company's San Anton Project.

Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Kings will establish a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary which will amalgamate with San Anton (the "Amalgamation") to form an amalgamated company ("Amalco"). Pursuant to the Amalgamation, Kings will receive all of the common shares of Amalco so that Amalco will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kings and the shareholders of San Anton, other than Kings, will receive two (2) ordinary shares in the capital of Kings for each San Anton common share held.

On February 2, 2010, the last trading day before the announcement of the proposed transaction, the closing price of San Anton's common shares on the TSX was C$0.25 and the closing price of Kings' ordinary shares on the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") was A$0.155. Using the noon nominal exchange rate of the Bank of Canada on February 2, 2010, the share exchange ratio represents an approximately 16% premium over the value of the Company's common shares based on such closing prices, and an approximately 25% premium based on the volume weighted average trading prices for San Anton's common shares on the TSX and for King's ordinary shares on the ASX over the twenty most recent trading days.

San Anton currently has 105,195,690 common shares issued and outstanding, of which Kings owns, indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary Kings Minerals Mexico Pty Ltd., 75,000,001 common shares, representing approximately 71.3% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company. Kings currently has 424,510,871 ordinary shares issued and outstanding, as well as 6,350,000 ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options. Upon completion of the Amalgamation, the former shareholders of San Anton (other than Kings) will hold approximately 60,391,378 ordinary shares of Kings, representing approximately 12.5% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Kings after giving effect to the Amalgamation but before the proposed financing by Kings.

In addition to its interest in San Anton, Kings owns the Mount Isa Project, which is an exploration stage molybdenum/copper/gold/rhenium project of significant promise, located near Mount Isa, Australia and composed of six exploration permits and three exploration permit applications. The Mount Isa Project hosts a current mineral resource of 30,000 tonnes of molybdenum, 2,300,000 ounces of rhenium, 195,000 tonnes of copper, and 295,000 ounces of gold estimated in September 2008, and based on 74 drill holes for a total of 33,318 metres. Kings has commenced project studies to evaluate the opportunities for development of Mount Isa, with initial indications that underground mining is the preferred option, and a review of the geological model for input into more detailed underground geotechnical and mining studies has been initiated. Metallurgical test work results from six core samples sent to JK Tech Laboratories, Brisbane showed excellent recoveries of all valuable metals in preliminary flotation test work on samples from the two mineralised domains. The results indicate that the primary recovery stages will yield high metal recoveries for the downstream cleaning/upgrading stages and that high value products from the deposit containing molybdenum, rhenium, copper and gold can be produced utilising a conventional flow sheet and process conditions. Kings intends to continue with pre-development studies on the project, and a budget has been prepared for undertaking a bankable feasibility study.

Norman Seckold, the Chairman of San Anton, is the Chairman of Kings and Craig McPherson, a director of San Anton, is the Chief Financial Officer of Kings.

In connection with the completion of the Amalgamation, Kings intends to change its name and to apply for a listing on the TSX. Kings has not yet applied nor been accepted for listing on the TSX, and listing will be subject to fulfilling all of the listing requirements of the TSX. There is no assurance that a listing on the TSX will be obtained. In addition, Kings intends to complete a financing to be used for the development of the Company's San Anton Project.

Norman Seckold, the Chairman of San Anton, stated "Combining San Anton and Kings will better position the companies for advancing the development of the San Anton Project, which will be for the benefit of the shareholders of both of our companies. Moreover, we believe that the terms of the proposed transaction are attractive to San Anton's minority shareholders and they will be able to participate in Kings' Mount Isa Project in addition to the San Anton Project."

John Cook, the President and Chief Executive Officer of San Anton, added "In the course of recent financing efforts, we have received much feedback from potential investors that they would prefer a unified Kings and San Anton structure. This transaction will achieve that goal and we believe that will enable us to adequately fund the next stage towards development of the San Anton Project, which will benefit San Anton's shareholders. As an added benefit, we will also be able to reduce a significant amount of duplicative public company costs that both San Anton and Kings incur as separate reporting issuers in Canada and Australia".

Lithic files technical report on crypto zinc-copper-indium project

2010-02-04T00:57:02Z

Lithic Resources Ltd. announced that the final technical report on the Crypto project by Mine Development Associates ("MDA").

Highlights

* the definition of a large, overall resource of zinc, copper and indium at a cutoff of 3% zinc equivalent
* a significant volume with higher grades, potentially amenable to early mining, at a cutoff of 6% zinc equivalent
* since a large proportion of mineralization was classified as Inferred simply on the basis that indium assay data was not available for historical drilling, there is excellent potential to upgrade a significant portion of the Inferred resource to a higher classification simply by adding indium sample assays, the net effect of which would also likely increase its indium grade
* mineralization is open for expansion in three directions and there is very good potential for additional zones away from existing resources
* preliminary metallurgical testwork shows that:
- a zinc concentrate grading 52.5% zinc together with a separate copper concentrate grading 32% copper can be produced from sulphide mineralization using a conventional differential flotation process
- indium, gold and silver will be recovered to the concentrates
- the concentrates do not contain deleterious elements at penalty levels
- potentially profitable amounts of magnetite may be recovered from flotation tailings
- initial acid leach testing of oxide mineralization shows significant extraction of zinc, copper and indium to solution

MDA's report recommends that a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) be completed together with a US$7 million Phase One program of drilling, metallurgical optimization studies and other work aimed at resource expansion and definition. Included in this program would be exploration drilling to follow up on numerous drill intercepts of significant molybdenum and high-grade silver-zinc-lead elsewhere on the property. Contingent on positive results from Phase One, a Phase Two work program could include underground bulk sampling, metallurgical optimization and advanced engineering studies as well as baseline environmental work at an approximate cost of US$20 million.

Bonanza gallium assays from Michelle property in Yukon

2010-02-04T00:48:10Z

Bonanza grade gallium assays are a welcome bonus when crews drill for zinc-lead-silver mineralization, notably at the Michelle property belonging to Zinccorp Resources of Vancouver. The gallium assay - 1,170 g/t - was also accompanied by 60.3 g/t Ge and 24.1 g/t Ir. Previous core assays had been as high as 22.71% Zn, 17.39% Pb, 510 g/t Ag and 253 ppm Ga.

The mineralization at the Michelle project is Mississippi Valley Type, according to the company. It occurs in Proterozoic age dolomitic sediments, but the mineralization appears to be structurally, rather than stratigraphically, controlled. It is hosted by upper Cambrian to lower Devonian carbonate rocks of the Bouvette formation. Fifteen separate zones along a 12-km belt have been identified.

Zinccorp's 2010 exploration program will include at least 1,500 metres of drilling to test two or more previously undrilled zones. Further prospecting and a gravity survey will be conducted.

