Resource News

Australia’s Argent Minerals getting an improved silver lining

 

PERTH -

The silver content at the Kempfield project has been increased by 88% which Argent Minerals Ltd (ASX: ARD) said was equivalent to a lift in gold inventory of 326,000 ounces, based on a silver-to-gold ratio of 65 to 1.

The resource also contained 30,000 oz of gold, 110,000 tonnes of contained zinc in sulphides and 55,000t of contained lead, also as sulphides.

Argent is earning a 70% interest in the project from Golden Cross Resources Ltd.

Executive chairman of Argent, Kerry McHugh said preliminary indications are that between 50 and 80% of these resources may be available for open pit mining.

He said drilling since the company listed in April 2008 has been successful, resulting in an additional 4.8 million ozs of silver, gained at a discovery cost of A15 cents/oz.

The cut-off grade for the silver has been changed from 60 grams/tonne to 40 g/t Ag for the oxide and transitional material, and from 60 g/t Ag only to 80 g/t Ag equivalent for the sulphide.

This, McHugh said, reflects the increase in the silver price between 2000-2001 when the resource estimates quoted in the Prospectus, with a price of $A9/oz compared to silver today at around $A18/oz.

He said the revised cut off grades have resulted in an additional 5.1 million oz of silver.

About 75% of the tonnes in the overall resource are classified as measured or indicated under the JORC Code. 80% of the contained silver and 68% of the contained lead and zinc report to the measured-indicated categories.

The oxide and transitional resources are relatively high grade, generally within 30 metres of surface and are amenable to leaching to recover silver and gold.

McHugh said the Kempfield tenement contains a Volcanic Massive Sulphide (VMS) system which is over 3 kilometres in north-south strike length and varies from 300 to 400m in width.

The system contains many zones of mineralised lenses which have only been drilled to an average depth of 70m with the deepest drilled so far to about 200m depth…read more at the Mineweb

Enter your email address to receive actionable daily news.

Delivered by Google's Feed Burner!