Mining Update
18 November 2003 - 8:00AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:1700S
Caledon Resources PLC
18 November 2003
Caledon Resources PLC ("Caledon" or the "Company")
CALEDON SIGNS A LETTER OF INTENT WITH MOJIANG MINING LIMITED COMPANY, THE
LARGEST GOLD PRODUCER IN YUNNAN PROVINCE, CHINA
*Caledon Resources has the right to earn a 70% equity interest in the mine
property and any other property within the Mojiang County together with a
90% interest in any new tenements in adjacent counties.
*At Mojiang, open pit and underground mining of high grade epithermal
veins can be traced in a semi-continuous manner over a strike length of more
than two kilometres.
*Individual veins at the Mojiang mine grade in excess of 15 g/t over
widths of up to 12 meters. At least four such veins occur in a flat dipping,
parallel mineralised system on the deposit.
Overview
Caledon, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Blackwatch Resources Limited
("Blackwatch"), is pleased to announce the signing of a Letter of Intent ("LOI")
covering the Mojiang gold mining operation situated in south-western Yunnan
Province, Southern China. The Mojiang area hosts the largest gold producer in
Yunnan, and the Company considers that the area has exceptional potential for
the discovery of major gold deposits. A full-form agreement is currently being
finalised, leading to the formation of a Co-operative Joint Venture company.
The addition of the Mojiang gold project to the Caledon portfolio is in line
with the company's strategy of completing well-targeted, high potential,
advanced stage gold acquisitions in Yunnan province. Yunnan is host to several
prolific gold and base metal districts, a number of which have become the focus
of exploration activity by western mining companies over the past several years.
Active mining has been underway at Mojiang since the late 1970's by the Mojiang
Mining Limited Company. This Company has an excellent track record of successful
mining and has a strong management team. The mining at Mojiang was based on
reserves of 32 tonnes of gold (>900,000 oz) at a grade of 4-6 g/t Au. At
present, the majority of the gold mining operation is focussed on gold
production from open pits and underground mining, with plant head grades
consistently reporting above 4g/t gold. To date, approximately 70% of the
initial reserves have been mined.
The Mojiang Gold Mine
Terms
Blackwatch has signed a Letter of Intent ("LOI") with the Mojiang Mining Limited
Company ("MMLC"). Under the terms of the LOI, Blackwatch can earn a 70% equity
stake in the Mojiang mine concession (7.2 km2) and new tenements within Mojiang
County, as well as a 90% interest on exploration ground to be acquired in
defined counties in southern Yunnan Province.
Under the terms of the LOI, Caledon has the right to earn a 70% equity stake in
the combined mining and exploration projects through the expenditure of US$1
million on exploration over a 3- year period and completion of a feasibility
study. Under the terms of the agreement, MMLC has a 30% interest, of which 15%
is carried to the commencement of production and 15% is participating in any
future development and production scenario. The project will be funded 100% by
Caledon during the exploration phase.
Geology and Immediate Exploration Potential
The Mojiang project and mine site area is situated 240kms SW of Kunming the
capital of Yunnan in south-western Yunnan. Mojiang can be easily accessed via a
new major highway from Kunming, approximately four hours drive. The main target
area is the Mojiang mine, an active gold mine producing gold from a number of
small open-pit and underground operations, with remaining gold reserves of
approximately 250,000 ozs. Mojiang has produced approximately 600,000 ounces
over the last ten years.
The mineralisation at Mojiang is hosted in a series of moderately dipping veins,
displaying classic colloform and "crack-seal" banded textures. Individual veins,
averaging up to 12 metres wide, have been shown to host grades in excess of 15 g
/t. Individual veins sometimes exhibit "bonanza" grades (in-excess of 30 g/t
gold), typical of such systems. The veins are hosted in sediments and acid
volcanics, near the contact between thrusted Cambrian sediments and
metamorphosed ultra-mafic volcanics belonging to a regional scale ophiolite
complex, within the Red River Suture Zone. Nickel ore is also being actively
mined in the district, some of which is being mined within the Mojiang tenement
itself.
Examples of diamond drill intercepts at Mojiang from the earlier Chinese work
include:
Section 50 DDHZ50-6 41.62m @ 3.34 g/t
Section 51 DDHZ51-16 28.22m @ 4.89g/t
Section 52 DDHZ52-10 53.98m @ 2.72g/t
DDHZ52-18 17.59m @ 3.02 g/t
Section 53 DDHZ53-6 29.89m @ 2.26g/t
DDHZ53-18 19.63m @ 2.14g/t
Section 40 DDHZ93-1 7.93m @ 13.67g/t
3.79m @ 11.52g/t
2.31m @ 20.90g/t
DDHZ93-1A 8.39m @ 9.00g/t
DDHZ94-3 3.15m @ 2.46g/t
12.35m @ 15.05g/t
Caledon plans to initially explore the immediate extensions of the epithermal
vein zones and feeder structures.
Regional Exploration Potential
The Mojiang "trend" is represented by a series of lineaments aligned parallel to
the western flank of the regional rift system. Within the trend, Caledon has
noted an abundance of gold showings and surface gold workings within several
tens of kilometers from the Mojiang mine itself. Future exploration by Caledon
will also be targeting such anomalies.
George Salamis, Managing Director of Caledon, reports: "The acquisition of
Mojiang represents a slight departure from Caledon's strategy to acquire
"Carlin-style" sediment hosted disseminated gold deposits in Guangxi. Low
sulphidation epithermal deposits of this type have formed the basis for several
of the world's largest and highest grade gold deposits. Finalisation of the LOI
with the Mojiang Gold Company represents the culmination of five months of due
diligence and successful negotiations with our partners. Our field crews will
work closely with the Mojiang mine staff towards the common goal of rapidly
expanding upon the shallow resources and reserves discovered and mined to date."
Caledon Resources PLC is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in
London and its shares trade under the symbol CDN.
On behalf of the board
Stephen R Dattels George Salamis
Executive Chairman Managing Director
For further information, please visit our website at www.caledonresources.com or
contact:
Stephen R Dattels
sdattels@caledonresources.com
George Salamis
gsalamis@caledonresources.com
Donal Douglas, Investor Relations
ddouglas@caledonresources.com
Caledon Resources PLC
18 Upper Brook Street., London W1K 7PU
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7318 5780
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7318 5781
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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