Globe Specialty Metals reopens silicon facility

2010-02-03T23:58:56Z

Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. has reopened its silicon metal and ferrosilicon alloys facility in Alabama that it idled during the economic downturn. Globe restarted the first of two furnaces at the plant in early January and restarted the second furnace this week, rehiring 90 workers in the process. At full capacity, this plant produces approximately 27,000 tons of silicon metal and ferrosilicon alloys annually.

On January 29, Alabama Governor Bob Riley joined CEO Jeff Bradley to mark the restart of the facility. "The reopening of this plant is a vote of confidence in the future of Alabama's economy," said Governor Riley. "Its impact, however, goes far beyond new investment and jobs. Globe is bringing renewed opportunity and renewed hope to many families in this area."

Bradley said: "We are confident and optimistic about the future of Globe and about the resilience of American manufacturing. Improvement in our end markets including aluminium, chemicals, electronics and solar panels has enabled us to restart this operation to meet our domestic and export customer needs."

Just ten weeks earlier, on November 23, Globe reopened its Niagara Falls, N.Y., plant after investing approximately $25 million to restart the facility after its closure more than five years ago. The Company brought on line two furnaces capable of producing approximately 30,000 tons of metallurgical grade silicon annually, creating more than 100 new jobs.

"We have now brought back our full capacity at two key facilities, Alabama and New York, and expect the worldwide demand for silicon metal and silicon alloys to continue growing," Bradley added.

Cardero updates project development strategy

2010-02-03T02:15:41Z

Cardero Resource Corp. is pleased to provide an update on its corporate strategy and key mineral projects following the recently completed sale of the Pampa de Pongo Iron Deposit in Peru for total gross proceeds of USD 100 million. Cardero is now focused on utilizing these substantial funds to maximize shareholder value through advancement of its key development and exploration projects in addition to potential major acquisitions.

The Company continues to advance its Pampa El Toro Iron Sands deposit in southern Peru as ongoing discussions and technical reviews with potential strategic partners progress. Strengthening iron ore markets have triggered an increased interest in this iron deposit that is strategically situated in close proximity to substantial infrastructure including highways, power, a deepwater port and an operating iron ore mine.

Given the Company's current working capital of approximately $93.5 million (prior to payment of the as-yet unquantified taxes in connection with the Pampa de Pongo sale) and significant marketable securities portfolio (current gross market value approximately $31 million), Cardero is also actively reviewing potential mineral project acquisitions. Advanced-stage projects in both the base and precious metals sectors are currently being evaluated with the impetus to identify assets that will contribute significantly to increasing the market value of the Company.

"With the recent sale of Pampa de Pongo for USD 100 million, the Company is now endowed with a strong treasury to put to work on behalf of its shareholders," stated Hendrik van Alphen, Cardero's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited to have the significant funds available for our growth plans but will remain very selective and diligent in their utilization."

"Over the past few years Cardero has also excelled in an 'incubator' role for a number of junior exploration companies within the Cardero Group," continued Mr. van Alphen. "The Company's shareholdings in International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (TSX: ITH), Trevali Resources Corp. (CNSX: TV), Dorato Resources Inc. (TSX-V: DRI) and Wealth Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: WML) have all garnered significant returns. The Cardero Group model has earned significant investor and industry interest - and has emerged as a highly-qualified, multi-disciplinary team of mineral explorationists and technical personnel that can boast a very successful track record."

An exploration drill program is currently underway on the Company's Baja Iron Oxide-Copper-Gold project in Mexico and a follow-up drill program is also planned for the Organullo Gold project in Argentina. A resource definition drill program has recently been initiated on the Longnose Iron-Titanium Deposit, as well as an exploration drill program on the TiTac Iron-Titanium-Vanadium Deposit, both in Minnesota.

Ongoing exploration and development efforts will focus on the following key projects:

- Pampa El Toro Iron Sands, Peru - advancing a large, bulk-tonnage, potentially low-OPEX iron-titanium-vanadium deposit. An initial independent resource estimate completed in mid-2009 indicates a substantial resource within only a fraction of the total concession area. Multi-phase melting tests have successfully been completed (producing pig iron) on iron ore concentrates produced from pilot plant operations at Pampa El Toro. Cardero is in preliminary discussions with major iron and steel groups and is considering both a strategic joint venture to production scenario and/or a potential sale.

- Iron-Titanium Deposits, Minnesota - The Company is undertaking a drill program to generate an independent NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate at the Longnose Deposit, Minnesota, USA. Previous work by BHP stated that Longnose is "the largest, highest-grade resource of ilmenite (FeTiO3) in North America". The independent resource estimate is anticipated in mid-2010. The Company is also carrying out a drill program on the TiTac Iron-Titanium-Vanadium project in Minnesota.

- Organullo Gold Project, Argentina - targeting multi-million ounce gold potential. Initial drill testing of the Organullo gold project is planned for Q1-2010. The Company believes that historic exploration failed to adequately test this large, pervasive gold-bearing system and that it has the potential to host a large bulk tonnage gold deposit. Recent geophysical surveys by the Company, which generated significant anomalies, substantiate this model.

- Baja Iron Oxide-Copper-Gold Belt - an aggressive drilling program is underway following-up previous drill intercepts, highlights of which include 260 metres @ 0.24% copper (within which 47 metres returned 0.74% copper and high grade replacement mineralization of 6.5 metres of 4% copper and 0.4 g/t gold).

Iron - Titanium - Vanadium Portfolio

Pampa El Toro Iron Sands Deposit - Peru

The initial independent NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate of the dune-field hosted Pampa El Toro Iron Sands Deposit by SRK Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd. (SRK) has identified an indicated resource of 241,831,000 tonnes grading 6.67% Fe2O3, 0.72% TiO2 and 172 ppm vanadium plus an additional inferred resource of 629,881,000 tonnes at 6.48% Fe2O3, 0.70% TiO2 and 166 ppm vanadium within only approximately 15% of the total 10,300-hectare concession area. SRK calculated the resource to a nominal depth of 30 metres as a conceptual mining depth to provide a 30-year life-of-mine resource. Drill testing of the dune sands has been undertaken to depths of up to 60 metres in certain drill holes, which have returned similar grades. The September, 2009 SRK report is available in full on SEDAR.

Metallurgical test-work undertaken at the US Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory's 'state-of-the-art' laboratory and testing facilities in Oregon, USA has successfully produced high-quality Pig Iron at a bench-scale level and according to design. Ongoing metallurgical testing at the Colorado School of Mines during 2010 is ascertaining the recoverability of vanadium and titanium from the smelter slag produced during the melting tests.

The Company continues preliminary discussions with several major iron and steel groups with respect to the Iron Sands project, although there can be no assurance that such discussions will lead to an agreement for the sale or joint venture of the project nor can the Company estimate a time-line for any such agreement to be reached. The Company believes that the combination of potentially low CAPEX and OPEX and a quick time to market - offering the potential opportunity to generate significant medium-term cash flow - make the projected economics of the project attractive. Accordingly, the Company will evaluate very carefully any sale or JV proposal with a view to determining the best way to create and enhance long-term shareholder value.

