Princeton Mining Press Release:
PRINCETON ANNOUNCES DRILLING PROGRAMS AT SIMILCO & ELENITA WATER TESTING UNDERWAY AT HUCKLEBERRY
VANCOUVER, Aug. 25 /CNW/ - PRINCETON MINING CORPORATION
TSE: PMC
Princeton Mining Corporation announced today a 10,000 foot
diamond drill program at its 100% owned Similco Mine and a 3,500
metre reverse circulation drill program at the Elenita property
in northern Chile.
The Similco drilling is required to provide data for a feasibility
study to reopen the mine which has been shutdown since November, 1996.
Analysis of the 40,000 foot drilling program completed in early 1997
has shown that there is potential to develop a mineable reserve in
excess of 50 million tons in the Copper Mountain Pit 2 and 3 areas.
This first stage drilling will target deeper mineralization under
Pit 2. If successful, additional drilling will be required to provide
adequate drill density for ore reserve purposes and a feasibility
study.
A re-opening of the mine would require some upgrading of the
grinding circuit and new mining equipment. With all of the other
major infrastructure already in place, however, the concept of a
5 to 10 year mine life is not unreasonable. Assuming the exploration
and feasibility study prove successful the mine would not likely be
in operation before late 1998.
In Chile, Aquest Minerals Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Princeton, will commence a 3,500 metre reverse circulation
drilling program at Elenita in September. The drilling will test
the potential for discovery of copper oxide deposits on previously
untested portions of the 4,400 hectare property. Drilling in 1994
and 1995 defined a resource of 9.9 million tonnes grading 1.14%
copper in a 100 hectare area surrounding the historic Elenita Mine.
The planned drilling will focus on 12 target areas where soil
sampling has identified potential for moderate to strong copper
mineralization. These anomalies have been verified by shallow
percussion drilling and will be further defined by electromagnetic
resistivity (CSAMT) techniques prior to drill testing. The Elenita
Project is located at 1500 meters elevation in the Coastal Range
near the Mantos Blancos Mine of Anglo American and a recent major
copper discovery in the Buey Muerto area. Results of the drilling are
expected by early November.
``We are very hopeful on both the Similco and Elenita drilling
programs'' said Princeton's President and Chief Executive Officer,
Bill Myckatyn. ``If we can generate a 5 to 10 year mine life at
Similco with the only capital costs being some plant upgrades and
mining equipment, it would be one of the cheapest `new mine'
developments around. We have a feasibility and development team who
will soon be finished at Huckleberry and can then start on the
Similco evaluation. While we are continuing to evaluate options
to sell Aquest, the drilling program at Elenita is required to
begin to quantify the much larger potential that we feel is there.
At Huckleberry water testing is progressing well and we hope to
put feed through the plant by the end of this week.'' |
