Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Precious and Base Metal Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: seventh_son who wrote (38498)	11/22/2006 12:16:55 AM
From: Salt'n'Peppa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 39344

Etruscan confirms large Diba gold discovery: ...up to 900.5 g/tonne! ca.us.biz.yahoo.com Diamond drilling confirms Etruscan's gold discovery at Diba in Mali, West Africa Tuesday November 21, 4:33 pm ET HALIFAX, Nov. 21 /CNW/ - Etruscan Resources Inc. (EET.TSX) reported that it has received assay results from the initial diamond drill (core) and reverse circulation drilling program at its Diba property in Mali, West Africa. These results confirm a significant gold discovery at Diba, located some 15 kilometers south of the Sadiola Gold Mine Diamond and RC Drill Results A total of 11 diamond drill holes and 25 reverse circulation (RC) holes have been completed. Assay results have been received from seven diamond drill holes and six RC holes. Core drilling has intersected exceptionally high grade mineralization, assaying up to 900.5 grams per tonne, 49.5 grams per tonne, 33.4 grams per tonne, 27.9 grams per tonne, 20.8 grams per tonne, 17.8 grams per tonne and 17.5 grams per tonne over 1 meter core widths within a broadly disseminated envelop of lower grade gold mineralization in sedimentary rocks. Significant lower grade mineralization assayed between 0.5 grams per tonne and 2 grams per tonne over core widths of 5-40 meters. The bulk of the mineralization has been restricted to the saprolite and saprock weathering profile; however significant gold mineralization has been intersected in bedrock. Drilling to date has focused only in the southernmost part of the Diba gold anomaly over a distance of 650 meters within the 2.5 kilometer anomaly as defined by single sample auger drilling. Diamond drilling and RC drilling has been carried out on only two drill fences (A-A' and B-B') 70 meters apart, within the southern area. See Table 1 for details of the drill intercepts which are reported separately for high grade and low grade intersections. Don Burton, Etruscan's Vice President Exploration and Chief Operating Officer stated, "There remains no doubt that Diba represents an important gold discovery in Mali West. We are just getting our first glimpse at the deposit on the southernmost end and we will continue with diligent, systematic drilling over the coming months. The mineralized envelop around this deposit is clearly defined and we believe that we are vectoring in on the system as it passes into bedrock. A picture is emerging of a large sediment-hosted disseminated gold deposit with frequent "bonanza" grade structures or stockworks. It is apparent that some of our RAB holes which intersected these bonanza zones were subject to downhole contamination, however the RAB and auger drills have clearly given us the potential dimensions of the mineralizing system and in areas of lower grade mineralization there is good correlation with the RAB holes. The RAB drill is a powerful exploration tool and we are now drilling with this machine over the middle and northern extents of the anomaly to test the mineralization in bedrock. These are early days at Diba and with the bulk of our drill intercepts in saprolite we have not seen enough of the deposit yet to determine the controls on mineralization. The Diba anomaly covers a huge area to drill so it is important that we develop a clear geological model using the diamond drill rig. We are extremely excited about these most recent developments as they have significant implications for our extensive land package in Mali West, which covers in excess of 1,300 km2." Mineralization extends vertically through the entire saprolite layer which varies from 40-60 meters in thickness. Diamond core and RC holes have intersected mineralization to a vertical depth of 95 meters in bedrock. The mineralized zone appears to be dipping moderately to the east and passing into bedrock to the northeast. Mineralization occurs within a sequence of sedimentary rocks in the Keniebandi Formation, possibly belonging to the Tarkwaian. The sequence is dominated by a generally fine to medium grained, massive, dark grey to grey arenaceous facies, which is generally carbonate-rich and locally well bedded. Conglomeratic facies occur towards the bottom of the package and are inferred to crop out on the western margin of the mineralized zone. No particularly strong deformation or penetrative foliation has been noted in the rocks. The greywackes and conglomerate are massive but may be strongly fractured with local areas of moderate, quartz-carbonate stockwork veining. Drill Program Continuing A total of 856 meters of core drilling in 11 holes and 2,541 meters of RC drilling in 25 holes has been completed to date. The first drill phase will comprise 5,000 meters of core and 3,000 meters of RC to test a number of sections in the southern half of the anomaly. Following this, more detailed drilling will focus on defining grade continuity and the geometry of the deposit. A 5,000 meter RAB drilling program has commenced over the northern half of the anomaly and will generate targets for follow-up drilling with diamond core. Diba History The Diba gold discovery (announced on June 5, 2006) covers an area measuring 2.5 kilometers in length and 300-500 meters in width. The mineralized zone has been defined by single sample auger values in saprolite/bedrock exceeding 0.1 grams per tonne gold. Deeper drilling with augers subsequently confirmed the widespread mineralization and in some holes exceptional high grades were intersected (up to 114 grams per tonne). The RAB program was designed to test the width, grade and depth extent of the mineralization on the southern end of the anomaly over a distance of 650 meters within the 2.5 kilometer strike length of the anomaly. As the water table was typically encountered at vertical depths of 30-60 meters below surface, RAB drill holes were often prematurely ended in the mineralized zone due to the water table incursion. Approximately 75% of the holes ended in the mineralized zone due to this factor. The mineralized zone has only been partially tested on five sections by RAB drilling over an area representing less than 10% of the surface area of the anomaly. Potential Extends Beyond Diba The discovery at Diba is a result of a systematic regional exploration program that has been carried out over the past two years on Etruscan's principal land package in Mali West. In 2005 Etruscan completed regional geochemical surveys which confirmed the presence of several low level (25-100 ppb gold) but extensive, kilometer-scale gold-in-soil anomalies at Diba, Kobokotosou and Keneibandi. Four of these anomalies have now been confirmed with single sample augering. Only the Diba target has been tested by deeper multi-sample augering. Prior to deep augering, the target at Diba measured 2.2 kilometers by 500 meters with a maximum value 3.2 g/t. Dimensions of the second target at Kobokotosou are 0.8 kilometers by 400 meters with a maximum value 1.1 g/t gold, and the third and fourth targets at Keneibandi measure 1.4 kilometers by 300 meters with a maximum value 1.1 g/t gold and 1.2 kilometers by 300 meters with a maximum value 1.5 g/t gold. Etruscan controls the entire 30-kilometer strike length over which these anomalies occur. All gold analyses were performed by Abilabs Laboratories at Bamako, Mali using standard 50-gram fire assay procedures. K. Kirk Woodman P.Geo., Etruscan's Chief Project Geologist, is the Qualified Person overseeing Etruscan's exploration programs in West Africa. Etruscan Resources Inc. is a diversified Canadian junior mining company focused on acquiring dominant land positions in district scale gold and diamond belts within Africa. Etruscan has an aggressive exploration strategy and now holds strategic land positions in a number of gold belts covering over 10,000 km2 in five countries in West Africa. The Company also holds a dominant land position in the Ventersdorp alluvial diamond district in South Africa. The common shares of Etruscan are traded on The TSX Exchange under the symbol "EET". More extensive information on Etruscan can be found on its home page at etruscan.com.