Iron-Titanium-Vanadium Deposits - Minnesota, USA

Cardero is commencing drill programs on both its Longnose Iron-Titanium deposit and TiTac Iron-Titanium-Vanadium deposit, located in north-eastern Minnesota, USA. Previous work by BHP Minerals, a precursor to BHP Billiton (the world's largest mining conglomerate), estimated the Longnose deposit contained 27.57 million tonnes at 21.3% titanium dioxide (TiO2), which it classified as a "probable reserve". BHP also estimated a global resource for the deposit of approximately 45.36 million tonnes, and noted that this remains open. During this period BHP stated that Longnose is "the largest known resource (grading over 46% FeTiO3) of ilmenite in North America with over 27 million tonnes identified".

This historical resource estimate is considered relevant by the Company, both for the purposes of the Company's decision to initially acquire the property and to guide the Company in formulating its resource definition and exploration program for the project. The current drill program will seek to verify the historical resources and includes re-sampling, re-analysis and an independent NI 43-101 resource calculation, which will be completed by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. In parallel with this work, planned metallurgical work will build on work previously completed by Pickands-Mather, Hazen Research and the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI). Results are anticipated by mid-2010.

The Company cautions that both the BHP report and the included resource estimate were prepared before the introduction of NI 43-101, and are therefore historical in nature and the Company is not treating such resources as a current resource under NI 43-101. Investors are further cautioned that a qualified person has not yet completed sufficient work to be able to verify the historical resources, and therefore they should not be relied upon.

Gold Projects

Organullo Bulk Tonnage Gold Prospect - Argentina

The 100% owned 6,100-hectare Organullo property is located in Salta Province, NW Argentina. The Company is evaluating a large gold-endowed system where the geological features share similarities with the deeper, structurally controlled, epithermal gold mineralization at El Indio in Chile. The Company believes historic exploration failed to adequately test this large, pervasive gold-bearing system and it has the potential to host a large bulk-tonnage gold (with accessory copper and bismuth) deposit.

Earliest recorded work in the area of the Organullo property comes from reports of small-scale production from the Julio Verne mine during the 1930's. Mining activity focussed on two high-grade, sub-parallel veins with concentrates reported to average between 10-20 g/t gold, 8.2% copper and 12.5% bismuth. Most recently, in 1994-1995, Triton Mining Corp. and Northern Orion Explorations, Ltd. jointly conducted a mapping and prospecting campaign and completed a 17-hole, 3,295-metre reverse circulation (RC) drill program. This was followed with a 6-hole diamond drill program in 1997 and an additional 12-hole RC drill program in 1999 by Northern Orion. Despite the aggressive historic drilling, it appears that most of those holes were oriented parallel to mineralized structures and consequently either missed completely the main target structure identified at the Julio Verne mine or provided intersections that are not representative. In addition, recoveries were very poor, on the order of 20-30%, due to loss of potentially mineralized clay rich zones and high groundwater saturation.

Potential remains open at depth below the Julio Verne workings, along strike of known mineralization and along postulated parallel structures that remain untested.

The Company successfully completed its Phase 1 exploration program in mid-December 2009, undertaking components of mapping, soil and rock sampling, and ground geophysics. Initial drill testing is scheduled to occur in late Q1-2010.

Textures, geochemistry, host rocks and alteration assemblages are consistent with the high-sulphidation styles of epithermal mineralization that host prolific gold mineralization elsewhere in the central Andes. Detailed structural and alteration surveys indicate significant hydrothermal fluid activity on the property associated with epithermal mineralization. Drilling will test the potential for large Bajo de la Alumbrera or El Salvador-style porphyry deposits at depth.

Copper - Gold Projects

Baja Iron Oxide-Copper-Gold (IOCG) Belt

Recent structural re-interpretation and analysis has successfully developed multiple bulk-tonnage copper-gold targets on the Company's Baja Iron Oxide-Copper-Gold project. Previous exploration by Anglo American and Cardero successfully intersected locally productive and large pervasive IOCG systems at the Picale and San Fernando prospects in addition to identifying several other large copper bearing IOCG targets. Technical reports with respect to the results of previous work by Anglo and the Company at the Baja IOCG project are available on SEDAR.

Drill highlights ranged from 260 to 280 metres @ 0.20% to 0.24% copper & 19% iron within which higher-grade intervals occur, ranging from 31 to 47 metres at 0.96% to 0.74% copper at San Fernando. At Picale previous exploration drilling by Cardero intersected high-grade mineralization in a flat lying replacement body - highlights include 6.5 metres @ 4% copper and 0.4 g/t gold. Current exploration drilling is testing the test bulk tonnage copper targets at the San Fernando, San Jose and Santa Maria prospects.

Happy Creek drills up to 17.7 g/t rhenium in Highland Valley, BC

2010-02-03T02:06:07Z

Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. announced preliminary results of additional geochemical1 analyses performed on a portion of one of its drill holes from the Rateria property.

A portion of drill hole R09-06 from Zone 2 has returned 7.5 metres containing 7.2 g/t (grams per tonne) rhenium, along with 0.34 percent copper and 0.085 percent molybdenum. Individual samples indicate up to 17.7 g/t rhenium over 1.5 metres. Mineralization in R09-06 remains open in extent.

Rhenium (Re) is a metal primarily used in making high temperature super-alloys and catalysts. Rhenium prices are currently around $6.25 per gram2, and have recently ranged up to $12.00 per gram over the past few years.

David Blann, President of Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. states "We are pleasantly surprised to see values up to seventeen grams per tonne rhenium in the first drill hole analyzed. This discovery significantly adds to the potential value of the copper-molybdenum zones we have already identified, and I expect it will play a role in our exploration goals in Highland Valley. We look forward to providing further information when we receive more complete assay results for this and our other drill holes."

Happy Creek's 100 percent owned Highland Valley project is comprised of the West Valley and Rateria property. These properties comprise over 140 square kilometres that adjoin the west and east side, respectively, of Teck Resources Ltd.'s Highland Valley Copper mine property, Canada's largest copper producer. The Highland Valley Copper mine is currently mining material grading approximately 0.32 percent copper. On the Rateria property, the Company has discovered by drilling two new zones containing potentially economic copper grades that remain undefined and open in extent. Drill results from Zone 2 for which rhenium analyses are pending include 177.0 metres grading 0.377 percent copper, including 27.0 metres grading 1.05 percent copper, 0.019 percent molybdenum, 5.0 g/t silver and 0.24 g/t gold.

Exploration on the Rateria property during 2010 is planned to include drilling, geology and additional three dimensional induced polarization and magnetic geophysical surveys.

Simcoa to increase silicon production by 50%

2010-02-03T01:36:06Z

Simcoa Operations will increase production to 48,000 tpy when a third arc furnace is commissioned in August next year, the company said.

