Talon Metals Corp. (TSX: TLO) has announced the initial results of the drilling program on Target Area 2 at its 100% owned Trairão Iron Project, located in Pará State, Brazil.
At Target Area 2, 31 reverse circulation ("RC") holes were drilled on a 400 metre by 200 metre grid to a depth of 50 metres below surface, over a strike length of 3,400 metres. These RC drill holes augmented the results from 2 diamond drill holes that had been drilled previously in this area. To date we have received the results from 14 RC holes covering some 1,600 metres of strike in the west of Target Area 2. These results are consistent with the initial results from Target Area 1 (see December 13, 2010 and December 23, 2010 press releases). Talon's consultants, Coffey Mining Limited ("Coffey"), compiled a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant technical report in which they estimated an inferred mineral resource of 168 million tonnes at 42.5 Fe at a 35% Fe cut-off grade in respect of Target Area 1 (see "Talon Files Initial NI 43-101 Report on SEDAR" below).
"We are delighted that the first set of results we have received from the drilling of Target Area 2 are consistent with those intersected on Target Area 1" said Mr. Stuart Comline, President and CEO of Talon. "In particular, it is pleasing to see that some relatively high grades of iron continue to be intersected close to surface and that, in a number of drill holes, the mineralization extends at least to depths of in excess of 50 metres."
It is anticipated that the results of the remaining drill holes on Target Area 2 will be received during February, 2011, whereafter Coffey has been commissioned to undertake an estimation of inferred mineral resources on this area. Drilling with the single RC rig is continuing on the eastern extension of Target Area 2, while surface exploration work is underway on other regional targets within the project area, in preparation for drilling of those areas in the months to come. In addition, a second RC drill rig and two diamond drill rigs will be commissioned on the Trairão Project during February, 2011, which will permit drilling of the potentially deeper mineralization. Initial samples have been submitted for mineralogical studies prior to commencing metallurgical test work.
Talon Files Initial NI 43-101 Technical Report on SEDAR
Talon is also pleased to announce that further to its December 23, 2010 news release, the NI 43-101 technical report will today be filed on SEDAR.
The technical report is entitled "Independent Technical Report on Exploration and Mineral Resource Estimate dated December 23, 2010" and incorporates the initial drill results and the mineral resource estimate for Target Area 1 of the Trairão Project.
Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Qualified Person
All drilling samples have been prepared and analyzed by SGS-Geosol Laboratórios Ltda ("SGS") which is ISO14001:2004 and ISO 9001:2008 accredited and is independent of Talon. Sample preparation was conducted at SGS Parauapebas preparation facility whereas analyses were performed at the SGS laboratory based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The samples were analyzed by fusion with lithium tetraborate-XRF for SiO2, Al2O3, CaO, Fe2O3, K2O, MgO, TiO2, P, Mn and Cr2O3 and retained moisture (LOI) by multi-temperature.
QA/QC procedures include the submission by Talon of systematic duplicates, blanks and standard samples within every sample batch submitted to SGS. In addition, SGS inserts its own standards, blanks and duplicate samples. The results from these control samples indicate acceptable consistency of analysis.
Talon's exploration programs are being managed by Talon's VP Exploration, Mr. Paulo Ilidio de Brito (Member: AusIMM), who is a qualified person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. Ilidio de Brito, who is an employee of Talon, is responsible for the technical material in this news release and has verified the data disclosed in this news release (including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information), other than with respect to the inferred mineral resource mentioned above.
Trairão Project
The Trairão Project is situated within the Serra da Seringa Archean age greenstone belt, within the Carajás Mineral Province in Brazil, which also hosts numerous other iron ore deposits. The Trairão Project comprises nine exploration licences and two applications for exploration licences, for a total area of 73,515 hectares (181,658 acres). The primary protore iron mineralization in the project area is magnetite-rich BIFs. The BIFs are associated with positive magnetic anomalies and are preserved in nine discreet areas with a cumulative strike length of some 50 kilometres, which mostly form prominent ridges capped by preserved supergene enriched hematite deposits, which are developed in colluvial and saprolite zones.