Avala Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:AVZ) (the "Company" or "Avala")
is pleased to present an update on progress and drill results from
the Korkan-Bigar trend, part of the sediment-hosted gold belt
within the Cretaceous magmatic arc bordering the Timok Magmatic
Complex ("TMC") in Eastern Serbia.
"With these initial reverse circulation infill drilling results
we are starting to establish continuity of stratabound
mineralization at Bigar Hill, which is an important milestone for
the sediment-hosted gold project", said James Crombie, President
and CEO of Avala. "In addition, our ongoing wide-spaced,
exploration diamond drilling program continues to grow the overall
mineralized footprint at the Korkan target area together with
advancing our other recently discovered target areas which are
located in close proximity to the resource definition drilling
areas."
1. HIGHLIGHTS
-- Resource definition drilling continues with a Reverse Circulation (RC)
drill rig (GEMEX RC-500) on the Korkan-Bigar trend, initially drilling
the Bigar Hill target area.
-- The resource definition program is focused on establishing continuity of
mineralization, with a nominal 80 meter by 80 meter grid spacing within
the mineralized 'footprints' which have been outlined by Avala during
the earlier, wide-spaced, 160 meter by 160 meter diamond drilling
programs, which started in August, 2010.
-- Resource definition RC drilling at Bigar Hill returned the following
strong to moderate gold intercepts (0.4g/t cut-off grade):
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Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Gram-meters
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BHRC005 69 106 37 4.50 167
BHRC006 3 24 21 2.60 55
BHRC009 10 48 38 1.18 45
BHRC012 23 64 41 1.15 47
BHRC013 29 77 48 1.56 75
BHRC020 111 131 20 2.19 44
BHRC023 86 116 30 3.61 108
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Intersections calculated using 5 meter minimum thickness, 5 meter
maximum included waste.
Note: The listing does not include 'twin' RC drill hole intersections of
previously drilled diamond drill holes.
-- The reverse circulation-diamond 'twin' drill holes drilled to date have
confirmed that the majority of mineralized intercepts and hence the
deposit style, is dominated by layer-parallel, lithology-controlled gold
mineralization at Bigar Hill.
-- There is evidence of steeper mineralized structures in addition to the
dominant, stratigraphically controlled, gold mineralization. These
intersections represent a 'bonus' and are likely to be intersected in
greater numbers as the infill drilling program progresses.
-- Wide-spaced 'step out' drilling (nominal 160 meter by 160 meter) on the
Korkan-Bigar trend continues to intersect gold mineralization within the
target stratigraphy, a sequence of strongly altered and decarbonatized
conglomerates and sandstones with interbedded fine grained sandstone and
clay-rich siltstones, marls, andesitic volcanics and derivative clastic
rocks.
-- Drilling on the Korkan target area returned the following strong gold
intercept (0.4g/t cut-off grade), from the north-eastern edge of the
wide-spaced drilling grid; mineralization remains demonstrably open in
this direction:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Gram-meters
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
KODD058 210 222 12 5.43 65
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Note: 5 meter minimum thickness, 5 meter maximum included waste.
-- Exploration drilling continues to test new target areas, located in
close proximity to the Korkan and Bigar Hill mineralized 'footprints'.
-- Exploration drilling on the Bigar East target area, located
approximately 800 meters east-southeast of the Bigar Hill zone returned
the following gold intercepts (0.4g/t cut-off grade):
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Gram-meters
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIDD019 118.8 134 15.2 3.01 46
BIDD022 72 80 8 1.76 14
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Note: 5 meter minimum thickness, 5 meter maximum included waste.
-- Exploration drilling on the Rapture Fault Zone, located approximately
700 meters southwest of the Bigar Hill zone returned the following
broad, low grade, gold intercepts (0.4g/t cut-off grade):
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Gram-meters
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIDD024 6.7 32 25.3 0.43 11
42 63 21 0.51 11
111 116 5 0.66 3
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Note: 5 meter minimum thickness, 5 meter maximum included waste.
-- To date, Avala has outlined gold mineralization at Korkan over an area
of approximately 1,200 meters by 600 meters surrounding the original
discovery hole (open to the east and north-east) and an area of 1,000
meters by 1,000 meters on the Bigar Hill target area (open in all
directions). Kraku Pestar has been traced over 600 meters by 300 meters
and is open to the north and south.
-- Additional target areas have been identified within 3 kilometres of the
core Korkan-Bigar Hill area, in similar target stratigraphy.
-- Avala intends to continue the wide-spaced drilling program, in
conjunction with the recently commenced resource definition program, in
order to test the prospective 'target stratigraphy' within the Korkan-
Bigar trend, to effectively outline the size of the newly defined
sediment-hosted gold system.
-- The combined Korkan-Bigar trend is over 10 kilometers long and 2.5
kilometers wide and represents only part of the northern portion of the
sediment-hosted gold belt.