Globe Metals: high-grade drill results from Kanyika Niobium project

2010-02-02T04:17:10Z

African-focused resource company Globe Metals & Mining (ASX: GBE) has announced further high-grade results from the second batch of 2009 infill drilling results at its Kanyika Niobium Project in Malawi.

The infill RC drilling program was designed solely to upgrade the resource category of selected areas of the deposit to the JORC Measured and Indicated categories.

The company received very high grade, near surface mineralisation intersected in multiple drillholes, including KARC170 16m @ 11,725ppm Nb2O5, 871ppm Ta2O5, 467ppm U3O8 (from 0m), incl. 3m @ 27,974ppm Nb2O5, 2,225ppm Ta2O5, 1,127ppm U3O8 (from 10m) KARC176 29m @ 9,717ppm Nb2O5, 447ppm Ta2O5, 336ppm U3O8 (from 5m), incl. 13m @ 14,766ppm Nb2O5, 730ppm Ta2O5, 523ppm U3O8 (from 19m).

The upgraded resource estimate is due toward the end of Q1 2010. This will feed directly in to the pit optimisation, mine design and scheduling components of the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS).

Additional infill drilling results expected shortly.

Globe Executive Chairman Mark Sumich said the company had always been very comfortable with the geological and resource model.

"These additional infill drilling results continue to confirm the overall robustness of the resource, and the significant high grade areas of mineralisation at or near surface," Mr Sumich said.

"The significance of these high-grade mineralised zones is that they are likely to mined first, to enhance Project economics. The grades reported in this market release are markedly superior to the overall resource grade.

"The upgraded JORC resource to be released in Q1 2010 will be a key component of the BFS, and a significant milestone."

All twenty four RC drill holes reported in this market release intersected significant mineralisation at relatively shallow depths in the northern Milenje Zone. The extremely robust nature of the deposit continues to be confirmed in these RC infill drill results, which show excellent consistency of geology and high-grade mineralised zones. In addition, wider, moderate grade zones continue to be intersected at deeper levels in the northern Milenje Zone.
The existing total JORC inferred and indicated resource is currently 55.1Mt @ 3,000ppm Nb2O5, which includes 24Mt @ 3,800ppm Nb2O5.

Globe's main focus is the multicommodity (niobium uranium tantalum and zircon) Kanyika Niobium Project in central Malawi. A Bankable Feasibility Study was commissioned in August 2009, and production is planned to commence in 2012 at a rate of 3000tpa niobium metal, principally in the form of ferro-niobium. Mine life will be in excess of 20 years.

Globex's rare earth property returns significant assays

2010-02-02T04:13:08Z

Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. is pleased to provide shareholders with assay results from surface grab sampling of outcrops and possibly large boulders for rare earth elements on our 100% owned Turner Falls property in Villedieu Township, Quebec approximately 45 kilometres east of Kipawa.

Fifteen (15) rock samples were analysed for, among other things, trace elements including rare earths. Many of the assays are anomalous and two are very anomalous in Heavy and Light Rare Earths and Yttrium as indicated in the table below:

-------------------------------------------------------
Sample 12375 Sample 29469
-------------------------------------------------------
TREO+Y 4.57% 3.60%
-------------------------------------------------------
HREO+Y 1.58% 0.53%
-------------------------------------------------------
Ratio: HREO+Y/TREO+Y 34.6% 14.7%
-------------------------------------------------------

Note: TREO+Y=Total Rare Earth Oxides plus Yttrium

HREO+Y=Heavy Rare Earth Oxides plus Yttrium

When evaluating rare earth assays, the higher the ratio of heavy rare earth oxides to the total rare earth oxide content, the better the potential of the prospect. The ratios of the two samples above, indicate positive exploration potential. In addition, the two samples assayed 5.62% and 4.09% Zirconium Oxide (ZrO2) respectively and the first sample contained 1.15% Niobium Oxide (Nb2O5).

The Turner Falls area was prospected in the 1950's and a showing of rare earths, niobium oxide and uranium was discovered in Grenville rocks. Reports in Quebec Government files indicate an average of 8.05% Rare Earths Oxides and 2.04% Niobium Oxide in 4 samples (GM6623-A) taken over a strike length of at least 400 meters (GM 43492).

The Turner Falls Property is part of the over 20,000 hectare Hunter's Point Property where a number of showings of uranium and gold have produced assays of up to 7.7% U3O8 and 1.1 oz/ton gold. In addition, recent work has located showings of anomalous and high grade rare earth values on the property in areas other than the Turner Falls showing.

Below are tables reporting in parts per million (ppm) the abundance of rare earths elements in the 15 samples (1000 ppm= 1 g/t).

