Drilling Identifies New Zone at Ikenskoe

RNS Number : 6056Z

Amur Minerals Corporation

08 March 2013

 



8 March 2013

AMUR MINERALS CORPORATION

("Amur" or the "Company")

2012 Drilling Identifies New 23.5 m Zone Of 1.29% Nickel At Ikenskoe

Amur Minerals Corporation (AIM: AMC), the nickel-copper sulphide exploration and resource development company focused on the far east of Russia, announces its final 2012 exploration drill results derived at its Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide project.

The last stage of the 2012 drill programme consisted of 1,212 metres of diamond drilling within 10 holes located immediately south and adjacent the Ikenskoe deposit.  The holes were located along a 750 metre long area bordering Ikenskoe to determine if the JORC resource mineralised zone previously identified continued to the south where coincident soil geochemical and geophysical survey anomalies were present on the side slopes of Sobolevsky Peak.  Trenches excavated in 2011 had also indicated that mineralisation was present in this newly drilled area.

Highlights:

·      A total of 122.5 metres of nickel and copper mineralisation has been intersected in six of the ten holes drilled along the southern boundary of the Ikenskoe deposit.  Results indicate that mineralisation continues for at least another 200 to 250 metres to the south. 

·      The average intersected grades are 0.89% nickel and 0.22% copper with an average interval thickness of 17.5 metres.  Using a 0.2% nickel cut-off grade, the newly defined grades are twice that for nickel and 70% higher for copper than reported in the 2007 Ikenskoe deposit JORC in situ geological resource inventory. 

·      Approximately 46% of the intercepts (56.1 total metres) exceed one per cent nickel.  The average grade of the >1% nickel intercepts is 1.28% nickel and 0.29% copper with an average intersect thickness of 8.0 metres.

·      Geologically, the drill holes have identified the presence of a fault which divides the newly drilled area into two specific blocks called the North and South Blocks. 

·      Within the North Block, four holes intersect mineralisation averaging 8.1 metres in thickness containing 0.68% nickel and 0.18% copper which continue along the strike and dip of the Ikenskoe deposit.  The holes indicate that the mineralisation continues beneath Sobolevsky Peak.

·      To the south of the fault and within the South Block, the mineralisation has been faulted upward by approximately 200 metres resulting in it being located in the side slope of Sobolevsky Peak.  Two of the four holes in the South Block have intersected an average of 68.6 metres of plus 0.2% nickel averaging 0.64% nickel and 0.15% copper.  Also contained within this drilled zone, substantial high grade intervals in excess of one per cent nickel are present.  The high grade intervals average 23.5 metres in thickness and contain 1.29% nickel and 0.29% copper.  

·      The two holes within the South Block are located approximately 115 metres apart.  The extent of this large high grade mineralised block has not yet been determined and drilling is required to the south and east to determine the full potential of this newly identified high grade lense.

In 2007, an independent in situ geological resource estimate on the Ikenskoe deposit was compiled by SRK Consulting.  The Ikenskoe deposit was estimated to contain a JORC compliant resource total of 162,700 tonnes of nickel and 46,000 tonnes of copper contained within 36.4 million tonnes averaging 0.45% nickel and 0.13% copper.  The open pit mining reserve was projected to contain a recoverable 15.4 million tonnes of ore averaging 0.51% nickel and 0.14% copper containing 77,900 tonnes of nickel and 22,200 tonnes of copper.  The limits of the resource and ultimate pit designs had not been established as drill results had not defined the limits of the mineralisation.

The Ikenskoe deposit consists of a northerly, gentle dipping mineralised zone that outcrops along the nose of Ikenksoe Ridge.  Prior to this year, drilling had identified that the deposit could extend beneath Sobolevksky Peak located to the south and east of Ikenskoe Ridge.  Up dip projections of the outcropping Ikenskoe deposit indicated that the deposit could also be present in the side slopes of Sobolevsky Peak but heavy vegetation and boulder flows did not permit direct observation of the presence of the Ikenskoe deposit.  Exploration subsequent to 2007 resulted in the identification of coincident geochemical soil and geophysical anomalies to the south of the Ikenskoe deposit in the side slopes of Sobolevsky Peak.  Trenching completed in 2010 and 2011 exposed nickel sulphide mineralisation that had been hidden below the soil and boulder covered slopes of Sobolevsky..

The 2012 drill programme targeted the anomalies located on the side slopes of Sobolevsky Peak.  Results from drilling have confirmed that the Ikenskoe deposit continues by at least 200 metres to the south and the limits of the mineralisation drilled on the peak have not yet been identified. 