-- Avala currently has seven diamond drill rigs and one RC drill rig
operating on the sediment-hosted gold belt. One diamond drill rig has
been allocated to an area in the southern portion of the sediment-hosted
gold belt, on the Umka-Strnjak trend, where scout drill holes are being
drilled on nominal 320 meter by 320 meter centers within the target
stratigraphy. The remainder of the drill rigs are operating on the
Korkan-Bigar trend.
2. GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION STYLE
-- Sediment-hosted gold, located along the western margin of the Timok
Magmatic Complex, represents a previously unrecognized style of gold
mineralization within the Timok region.
-- Within the Korkan-Bigar trend, stratabound, fault-controlled breccia
together with minor karst-infill breccia represent the styles of
sediment-hosted gold mineralization recognized to date.
-- Gold mineralization appears to be associated with fine-grained pyrite
(sulfidation reaction) and a number of alteration styles including
kaolinitization, decarbonatization of calcareous sedimentary rock
adjacent to the gold mineralization and occasionally silicification.
-- Gold mineralization is hosted within a favourable sedimentary package -
the 'target stratigraphy' - which is underlain by Jurassic and Lower
Cretaceous limestones and consists predominantly of calcareous
sandstones and conglomerates which include an interbedded fine grained
sandstone and clay-rich siltstone unit.
-- The upper portion of the target stratigraphy consists of 'red'
sandstones and volcanic-lithic clastic sediments, which are in turn,
overlain by calcareous marls, andesitic volcanic and volcaniclastic
rocks, representing the youngest portion of the target stratigraphy.
-- To date, gold mineralized intervals have been returned from all portions
of the target stratigraphy, excluding, to a certain extent, the marl
unit and the interbedded fine grained sandstone and clay-rich siltstone
unit which have been only weakly mineralized; Avala believes that these
units may be locally acting as an aquitard, or capping unit, to
hydrothermal fluids.
-- In general, the target stratigraphy within the Korkan-Bigar trend
appears to be gently dipping towards the east and may have been gently
folded with a northwest axial plane.
-- Figure 1 shows the location of the Korkan-Bigar trend and the Kraku
Pestar target area within the greater sediment-hosted gold belt, defined
in this image by mapped 'target stratigraphy' and anomalous gold soil
geochemistry, together with their respective total metal contour plots
superimposed. The significant potential of the belt can be clearly seen
when the surface area of the mineralized 'footprints' of the currently
drilled target areas within the Korkan-Bigar trend are compared to the
overall extent of the presently defined gold soil anomalies.
3. DRILLING AT KORKAN-BIGAR
-- Resource Definition Drilling: Avala commenced RC drilling on a nominal
80 meter by 80 meter grid spacing at Bigar Hill on the 18th August,
2011. Drilling will continue at Bigar Hill for the remainder of 2011. A
second RC drill rig is expected to be operational in January, 2012 and
will commence on the Korkan and Kraku Pestar target areas. Additionally,
selected locations within the target areas will be drilled to a nominal
40 meter by 40 meter grid spacing to provide geostatistical support and
diamond 'twin' drilling of the RC drill holes will be carried out across
the target areas at a nominal rate of 15% of total RC drilling.
-- Bigar Hill: Avala is continuing the 'step out' diamond drilling program
at the Bigar Hill target area to the immediate east from current
resource definition drilling, on a nominal 160 meter by 160 meter
spacing. See Table 1 for a summary of all intersections at various cut-
off grades for the results of reverse circulation drill holes BHRC001 to
BHRC023 (excluding BHRC022) and diamond drill holes BHDD035 to BHDD039.
Figure 2 shows a gram-meter (intervals greater than 0.4g/t Au x
thickness), total metal contour plot of all Bigar Hill drilling to date
superimposed on topography. Figure 3 shows a representative cross-
section through Bigar Hill including recently completed infill RC drill
holes.
-- Following Avala standard quality assurance procedures, a number of RC
drill holes have 'twinned' previously drilled diamond drill holes at
Bigar Hill. Total intersection lengths together with the weighted mean
gold grades for the first five 'twin' drill holes are outlined in Table
5:
Table 5: Comparative drill hole intersections for RC 'twins' of
diamond drill holes at Bigar Hill.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted Weighted
Total Mean Grade Total Mean Grade
Hole ID Length (Au g/t) Hole ID Length (Au g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BHRC015 57 1.92 BHDD034 60 2.08
BHRC016 61 0.54 BHDD026 22 0.59
BHRC017 29 1.30 BHDD020 33 2.04
BHRC018 73 1.29 BHDD004 72 0.81
BHRC019 67 1.16 BHDD029 65 2.56
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Intersection statistics refer to the total intersection length within
the drill hole together with the weighted mean grade and can be found in
Table 1; 0.4g/t Au cut-off grade, 5 meter minimum thickness, 5 meter maximum
included waste.