------------------------------------------------------------
Light Rare Earths
------------------------------------------------------------
Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymi Neodymium Samarium
Sample # (La) (Ce) um (Pr) (Nd) (Sm)
------------------------------------------------------------
12370 39.9 163 10.6 38.9 10.1
------------------------------------------------------------
12371 14.1 37.6 4.73 21 7.2
------------------------------------------------------------
12372 3.1 26 1.59 7.9 4
------------------------------------------------------------
12373 82.4 285 20.7 65.9 11.4
------------------------------------------------------------
12374 2.6 8.8 0.92 3.7 2
------------------------------------------------------------
12375 4980 11900 1510 5720 1450
------------------------------------------------------------
29468 81.8 1190 27.8 102 31.6
------------------------------------------------------------
29469 6770 12800 1440 4400 850
------------------------------------------------------------
29470 183 385 43.3 147 25.8
------------------------------------------------------------
29471 122 321 31.1 108 24.1
------------------------------------------------------------
29472 57.9 146 14.8 52.4 11.7
------------------------------------------------------------
29473 3.8 15.3 1.02 3.7 1.4
------------------------------------------------------------
29474 16.9 86 6.53 30.4 11.5
------------------------------------------------------------
29475 26.8 50.8 5.83 20.4 4.3
------------------------------------------------------------
29476 9.6 19.5 2.64 10.7 2.6
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
Heavy Rare Earths
------------------------------------------------------------------
Sample# Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium
(Eu) (Gd) (Tb) (Dy) (Ho)
------------------------------------------------------------------
12370 1.1 10.9 2.5 17.7 3.9
------------------------------------------------------------------
12371 0.77 8.6 2 14.3 3.2
------------------------------------------------------------------
12372 0.77 5.2 1.5 10.5 2.3
------------------------------------------------------------------
12373 1.05 7.4 1.2 6.5 1.4
------------------------------------------------------------------
12374 0.42 4 1.3 11.3 3
------------------------------------------------------------------
12375 154 1260 263 1770 369
------------------------------------------------------------------
29468 3.5 37 9.7 68.8 15.1
------------------------------------------------------------------
29469 73 573 91.3 508 101
------------------------------------------------------------------
29470 2.19 19.5 3.7 24.5 5.4
------------------------------------------------------------------
29471 3.28 20.9 4.7 33.4 7.7
------------------------------------------------------------------
29472 0.58 9.6 1.6 9.6 1.9
------------------------------------------------------------------
29473 0.22 1.7 0.5 3.4 0.8
------------------------------------------------------------------
29474 1.42 13.3 3 20.6 4.5
------------------------------------------------------------------
29475 0.2 3.7 0.7 4.3 0.9
------------------------------------------------------------------
29476 0.8 2.4 0.4 2.8 0.6
------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
Heavy Rare Earths
--------------------------------------------------------
Sample# Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutecium
(Er) (Tm) (Yb) (Lu)
--------------------------------------------------------
12370 12.6 2.13 14.4 1.99
--------------------------------------------------------
12371 10.7 1.85 12.8 1.85
--------------------------------------------------------
12372 7.5 1.32 8.4 1.1
--------------------------------------------------------
12373 4.8 0.98 7.8 1.56
--------------------------------------------------------
12374 11.8 2.06 15.2 2.44
--------------------------------------------------------
12375 1150 174 1100 138
--------------------------------------------------------
29468 48.8 8.49 59.5 8.65
--------------------------------------------------------
29469 292 42.4 281 41.3
--------------------------------------------------------
29470 17.7 3.07 21.1 3.06
--------------------------------------------------------
29471 26 4.43 29.5 4
--------------------------------------------------------
29472 5.5 0.82 5.8 0.97
--------------------------------------------------------
29473 2.7 0.51 3.9 0.6
--------------------------------------------------------
29474 14.5 2.34 15 1.94
--------------------------------------------------------
29475 3.1 0.53 3.9 0.68
--------------------------------------------------------
29476 1.6 0.24 1.6 0.26
--------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Elements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sample# Yttrium (Y) Zirconium (Zr) Hafnium (Hf) Thorium (Th) Uranium (U)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12370 104 2230 54.5 119 9.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12371 86 1190 26.3 19.3 7.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12372 51 236 6.2 31.5 7.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12373 40 1680 47.8 116 14.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12374 61 45 1.7 16.2 50.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12375 6700 41600 1060 3105 1550
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29468 273 4620 98.7 171 60.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29469 2360 30300 679 898 197
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29470 127 1230 26.9 20.5 11.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29471 172 1240 31.4 60.3 10.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29472 49 1140 24.5 8.3 2.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29473 20 120 5.1 10.3 3.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29474 134 778 16.4 33.9 3.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29475 28 860 17.7 4.8 1.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
29476 16 72 1.7 0.9 0.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Velocity Minerals announces molybdenum project update

2010-01-29T08:48:41Z

Velocity Minerals Ltd. announced further analytical results from the 2009 programs of work at the Company's 100% owned Mt. Haskin and Cassiar Moly molybdenum properties in northern British Columbia. Acquired in 2008, the properties were the object of rehabilitation, rock sampling and drilling during the 2009 field season. All analytical results have now been received and added to the Company's data base.

Mt. Haskin Molybdenum Property

The Company recently received assay results for the four holes (VEL 14-09, VEL 15-09, VEL 16-09 and VEL 17-09, totalling 783 meters (2567 ft) completed this season on the Mt. Haskin property, which are summarized as follows:

Drill Hole VEL 14-09, vertical, total depth 145 meters (477 ft), was located 60 meters NE of drill hole VEL 01-08 and encountered a 46.3 meter interval from 5.2 meters (17 ft) to 45.9 meters (152 ft) with an average grade of 0.13% Mo, including 7.6 meters (25 ft), from 5.2 meters (17 ft) to 12.7 m (42 ft) with an average grade of 0.255% Mo.

Drill Hole VEL 15-09, vertical, total depth 200 meters (657 ft.) located 50 meters NNW of drill hole VEL 01-08, tested a possible SW extension of the main molybdenum zone. Narrow widths of "good" molybdenite mineralization were located within a long intercept of low grade material: 67 meters (220 feet) from 11.3 m (37 feet) to 78.3 m (257 ft) graded 0.021% Mo, including 1.52 m (5 feet) intervals of 0.79% Mo, 0.05% Mo and 0.06% Mo respectively. A deep 0.91 meter (3 feet) interval from 145.4 m (477 feet) to 146.3 m (480 feet) returned 53 g/tonne (1.7 oz) silver, 0.2% bismuth, 0.1% copper, 0.12% manganese, 0.05% lead and 0.1% zinc.

Drill Hole VEL 16-09, vertical, total depth 173 meters (567 feet), located 75 meters NW of drill hole VEL 11-08, intersected 70.1 meters of 0.07% Mo from 32.6 m (107 ft) to 102.7 m (337 ft), including a 24.4 m section of 0.16% Mo from 41.7 m (137 ft) to 66.1 m (217 ft). This drill hole also intersected elevated values of copper, gold, zinc, lead and manganese.

Drill Hole VEL 17-09, vertical, total depth 264 meters (866 ft), located 240 meters SW of drill hole VEL 02-08, was a step-out hole that failed to intersect any significant molybdenum mineralization.

The Mt. Haskin property continues to demonstrate near-surface molybdenite mineralization with grades that elsewhere have been successfully mined. The extensive data base of geological and analytical information is currently being reviewed and a program of further exploration is planned.

Cassiar Moly Molybdenum Property

Due to inclement weather and the early onset of winter conditions, the drilling program was suspended at Cassiar Moly on the first drill hole at 260 feet before reaching the intended target zone. The rig was left on the drill pad and as soon as weather permits drilling will continue. Of note, although the intended target, a richly mineralized shear zone, was not reached before drilling was suspended; the first drill hole had anomalous Mo values from the surface to total depth of 260 ft. Unexpectedly and of tremendous encouragement to management, assay results showed a grade of 0.02% Mo from 62 feet to 260 feet.

The Company, in a News Release dated October 29th, 2009, reported that it is "...encouraged by results of the underground sampling program since it appears that Zone A and Zone B may define a zone of strong molybdenite mineralization with apparent dimensions of not less than 110 meters width and 267 meters length...". Surface and underground geological work strongly suggest that the mineralization is related to a north-northeast trending fault system that may represent a deep feeder structure. Vertical persistence to at least 250 meters from surface has been shown and the mineral zones found underground are open along strike and at depth. Available data are being assembled and a program of exploration work is being planned.

US Department of Commerce files final determination for silicon metal from China

2010-01-28T08:51:38Z

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced the final results of its antidumping duty (AD) administrative review for silicon metal from China, making changes in the margins compared to the preliminary results based upon the analysis of the comments and information received from the involved actors.

Accordingly, the DOC has made revisions to the margin calculations in the final results for Jiangxi Gangyuan Silicon Industry Company (Jiangxi Gangyuan) and Shanghai Jinneng International Trade Co. (Shanghai Jinneng) but has stuck to its preliminary decision that two respondents, Datong Jinneng and Lao Silicon, did not make sales to the US of the subject merchandise during the period of the review. The period of the review launched on July 30, 2008 covers June 1, 2007 through May 31, 2008.

