Philippine Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PHI)(OTCQX:PHIXF)(FRANKFURT:PM7) has announced the initial results of the drilling program, carried out on its Taurus Project located on the Island of Leyte in the Philippines.
To date exploration work on the Taurus Project has included surface mapping, sampling and trenching and the completion of orientation geophysical work including 20 line km of induced polarization ("IP") and ground electromagnetic surveying covering the Buen Suerte Area. Drill testing in one of the areas of known copper mineralization was initiated to better determine its nature, mode of occurrence and the calibration/orientation of the IP survey. Six drill holes aggregating 792.5 m have now been completed, with the first four holes focusing on the Buen Suerte Area and two holes on the Malayahay Area.
The drilling results indicate the copper mineralization in the Buen Suerte Area is gently dipping stratabound-type volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralization, rather than the structurally bound mineralization management anticipated. With this new understanding of the system, management has put on hold further drilling activity and has accelerated plans to conduct an airborne electromagnetic survey over the entire 9,896 ha tenement, which the Company believes is the most appropriate, cost-effective and time-efficient tool to identify this type of VMS mineralization and progress exploration of the Taurus Project. A powerful, state-of-the-art helicopter-borne time domain EM system (HTEM) survey is currently being initiated over the Taurus Project to provide coverage of the entire tenement. The survey will utilize Geotech Airborne Malta Ltd.'s 26 m diameter loop system, which is capable of depth penetration ranging to 300 m, and therefore will survey a very large volume of ophiolite for conductors associated with VMS mineralization.
"We believe that the information gained from our initial drilling activity is very significant and greatly advances our understanding of the mineralization potential of Taurus," stated Feisal Somji, CEO of the Company. "Confirmation of the strata bound nature of the mineralization provides a significant constraint to the horizon of the mineralization and enables us to recalibrate our exploration focus. The airborne survey results will be a critical next step in unlocking the potential of Taurus. Given the size of the mineralized ophiolite covered in the tenement and the widespread nature of the mineralization known to date, we expect a significant cluster of Cu - Zn targets will be discovered over the next year. This expectation is supported by new discoveries stemming from our ongoing mapping, sampling and trenching activities across the tenement."
The results from the drilling confirm the persistence at depth of VMS mineralization and that the copper mineralization in the Buen Suerte Area appears to have been little deformed during and after obduction. Multiple horizons of mineralization are indicated and further work will determine hanging wall versus footwall stratigraphic characteristics.
Philippine Metals has also completed a mapping and sampling program focusing on the immediate south and eastern extension of the Buen Suerte Area at the Don Amado Tunnels. This area correlates with the target testing from drill hole "TAU-10-002", the southern-most drill hole. Several gossaniferrous areas were identified representing near surface expression of potential lenticular massive sulphide bodies underneath. Trenching along a creek located 750 m southeast of drill hole "TAU-10-002" has revealed a steeply dipping, 30° AZ trending, lenticular massive sulphide zone, consisting of about 70% to 75% sulphide mineralization. The trench samples averaged 4.96% Cu, reported as chalcopyrite and 0.40% Zn (reported as marmatitic sphalerite) over a section 8 m in length with approximately 3 m true thickness at its widest. This outcrop is encouraging as it opens up the immediate southern continuity of the current drilling area, and provides a better understanding of the stratigraphic and structural controls and what to expect as drilling progresses southward. Based on the Company's mapping, sampling and trenching in the area, it is anticipated better grade will be intercepted when the stratabound mineralization is traversed by grade-enhancing cross structures.
For reference, characteristic typical grades for the stratiform sulphides of ophiolite hosted VMS's range from 0.1% to 4.0% (Searle, D.L. 19722 Mode of occurrence of the Cupriferous pyrite deposits of Cyprus: Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Transactions v.81 p.189-197).
The drill cores, after collection of geotechnical data, sit on the split tube right at the drill site and are transferred directly into wooden core boxes. Full core boxes are transported covered and with waybills from the drill site to the Taurus Project Field Camp, where they are geologically logged in detail. Sampling for the mineralized intervals are then determined and marked. The core for sampling are cut by a diamond saw and one half of the sawed drill core is placed in properly labelled plastic bags and delivered to McPhar Assay Laboratory ("MacPhar") in Manila for standard core sample preparation and metal content analysis using ICP1 (for geochem grade samples) and eventually ICP3 (for ore grade samples). Both ICP1 & ICP3 consist of 30 element induced coupled plasma analysis with the former using 2 acid digestion and the later with 4 acid digestion. Gold content is analyzed by PM3 (i.e. fire assay on a 30 gram sample with AAS finish). McPhar is independent and not related to the Company and is ISO 9001:2000 accredited with ISO 17025 accreditation in progress. Aside from McPhar's in-house re-assaying of the same pulp (every 10 samples) and pulp re-assays (every 20 samples), the Company also inserts adequate duplicates, blanks and standard reference materials of various grades obtained from labs in British Columbia, Canada, to each sample delivery batch at a frequency of 15 samples per standard. Laboratory returns had been found to pass the standard industry limit (± 2SD). As the drill holes are designed to intercept projected mineralized zones perpendicularly, the reported mineralized length and apparent width/thickness is not expected to significantly vary with the true width/thickness. A third of the remaining half core is also cut by diamond saw, collected, labelled and subjected to the Company's in-house sample preparation and X-ray fluorescence ("XRF") analysis. The correlation coefficient of the in-house XRF and McPhar ICP for copper is about 0.97.
Background information concerning the Taurus Project set out in this news release has been summarized from, and is qualified in its entirety by, a report on the Taurus Project dated October 22, 2009 (the "Technical Report").
William Dynes P Geol, is the qualified person, as defined in NI 43-101, whom has reviewed and verified the scientific and technical disclosures contained in this press release.