Geologically, a fault has been identified by this year's drilling which has offset the mineralisation drilled at Ikenskoe Ridge from that identified on the side slopes of Sobolevsky Peak.  Six holes have been completed to the north of the fault which contains all of the Ikenskoe mineralisation determined in the JORC compliant resource estimate.  The four holes that intersected mineralisation indicate that the Ikenskoe deposit continues under Sobolevsky Peak along the same trend and orientation as indicated by historical drilling.  To the south of the fault, the mineralised zone has been displaced upward in the order of 200 to 250 vertical metres resulting in the Ikenskoe deposit being exposed in the side slopes of Sobolevsky Peak.

The holes within the Ikenskoe area and to the north of the fault contain an average mineralised thickness of 8.1 metres having an average grade of 0.68% nickel and 0.18% copper.  The limits of mineralisation within this area remain undefined.  Open pit analysis of the extension of this mineralisation is required to determine the proportion of newly drilled area that may be recovered by surface mining methods.  There may also be potential to recover non pit recoverable resources via underground methods.

The area to the south of the fault is interpreted to be an uplifted extension of the Ikenskoe deposit.  Being about 200 metres higher than originally projected, the mineralisation is located on the side slopes of Sobolevsky Peak.  This was the prime target area at Ikenskoe for drilling during the 2012 season.  Two of four holes intersected the Ikenskoe deposit which is a blind target as direct observation of the mineralised zone is not possible due to its being covered by surface rubble (scree).  The mineralised holes have defined a high grade lense approximately 115 metres in length averaging nearly 70 metres in thickness.  The average nickel grade is 0.64% with average copper being 0.15%.  Using a one per cent nickel cut-off grade, the two holes contain a combined average intercept length of 23.5 metres with 1.29% nickel and 0.29% copper grades present.   Drilling is required to define the orientation of this high grade structure and the lateral limits of the mineralisation.

A map of the drilled mineralisation is reproduced below in the Notes for Editors along with a summary of drill results in excess of 0.2% and 1.0% nickel.

Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals, commented:

"With pleasure, we provide the last of our exploration results from 2012.  At Ikenskoe, we have extended the known limits of the mineralisation by nearly a quarter of a kilometre, defined substantial thicknesses of nickel in excess of one per cent and have yet to define the limits of the mineralisation.  This result and the fact that earlier announced results indicate that the 2012 drilling has nearly doubled the mineralised length at Maly Kurumkon and identified that Gorny is nearly a kilometer long supports our optimistic attitude in looking forward to the 2013 drill programme.  Weather permitting, we plan to begin drilling at Kubuk in June of 2013 which is one of our best undrilled targets possessing both geochemical and geophysical anomalies that are among the best defined on the Kurumkon trend."

Enquiries:

Company Amur Minerals Corp.	Nomad and Joint Broker RBC Capital Markets	Joint Broker Merchant Securities	Public Relations Tavistock
Robin Young CEO	Martin Eales	Lindsay Mair	Jos Simson / Jessica Fontaine
[phone]	[phone]	[phone]	[phone]

Notes for Editors

Qualified Person's Report

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by the CEO of Amur, Robin Young.  Mr. Young is a Geological Engineer (cum laude) and is a Qualified Professional Geologist, as defined by the Toronto and Vancouver Stock Exchanges.  He has 36 years of relevant experience in the mining industry. 

Ikenskoe Drill Results

6 March 2013

2012 Final Analytical Results

Minimum 1.0 Metre Length

Hole	From (m)	To (m)	Length (m)	Ni (%)	Cu (%)
C218	102.7	106.5	3.8	0.67	0.14
Including	104.5	105.6	1.1	1.49	0.31
C219	3.1	19.6	16.5	1.02	0.22
Including	6.0	17.5	11.5	1.19	0.20
C219	22.0	52.0	30.0	1.15	0.22
Including	34.0	50.0	16.0	1.55	0.44
C220	21.9	65.5	43.6	0.82	0.24
Including	44.8	64.2	19.4	1.14	0.21
С223	123.4	133.5	10.1	0.57	0.16
Including	126.1	127.3	1.2	1.29	0.22
C224	90.7	106.0	15.3	0.75	0.20
Including	95.6	101.4	5.8	1.18	0.38
C225	81.2	84.4	3.2	0.67	0.16
Including	83.3	84.4	1.1	1.02	0.25
Total Intercept Summary			122.5	0.89	0.22
Average Thickness			17.5	0.89	0.22
Total Intercept Summary Plus 1.0% Nickel			56.1	1.28	0.29
Total Intercept Summary Plus 1.0% Nickel			8.0	1.28	0.29

 

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