The DOC's dumping margins for this period are as follows: Jiangxi Gangyuan, 50.02 percent; Shanghai Jinneng, 23.16 percent and other China-wide entity, 139.49 percent.

As publicized by the DOC on July 9, 2010, the margin in the preliminary results of the review for Shanghai Jinneng was 41.81 percent and for Jiangxi Gangyuan was 55.25 percent. The China-wide rate did not change in the final determination.

SMG Indium completes $5.8m private placement

2010-01-28T07:58:25Z

SMG Indium Resources has closed a private placement for total gross proceeds of US$5,818,000. Rodman & Renshaw acted as placement agent for the offering.

SMG plans to use the net proceeds to purchase and stockpile processed and mined indium ingots and for general corporate and working capital purposes.

"Our shareholders will have the ability to invest in a company whose value will be tied to its interest in indium in a manner that does not directly include the risks associated with ownership of companies that explore for, mine and process indium," said a company spokesperson

Confluence Solar announces $200m silicon plant in Tennessee

2010-01-28T07:57:21Z

Confluence Solar Inc. plans to build a $200 million solar manufacturing plant in East Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen and company officials announced Thursday.

John DeLuca, a co-founder of the Hazelwood, Mo.-based company, said the 200,000-square-foot facility in Clinton is projected to create 250 jobs once it reaches full capacity. Depending on demand, that could be as soon as within 18 months, but the company said as few as 50 and 75 people will be enough to get operations started.

DeLuca, who once worked at the U.S. Energy Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said the choice of the site off Interstate 75 in Anderson County was strengthened by the proximity to the lab and to the new stimulus-funded Solar Institute at the University of Tennessee.

"For a small startup company like ours, it is hard to overstate the importance of being close to ... the people and the analytical resources available there," he said.

He also cited the polysilicon plants being built in Tennessee by Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. and Wacker Chemie AG. Both plants will produce the material used by Confluence Solar to make premium quality silicon ingots for solar cells.

DeLuca said 17 other Tennessee communities competed for the plant.

Bredesen said Thursday's announcement was evidence that Tennessee's emphasis on green energy investment is paying off.

"I'm becoming convinced that it's increasingly difficult for companies in the clean energy sector to ignore the momentum that we're building in Tennessee," he said.

The governor also noted that the announcement comes on the heels of another Clinton company, SL America Corp., winning a major contract to make automatic shifter assemblies for the new Volkswagen plant being built in Chattanooga.

"No matter what the weather is around the state, I think the sun is shining in Anderson County right now," he said.

Bredesen said Thursday's announcement was distinct from efforts to attract what he has called a "major" commercial investment related to Tennessee's biofuels program.

Western Standard options Vinasale gold project in Alaska

2010-01-28T07:52:52Z

Freegold Ventures Limited -ITF: TSX ("Freegold") and Western Standard Metals Ltd. - WSM: TSX.V ("Western Standard") and are pleased to announce that they have signed an Option Agreement whereby Western Standard may earn a 50% interest in the Vinasale gold project ("Project") located in central Alaska. The Project is located in the Kuskokwim Mineral Belt, a northeast trending belt of intrusion related gold deposits that includes the 39 million ounce Donlin Creek deposit and the past producing Nixon Fork gold mine.

The Vinasale Project is located in the McGrath Mining District in the Kuskokwim region of central Alaska. The Kuskokwim region is underlain by sedimentary rocks of the Upper Cretaceous Kuskokwim Group that have been intruded by a suite of Late Cretaceous to Tertiary granitic rocks. Placer gold deposits are associated with several of these intrusions and recorded production totals 2.5 million ounces. At Vinasale, a Late Cretaceous quartz monzonite stock forms a prominent hill and is spatially and temporally associated with gold mineralization. The stock has a number of intrusive phases and is variably altered to a mineral assemblage including silica, sericite, dolomite, chlorite, tourmaline and sulphides. Sulphides occur as disseminations and in quartz-dolomite veins and breccias, and are primarily pyrite and arsenopyrite with lesser stibnite, sphalerite and galena, and minor silver and lead antimony sulphides. Higher concentrations of gold are associated with zones of quartz-sulphide veining and fracturing hosted by silica and sericite altered quartz monzonite.

Gold mineralization was first discovered at Vinasale by Central Alaskan Gold Company (CAG) in 1989. Exploration from 1990 to 1993 by CAG and their joint venture partner, Placer Dome, consisted of soil sampling, geophysics, diamond drilling (5,285 metres in 39 holes) and metallurgy. While the gold mineralization was found to be refractory, metallurgical testwork indicates that greater than 95% of the gold reports to the sulphide concentrate, thereby considerably reducing the volume of material required to be oxidized before extraction by cyanide. The Project was subsequently optioned by ASA-Montague and additional soil sampling, diamond drilling (5,262 metres in 26 holes) and metallurgy were completed in 1994. Drilling intersected significant gold values beneath multi-element soil anomalies in the Northeast, Central and South zones (Table 1). A resource of 925,000 ounces of gold (14.5 million tonnes grading 1.95 grams/tonne) was estimated for the Central Zone by Derry Michener, Booth and Wahl (1994) as part of a Prefeasibility study. (Note that the resource figures are historical in nature and are provide for information purposes only; they are not NI43-101 compliant and as such should not be relied upon).

Table 1: Selected drill intersections from the Vinasale deposit, central Alaska.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interval
Hole Number From (m) To (m) (m) Gold (g/t)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM90-01 66.20 157.58 91.38 1.63
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM90-02 3.05 43.43 40.39 1.37
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM90-03 18.90 71.63 52.73 2.46
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM91-01 0.00 177.39 177.39 1.91
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM91-03 1.01 171.91 170.90 0.89
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM91-09 0.00 25.30 25.30 2.28
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM91-28 37.03 54.25 17.22 1.76
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM91-34 105.34 152.06 46.73 0.59
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM91-35 0.00 36.58 36.58 0.98
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM91-35 91.44 195.53 104.09 1.52
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-01 12.19 183.18 170.99 1.14
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-03 9.14 79.25 70.10 1.42
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-03 153.92 187.45 33.53 1.44
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-04 67.97 115.21 47.24 0.58
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-05 197.51 218.24 20.73 1.67
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-06 121.31 179.22 57.91 0.91
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-07 25.30 179.83 154.53 1.91
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-08 16.15 90.83 74.68 1.63
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-10 0.00 117.81 117.81 1.38
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-10 145.69 357.53 211.84 1.25
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-11 82.30 313.94 231.65 2.06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-12 133.50 209.55 76.05 1.86
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-13 25.91 169.16 143.25 1.81
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-13 181.36 268.22 86.86 1.12
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-18 49.68 373.08 323.40 1.36
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-24 4.57 198.12 193.55 1.29
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VM94-26 78.64 150.27 71.63 1.04
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freegold entered into a Mining Exploration Agreement with an Option to Lease the Vinasale Project from Doyon Limited, an Alaskan Native Regional Corporation in 2007. Since that time, Freegold has completed an airborne survey and a regional geochemical survey and a ground based induced polarization and magnetic survey over the northern part of the deposit. This work has identified chargeability and resistivity targets associated with the northern edge of the Vinasale stock as well as regional targets that require follow-up exploration.

