KEFI Minerals (LON: KEFI), the gold exploration and development company with projects in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has reported further encouraging assay results from the drilling programme at the Company’s Hawiah Exploration Licence in Saudi Arabia.
New Assay Results Received
· Drillhole HWD 002 returned 2.6m at 2.5% copper, 0.1% zinc, 1.9g/t gold, 17.8g/t silver from 37.35m (with estimated true width (“ETW”) of 2m).
· Drillhole HWD 003 returned 8.7m at 4.2% copper, 0.2% Zinc 0.7g/t gold, 15.6g/t silver from 38.65m (ETW of 6m).
Drilling has so far targeted the southern 1.5km section of the previously reported 5km long outcropping gossanous ridge and coincident geophysical anomalies. These further encouraging results confirm that Volcanic Massive Sulphide (“VMS”) mineralisation is the source and that the mineralisation is comprised of copper, gold, silver and zinc.
The VMS mineralisation is proving to be continuous both along strike and down dip, consistently intersected along the currently drill tested 1.5km long southern portion of the Hawiah ridge. Drillhole HWD 005 has demonstrated that massive sulphide mineralisation continues to a vertical depth of greater than 250m.
Assay Results Pending
Whilst assays have been received for only the first three of the nine drillholes completed to date, the following drillholes have also intersected significant massive sulphide mineralisation:
· HWD 004 – 1m (ETW 0.65m) massive sulphide from 263.3m and 16.18m (ETW 10.8m) massive sulphide from 267.7m.
· HWD 005 – 12.5m (ETW 9m) of massive sulphide from 358.5m.
· HWD 009 – 2.3m (ETW 2m) of massive sulphide from 100.0m and 2.2m (ETW 2m) of massive sulphide from 109.6m.
In all instances, the sulphide mineralisation encountered is composed dominantly of pyrite with veins and disseminations of chalcopyrite (a principal ore for copper).
Holes HWD 006 to HWD 008 were drilled to test for the presence of supergene enriched gold in the upper weathered portion of the ridgeline (oxidised zones). Interpreted zones of oxidised gossan were intersected in drillholes:
· HWD 006 – from 10.2m to 25.5 (15m with ETW 7m).
· HWD 007 – from 15.0m to 42.3m (27m with ETW 19m).
· HWD 008 – from 5.5m to 32.5m (27m with ETW 17m).
As is often the case when drilling the oxide portions of a VMS system, cavities have been encountered in this portion of the system, which in turn impacts drill core recovery. This is typical of gossan formation and is associated with the supergene weathering processes. The depth of weathering varies from 20m to 40m below surface. Accordingly, as the Company’s understanding of the oxide portion of the deposit improves (as the exploration programme progresses) the Company expects to address these hurdles with refined drilling and other sampling techniques.
The footwall and hanging wall rocks surrounding the massive sulphides present with a weak and narrow alteration halo, this coupled with the clastic sulphide textures indicate that the sulphides have been remobilised from a central source by sedimentary processes. This is a classic presentation of the apron areas of VMS deposits which surround the central vent source, which is typically comprised of thicker and higher-grade mineralisation underlain by stockwork vein feeder zones where one typically targets the larger lower-grade parts of a deposit.
Remaining Initial Scout Drilling Programme
The remainder of the 2,500 metre scout diamond drilling programme will continue to test three key target zones:
· near-surface oxidised zone for supergene enriched gold;
· massive sulphides at depth for copper-gold-zinc; and
· stockwork zones for a larger-scale development of copper-gold-zinc.
Executive Chairman of KEFI Minerals, Mr Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, commented:
“Our few drill holes so far are consistently hitting massive sulphide with encouraging base and precious metal content, including +4% copper. These intersections are over both long horizontal and vertical distances. This has been an excellent start to testing what KEFI believes is a large VMS system, which appears potentially analogous to some world class discoveries in the Arabian-Nubian Shield.”
