Mandorin progress on acquisition of e-billings
Mandorin Goldfields Inc MGD
Shares issued 28,991,228 Feb 23 close $0.73
Mon 5 Jun 2000 News Release
Mr. Malcolm Stevens reports
During the last 30-day period, the company has been in the process of
settling definitive agreements in connection with the proposed acquisition
of an interest in an e-billing business, as well as compiling information
on Zimbabwe exploration activities conducted in joint venture with
Independence Gold Mining Zimbabwe (Indepgold), a wholly owned subsidiary of
Lonmin PLC.
e-billings, Inc.
The company is in the process of settling an investment agreement for the
e-billings, Inc. transaction. Other material contracts are currently being
prepared for review and execution.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is awaiting the arrival in Australia of D.J. Batts,
one of the founders of the e-billing business, to complete e-billings'
software demonstration in June, 2000.
A business plan overview, including detailed revenue and budgetary
planning, has been prepared for e-billings, Inc. A comprehensive business
plan for rollout in Australia is being completed from primary market
research in the precommercialization stage. Comprehensive business plans
for rollout in the United States of America and then Europe will follow.
Zimbabwe
Indepgold has completed the initial exploration at Tafuna Hills and other
selected areas on EPO 1080.
Tafuna Hills
Recent exploration has focused on establishing access to the main Queen's
Gift 4 quartz/gold reef, by clearing and timbering the former main haulage
adit and production drive, and finalizing the second phase soil sampling
program within Queen's Gift 10 and trenching on anomalies. During the last
few weeks work has also commenced on the former Joking W claim which was
worked between 1950 and 1961 for a recorded production of 335 kilograms of
gold at an average recovery of 4.8 grams per tonne.
Queen's Gift 4
The last phase of small-scale mining on the reef, on two poorly developed
levels, was discontinued around 1992-1993. Prior to this, reefs within the
Queen's Gift claims were worked sporadically between 1919 and 1953 during
which period available records indicate a total production of 34,500 tonnes
of ore milled to recover 387 kilograms of gold at an average grade of 11.2
g/t.
Ore was won by driving on-reef and from a number of small raises and
sublevels, accessed by way of the main adit. The last phase of mining,
during the mid-1980s to early 1990s mainly accessed the reef from surface
by way of two small open-cuts and a number of shallow shafts sunk in the
highly altered and soft basaltic country rock. Since this phase of poorly
controlled and haphazard mining, local panners have been accessing the
workings by way of a number of new shafts and shallow declines and robbing
pillars within the upper sections of the mine. Lacking equipment, these
activities have been confined to the highly altered, near surface, portions
of the reef and there is no evidence that any substantial degree of
activity has focused upon extensions to the old workings.
At Queens Gift, 100 metres of the main adit and 60 metres of the production
drive have been cleared providing access to one of two proposed drilling
platforms from where down dip and strike extensions of the Main reef,
believed to be intact, are to be targeted.
Although poorly documented plans of the old workings indicate that the reef
has been worked over a horizontal distance of approximately 120 metres,
there are possible untested extensions across a main fault and crosscutting
dike to the northwest and to the southeast.
Approximately 20 metres of the adit remain to be cleared to establish the
second proposed drilling platform with an additional 25 metres to access
the main reef itself where it was formerly worked over 28 metres on this
level.
Recent mapping and preliminary chip sampling, over one metre intervals, on
the reef returned an average assay of 1.41 g/t gold over 26 metres with the
best section being 3.47 g/t (range 0.04 to 11.7 g/t) over eight metres.
Over the better section the reef varies in thickness from 0.25 to 1.1
metres, averaging 0.75 of a metre, with the best section averaging 11.15
g/t over two metres of reef averaging 0.27 of a metre in thickness. Other
sections of the reef assayed 0.87 g/t over four metres and 1.14 g/t over
four metres.
As the gold is both coarse and spotty in distribution and the reef pinches
and swells, bulk sampling is proposed once the remaining section of the
adit is cleared.
Queen's Gift 10
A 600-station soil sampling program covering an area of 100 hectares within
Queen's Gift 10 has been completed with assays for all but the final 75
samples having been received.