The Vinasale Project is located approximately 310 kilometres northwest of Anchorage and 26 kilometres south of McGrath. Access to the Project area is by helicopter from a base in McGrath and daily commercial flights connect McGrath with Anchorage. The McGrath airstrip is adequate to handle large bulk aircraft and the Kuskokwim River is navigable to McGrath from Bethel, a port city. McGrath can provide basic services such as labour, housing, office space, communication and logistics.

Western Standard has the option to earn a 50% interest in the Project by paying Freegold CAD$350,000 on execution and by incurring exploration expenses of US$6,500,000 over three years according to the schedule shown in Table 2. Western Standard will be the operator of the Project until such time as the option is fulfilled and a joint venture is formed.

Table 2: Exploration Expenses

----------------------------------------------------
Anniversary Date Exploration Expenditures
----------------------------------------------------
December 31, 2010 US$1,500,000
----------------------------------------------------
December 31, 2011 US$2,250,000
----------------------------------------------------
December 31, 2012 US$2,750,000
----------------------------------------------------
TOTAL US$6,500,000
----------------------------------------------------

Western Standard plans an initial exploration program consisting of data compilation and verification to identify targets for follow up in 2010. The exploration program will include geophysics, geochemistry and diamond drilling with the objective of expanding the existing resource as well as identifying new areas that may have the potential to host additional resources. In addition to the exploration program, Western Standard will collect samples for metallurgical testwork. Western Standard is targeting large, bulk mineable gold deposits in their exploration program.

Dynacor increases Tumipampa land area

2010-01-28T07:47:52Z

Dynacor Gold Mines is pleased to announce that it has acquired an additional 1 550 ha of mining claims which are adjacent to the northern part of its Tumipampa property. These strategic acquisitions were made to ensure that the company controls the north-west and western lateral extensions of the mineralized skarn horizon associated with the Ferrobamba formation. The latter is well known for its gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo) et bismuth (Bi) mineralization. The total surface area of the Tumipampa property is now 4,200 ha, an increase of 58.5%, and entirely encompasses the polymetallic skarn structure that Dynacor is actively exploring.

The new claims were acquired in two steps. Firstly, 250 ha were obtained by registering these claims with the Ministry of Mines since they had been abandoned by their previous owners. A further 1,300 ha was purchased from a Peruvian company in exchange for a cash down payment and normal contractual terms relating to future exploration and the repurchasing of net smelter royalty (nsr) rights.

Tumipampa property

The Tumipampa project is located 500 km from the city of Lima, in the Circa district, Province of Abancay, Department of Apurimac. Dynacor Gold now owns a total of 4,200 hectares which are adjacent to concessions being explored by international mining companies such as: Bear Creek and Southern Peru. The northern part of the Tumipampa property is underlain by the limestone-bearing Ferrobamba formation which hosts the "Tintaya" deposit, a Cu-Au skarn deposit. Tintaya is a world class skarn deposit with more than 139 million tonnes of 1.23% Cu and 0.23 g/t Au. Tintaya is located approximately 197 km to the north-east of the Tumipampa property. Furthermore, as shown on the map below Tumipampa is located close to a series of recently discovered mineralized deposits such as Los Chancas (200 million tonnes of 1% Cu) (Southern Peru), Las Bambas (860 million tonnes of 0.93% Cu and 0.11 g/t Au and 0,02% Mo) (Xstrata) and Constancia (277 million tonnes of 0.05 g/t Au and 0.46% Cu) (Norsemont). All of these world class deposits are part of a Cu-Au porphry-skarn belt that is associated with the Andahuaylas-Yauri intrusive that is 300 km long and 150 km wide.

New exploration results

Two channel sampling campaigns were carried out on the Tumipampa property from July 2009 to January 2010. 613 channel samples (0.5 to 1.5 meters long) were collected and Dynacor also undertook a detailed mapping and surface sampling study in the claims that were recently acquired in the northern part of the property. The mineralized skarn structure is formed by metamorphic processes within the contact zone between the Ferrobamba limestones and the batholitic

Andahuaylas-Yauri intrusive body. On the Tumipampa property, the skarn structure is located in the north-north-west sector and follows a west-north-west and east-south-east axis. The skarn is ca. 4.0 km long and 1.5 km wide.

The 613 channel samples were collected from Zones 1-4 (see map below) and 330 samples (53%) had anomal gold (Au) grades ((greater than)0.01 g/t), 198 samples (32%) had anomal copper (Cu) grades ((greater than)0.01 %), and 44 samples had anomal molybdenum (Mo) grades ((greater than)0.0033%). Finally, it is important to underline that 144 samples (23.49%) had very significant gold or copper grades or both.

The percentage of significant results by zone is given below:

- Zone 1 : 9 samples (6.25%)

- Zone 2 : 58 samples (40.28%)

- Zone 3 : 35 samples (24.31%)

- Zone 4 : 42 samples (29.17%)

and the data for the 4 zones are given in the tables below.

