Searchlight Minerals Corp. - Drill hole results - Clarkdale Slag Project
07 März 2006 - 8:29AM
PR Newswire (US)
OTC BB: SRCH HENDERSON, NV, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Searchlight Minerals Corp. (the "Company") announced today the
following: In the fall of 2005, drilling commenced on the Company's
Clarkdale Slag Project under chain-of-custody sampling by Mountain
States R&D International Inc. ("MSRDI"). A total of 9 holes and
675 feet were drilled as part of a Minerals Inventory Study being
conducted by MSRDI on behalf of the Company. Sample preparation and
analysis of the base metal results (Cu, Zn, Fe) of the first two
drill holes are provided below. These results were reported to the
Company by MSRDI. SD1 Drill Hole
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footage Copper Zinc Iron Cu (%) Zn (%) Fe (%)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.0 - 8.9 0.95 1.73 30.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.9 - 19.0 0.76 1.68 29.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
19.0 - 30.0 0.77 1.73 30.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
30.0 - 39.5 0.52 1.94 29.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
39.5 - 55.0 0.45 1.75 31.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.0 - 55.0 Composite 0.70 2.10 32.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SD2 Drill Hole
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footage Copper Zinc Iron Cu (%) Zn (%) Fe (%)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.0 - 9.5 0.71 1.69 30.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.5 - 19.0 1.06 1.80 31.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
19.0 - 30.0 0.70 1.79 29.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
30.0 - 40.0 0.43 1.97 31.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
40.0 - 50.0 0.46 1.95 31.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
50.0 - 60.0 0.58 1.75 31.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.0 - 60.0 Composite 0.73 2.13 34.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drilling Program The Company retained Dr. Richard F. Hewlett as the
Project Manager for its Clarkdale Slag Project. Under the guidance
of Dr. Hewlett, the Company contracted Mountain States R&D
International Inc. of Tucson, AZ, to execute a Minerals Inventory
Study. MSRDI, under the direction of its president, Dr. Roshan
Bhappu will guide the Minerals Inventory Study which will include
drilling the slag pile to determine grade and tonnage. In the
fourth quarter of 2005, the Company drilled 9 holes (SD1-7, 11, 12)
in the slag pile all under the supervision of MSRDI and adhered to
strict chain of custody (COC). The drill hole samples were
collected and prepared by MSRDI. The above results are the first
results reported to the Company from MSRDI. MSRDI used standard
fusion technique in analyzing the results from the first two drill
holes. Precious metal drill results analysis for SD-1 and SD-2 are
expected to follow. Results from the remaining 7 drill holes
including results from precious metal and base metal sample
analysis are currently being prepared by MSRDI. The Company intends
to resume the drilling program following the receipt and analysis
of the first nine drill holes. Once the results from the drill
program are fully analyzed, planning for the next steps on the
project will begin. These next steps may include more drilling,
analytical work, and testing of material on a larger scale (such as
a test plant). At such time that the Company deems appropriate, a
bankable feasibility study will be undertaken. Project Details The
Company entered into an assignment agreement dated for reference
June 1, 2005 with Nanominerals Corp. ("NMC"), a Nevada Corporation,
pursuant to which NMC assigned all of its interest in a joint
venture agreement dated May 20, 2005 between NMC and Verde River
Iron Company, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company. The JV
Agreement was entered into for the purpose of funding the
processing of a copper smelter slag located at Clarkdale, Arizona,
USA, 107 miles north of Phoenix and about 50 miles southwest from
Flagstaff, Arizona. The slag contained on the Clarkdale Slag
Project site was produced as smelter rejects from prior processing
of copper ores. Upon completion of a drilling and sampling program
to determine if the project is feasible, the Company intends to
re-process the slag pile using an extraction process developed
using industry standard metallurgy. If the feasibility study
confirms the work to date, then the joint venture expects to build
a 2,000 ton per day (720,000 tons per year) extraction facility at
Clarkdale. About Searchlight Minerals Corp. Searchlight Minerals
Corp. is a dynamic mineral exploration company focused on the
acquisition and development of projects in the southwestern United
States. The Company is currently involved in two projects: (i) the
Clarkdale Slag Project, which is intended to recover base and
precious metals from the reprocessing of slag material produced
from smelting of copper ores from the former mines in Jerome, AZ,
and (ii) the Searchlight Gold Project, pursuant to which the
Company is undertaking exploration for precious metals on mining
claims near Searchlight, Nevada. For further details on Searchlight
Minerals Corp., please visit the Company's website at
http://www.searchlightminerals.com/. Contact Information
------------------- Ph: (702) 939-5247 Fax: (702) 939-5249 Website:
searlightminerals.com email: Forward-Looking Statements Statements
in this news release that are forward-looking statements are
subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific
factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in
the Company's periodic filings with US securities regulators. When
used in this news release, the words such as "could," "plan",
"estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "should", and
similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. The risk
factors that could cause actual results to differ from these
forward-looking statements include, but are not restricted to the
Company's limited operating history, uncertainties about the
availability of additional financing, geological or mechanical
difficulties affecting the Company's planned geological work
programs, uncertainty of estimates of mineralized material,
operational risk, environmental risk, financial risk, currency
risk, dependence on joint venture partners and other statements
that are not historical facts as disclosed under the heading "Risk
Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's periodic filings with
securities regulators in the United States. DATASOURCE: Searchlight
Minerals Corp. CONTACT: Ph: (702) 939-5247, Fax: (702) 939-5249,
Website: searlightminerals.com, email:
Copyright