Five trenches totalling 163 metres in length over separate anomalies have
been completed, mapped and sampled and a further trench, with a proposed
length of 75 metres is in progress. Assays from three of the trenches, all
of which revealed zones of high alteration and quartz stringers, returned
best assays of 2.33 g/t over two metres, 0.27 g/t over 2.7 metres and 0.22
g/t over four metres.
The latter result from trench 5 (132 metres in length) shows a broad zone
of highly altered basalt with a promising stock work of extensively
fractured quartz stringers, one of which contained a few specks of visible
gold. With depth, some of the individual stringers (near surface generally
less than a few centimetres in width) are developing in width and it is
considered possible that they may be associated with a reef within the
general vicinity.
It is proposed to initially sink a number of small pits within the floor of
the trench to determine if the grades improve and the stringers develop
with depth. A number of parallel trenches are also proposed to test the
lateral extension of the zone prior to a decision to test the zone by
drilling.
Joking W
Although this particular claim, located within the eastern portion of
Tafuna Hills, produced at a lower than average grade for the Tafuna Hills
mines (4.8 g/t compared with 13.1 g/t), it is of interest in that available
reports suggest the reef strikes east-west, as opposed to the general
north-northeast to north-northwest strike of the majority of reefs, and it
is folded. Former production concentrated on the southern limb of the fold
(dip 20 to 30 degrees to the south) to relatively shallow depths and it is
believed that the northern limb (dip five to 15 degrees to the north)
remains largely unworked. Both limbs represent potential shallow mining
targets.
Surface mapping on a scale of 1:2000 has commenced and a grid of eight
lines, 100 metres apart and each 500 metres long, has been cut in
preparation for soil sampling at 50-metre intervals.
Other exploration areas of EPO 1080
Electra 11
Exploration within the Electra 11 claim and within a large area surrounding
the former Red Dragon mine has progressed steadily.
Preliminary exploration results on Electra 11 are as follows:
Sample
Width Average Range St.
(m) g/t g/t Dev.
Trench 1 5 0.72 0.2 - 1.2 0.34
Trench 1 3 1.08 0.68 - 1.64 0.5
Trench 1 8.54 0.54 0.2 - 1.4 0.4
Trench 1 7.6 1.13 0.48 - 3.2 1.0
Trench 1 2.2 2.64 2.08 - 3.2 0.8
Trench 3 4.7 1.26 0.72 - 1.84 0.43
Trench 3 3.3 2.47 1.16 - 3.6 1.23
Surface mapping has been completed on a scale of 1:500 over an area defined
by airborne radiometrics as a zone of high alteration.
The claim lies within a small ridge of Shamvaian group pyritiferous tuffs,
sandstones and conglomerates located approximately three kilometres to the
southwest of the Shamva mine. A main shear zone, trending east-west, and
numerous parallel shears locate the major lithological boundaries.
A few shallow workings and three old trenches are to be found scattered
over the ridge, which at the eastern end has been a focal point for local
gold panners.
The main trench, 107 metres across the strike of the ridge, and two smaller
trenches, 14 metres and 23 metres in length, have been reclaimed, mapped
(scale 1:200) and channel sampled in nominal one-metre horizontal sections.
An additional trench, 21 metres long has been completed and sampled, assays
pending, and a further trench, 55 metres long is in progress.
It is probable that once all of the trenches are completed and sampled that
a target zone will be tested by drilling.
Red Dragon
As a consequence of the exploration team's continuing recognizance surveys
within EPO 1080 a new project area, referred to as the Red Dragon, has been
designated as a high-priority area for intensive mapping and sampling.
The area has a former history of small-scale alluvial and underground
mining on a series of quartz reefs located within the Bulayawan
greenstones.
A grid covering an area of three kilometres by two kilometres has been cut
over the area and a soil sampling program at 200-metre line spacing and
50-metre stations is in progress. Concurrently the area is being mapped on
a scale of 1:2000 and sampled.
The company is committed to its joint venture with Indepgold on EPOs 1080
and 1072 and the proposed joint venture on Indepgold's EPO 1205 and the
company's EPO 1073 for which a letter of intent has been signed.
Annual general meeting
The company will hold its annual general meeting on June 30, 2000, at 10
a.m., 19th floor, 885 West Georgia St. Proxy materials have been mailed to
all shareholders. An extraordinary general meeting will be called
subsequent to the AGM in order to approve the e-billings, Inc. transaction.
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