Table 1 : Channel samples from Zone 1 with significant results. Gold (Au) grades from 0.01 to 0.852 g/t and copper (Cu) grades from 0.001 à 1.53%.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZONE Samples Au (g/t) Ag (oz/t) Cu (%) Mo (ppm) Bi (ppm)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1463 0.852 0.016 0.001 4 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1462 0.495 0.016 0.002 10 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1399 0.340 0.026 0.002 10 7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1461 0.303 0.016 0.001 21 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1464 0.266 0.016 0.001 8 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1460 0.149 0.016 0.001 15 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1465 0.031 0.273 1.530 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1466 0.028 0.100 1.330 1 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 1 1453 0.010 0.032 0.247 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 2 : Channel samples from Zone 2 with significant results. Gold (Au) grades from 0,01 to 7,0 g/t and copper (Cu) grades 0,001 to 5,65%. High silver (Ag) grades from 0.01 to 3.2 ounces per tonne.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZONE Samples Au (g/t) Ag (oz/t) Cu (%) Mo (ppm) Bi (ppm)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1226 7.040 0.016 0.013 42 11
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2159 1.630 1.649 3.820 7 272
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2172 1.500 2.598 3.960 17 183
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2190 1.495 0.058 0.004 45 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2167 1.460 1.939 3.700 6 232
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2168 1.290 2.058 4.200 6 216
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1478 1.255 1.556 3.570 2 115
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2173 1.250 1.350 2.160 49 205
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1484 1.205 1.373 4.060 5 312
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2169 1.185 3.202 5.650 9 213
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2188 1.150 0.032 0.001 48 22
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2187 1.080 0.032 0.012 16 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2166 1.035 1.733 3.520 2 207
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2160 0.999 2.366 4.450 2 258
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2163 0.897 2.003 3.490 11 180
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1480 0.722 1.100 3.400 1 81
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2181 0.714 0.035 0.001 12 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2185 0.709 0.048 0.001 50 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2189 0.678 0.016 0.001 3 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2182 0.573 0.026 0.001 24 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2183 0.527 0.055 0.001 21 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1785 0.518 0.016 0.022 3 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2164 0.506 2.125 4.380 14 224
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1248 0.505 1.579 3.450 1 200
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1245 0.489 2.006 3.620 8 152
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2170 0.481 2.141 3.270 18 167
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2157 0.425 1.685 3.370 9 177
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1246 0.393 0.511 0.970 1 30
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1787 0.386 0.016 0.002 2 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1243 0.338 0.482 2.530 10 196
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2191 0.335 0.019 0.001 7 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1575 0.290 0.061 0.189 29 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1247 0.274 0.936 1.770 1 88
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1240 0.260 0.939 1.110 1 64
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1230 0.248 0.016 0.001 2 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1225 0.222 0.016 0.005 19 7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2161 0.217 0.694 1.275 3 93
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2165 0.211 1.157 2.490 5 190
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1229 0.201 0.016 0.000 8 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2186 0.201 0.055 0.001 7 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2175 0.169 0.273 1.175 2 116
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1479 0.142 0.177 0.408 2 15
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2184 0.133 0.032 0.000 14 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1227 0.132 0.016 0.003 10 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1223 0.126 0.016 0.002 20 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1482 0.108 0.833 1.340 29 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1239 0.102 0.016 0.001 14 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2171 0.056 0.402 2.050 2 67
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2162 0.032 0.138 1.140 2 40
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1801 0.034 0.492 0.995 7 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2178 0.049 0.395 0.958 7 116
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1244 0.085 0.087 0.801 10 42
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2179 0.018 0.215 0.502 3 35
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1802 0.042 0.212 0.425 22 6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 2174 0.017 0.116 0.341 4 36
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1483 0.069 0.267 0.283 36 12
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1241 0.061 0.180 0.282 1 18
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 1818 0.036 0.058 0.152 1 15
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 3 : Channel samples from Zone 3 with significant results. Gold (Au) grades from 0.1 to 14.65 g/t and copper (Cu) grades from 0.001 to 3.06%. Molybdenum grades up to 325 ppm.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZONE Samples Au (g/t) Ag (oz/t) Cu (%) Mo (ppm) Bi (ppm)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1769 14.650 0.537 0.006 3 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1745 10.250 0.222 0.019 85 24
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1732 6.050 0.193 0.014 100 51
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1372 5.820 0.077 0.006 19 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1573 4.040 0.167 0.006 7 7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1381 3.780 0.048 0.080 12 30
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1742 3.440 0.138 0.005 325 18
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1369 2.880 0.080 0.009 35 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1706 2.110 0.180 0.141 90 47
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1736 2.100 0.019 0.002 14 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1803 1.775 0.016 0.003 8 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1571 1.620 0.035 0.002 10 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1603 1.440 0.228 0.005 9 20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1770 1.305 0.051 0.012 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1804 1.255 0.016 0.009 25 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1838 1.135 0.016 0.004 6 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1772 0.985 0.016 0.001 3 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1572 0.838 0.068 0.011 10 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1367 0.737 0.032 0.002 5 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1744 0.584 0.537 0.014 85 42
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1839 0.543 0.035 0.007 30 13
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1743 0.422 0.026 0.002 15 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1739 0.411 0.019 0.003 82 6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1569 0.377 0.476 0.007 294 61
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1741 0.322 0.016 0.002 40 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1574 0.302 0.016 0.003 27 7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1596 0.282 0.039 0.002 4 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1816 0.228 1.202 3.060 17 13
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1567 0.213 0.129 0.005 70 41
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1710 0.201 0.035 0.003 13 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1707 0.175 0.100 0.107 36 25
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1576 0.156 0.016 0.013 2 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1737 0.156 0.016 0.000 11 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1702 0.150 0.035 0.004 9 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3 1723 0.111 0.016 0.003 8 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 4 : Channel samples from Zone 4 with significant results. Gold (Au) grades from 0.01 to 13.4 g/t and copper (Cu) grades from 0.004 to 2.91%. Bismuth (Bi) grades greater than the detection limit (10000 ppm) or 1%. Molybdenum grades up to 769 ppm.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZONE Samples Au (g/t) Ag (oz/t) Cu (%) Mo (ppm) Bi (ppm)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2059 13.400 0.039 0.096 114 15
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2035 2.870 0.016 0.014 51 334
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1590 2.540 0.473 0.218 769 1200
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1610 2.300 0.122 0.099 372 1170
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2029 2.000 0.019 0.037 207 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1615 1.440 0.209 0.197 88 10000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2044 1.370 0.016 0.037 41 13
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1614 1.360 0.190 0.194 35 8340
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1583 0.959 0.016 0.109 54 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1616 0.871 0.055 0.151 31 963
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1617 0.812 0.174 0.416 32 2640
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1611 0.683 0.228 0.202 171 10000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2024 0.629 0.016 0.029 72 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2031 0.595 0.016 0.041 73 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2027 0.556 0.016 0.148 41 19
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1613 0.451 0.235 0.194 268 2370
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1622 0.381 0.026 0.020 11 7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1584 0.320 0.019 0.140 29 11
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1588 0.266 0.019 0.047 14 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2038 0.261 0.016 0.010 4 20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2030 0.245 0.045 0.064 44 6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1623 0.243 0.019 0.023 3 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1609 0.227 0.158 0.519 37 209
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2009 0.224 0.019 0.010 7 18
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1589 0.199 0.331 0.102 12 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2060 0.170 0.016 0.034 5 7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2068 0.168 0.100 0.112 28 15
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1587 0.158 0.151 0.104 133 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1624 0.155 0.026 0.022 1 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2062 0.152 0.016 0.069 2 7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1578 0.133 0.129 0.024 1 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1580 0.124 0.058 0.004 18 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1577 0.123 0.276 0.014 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2007 0.102 0.286 0.030 21 1570
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1799 0.043 0.733 2.910 16 76
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2004 0.019 0.096 0.291 6 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1612 0.015 0.026 0.241 10 74
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2006 0.013 0.071 0.230 12 14
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 1585 0.073 0.064 0.198 33 19
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2076 0.028 0.096 0.175 31 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2075 0.015 0.116 0.162 19 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4 2077 0.028 0.051 0.114 6 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

All the samples were assayed at ALS CHEMEX Laboratories in Lima, Peru. The samples were analyzed for gold by Fire Assay (FA-AA-Finish) and finished by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, as well as for copper by inductively coupled plasma (ICP-AES) and atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) for over limits. Strict QA/QC protocols were followed for all samples.