-- The reverse circulation-diamond 'twin' drill holes drilled to date have
confirmed that the majority of mineralized intercepts and hence the
deposit style, is dominated by layer-parallel, lithology-controlled gold
mineralization at Bigar Hill.
-- There is evidence of steeper mineralized structures in addition to the
dominant, stratigraphically controlled, gold mineralization. These
intersections represent a 'bonus' and are likely to be intersected in
greater numbers as the infill drilling program progresses.
-- The reverse circulation-diamond 'twin' drill holes suggest that there
can be close spaced variation in gold grade, as is typical for gold
deposits.
-- When the current RC drilling data is compared with the diamond drill
holes that have intersected the same volume of rock, it is clear that
both sample populations are identical and RC drilling is a valid infill
drilling method, producing the same results as the equivalent diamond
drilling. Following Avala standard quality assurance procedures, all RC
sampling is carried out in 'dry' sample conditions.
-- Similar proportions of samples above cut-off are reported for both the
RC and diamond drilling data sets. See Figure 6 for a log probability
plot (0.4g/t cut-off grade) of RC and diamond drilling to date, which
shows the identical populations.
-- Strong gold mineralization is hosted within polymict conglomerate and
sandstone intervals which have been strongly decarbonatized with
intense, sooty, fine grained pyrite matrix infill. To date gold
mineralization within the footwall Jurassic massive limestone of the
Korkan-Bigar trend has been of an overall low to moderate tenor and is
generally associated with brecciation, either karst or brittle
deformation (excluding the Bigar East target area where strong gold
mineralization is associated with brittle deformation within
limestones).
-- Korkan: Additional drilling, generally peripheral in nature, has been
completed within the Korkan target area and results have been returned
for the following four drill holes: KODD055 to KODD058. Recent drilling
within the north-eastern portion of the Korkan mineralized 'footprint'
has outlined strong gold mineralization of the fault-controlled breccia
style (equivalent to KODD001) in KODD058 (12m @ 5.43g/t Au (from 210m)),
which is also associated with stibnite and realgar mineralization, in
addition to the more usual, intense, sooty, fine grained pyrite
mineralization.
-- The north-east portion of the Korkan target area remains demonstrably
open and additional diamond drilling is ongoing in this area. It is
important to note that this part of the Korkan target area is overlain
by andesitic volcanics and marls, which represent the upper (youngest)
portion of the target stratigraphy and are generally unmineralized and
do not generate a gold anomaly in soil sampling. Thus this portion of
the Korkan target area is 'blind'. See Table 2 & Figure 4.
-- Bigar East: Initial wide-spaced drilling (nominal 320 meter by 160
meter) continues to target the Jurassic limestone/'target stratigraphy'
contact area which appears to be a faulted contact which dips steeply
(approx. 70 degrees ) towards the east and strikes north; it is defined
by a moderate gold soil anomaly and variously gold anomalous trenches.
Recent drilling continues to intersect a previously unrecognized style
of mineralization to date; fault-controlled breccia mineralization
within limestone located at a depth below the limestone/'target
stratigraphy' contact.
-- Additionally, intersections to date tend to suggest that there may be a
series of sub-parallel structures within this area. Avala will continue
to drill test the Bigar East target area northwards towards the Bigar
Hill target area. See Figure 5.
-- Rapture Fault Zone: Initial wide-spaced drilling (nominal 160 meter by
160 meter) continues to target the meta-sediment (phyllite)/Jurassic
limestone contact area which appears to be a faulted contact dipping
steeply (approx. 70 degrees ) towards the east and strikes north-
northwest and is defined by a strong gold-arsenic-thallium soil anomaly
(greater than 0.1g/t Au), together with moderately gold anomalous
trenches.
-- Avala is targeting an approximately 1,000 meter long portion of the
Rapture Fault Zone, which may contain gold mineralization within a 50-80
meter wide corridor. Mineralization is associated with breccia within
the fault zone and stratabound mineralization within the footwall meta-
sediments. See Figure 5.
-- See Tables 4 & 5 for a summary of all intersections in diamond drill
holes BIDD014 to BIDD026 (excluding BIDD025) from the Bigar East and the
Rapture Fault Zone areas, at various cut-off grades.
-- Multiple gold mineralized intercepts per hole are a common feature of
the gold mineralization outlined to date in the Korkan, Bigar Hill,
Kraku Pestar and Rapture Fault Zone target areas.
4. DISCUSSION
-- A major sediment-hosted gold belt bordering the western boundary of the
Timok Magmatic Complex, identified by soil and trench samples, extends
over 20 kilometers along strike and is up to 8 kilometers wide. Soil
sampling is being completed to the north and south of the currently
defined 20 kilometer strike in order to attempt to determine the overall
extent of the sediment-hosted gold belt which, based on the extent of
mapped 'target stratigraphy', has the potential to be approximately 70
kilometers in length.
-- The geology, geochemistry and available drill intersections suggest a
strong similarity to the style of gold mineralization typified by the
North Carlin Trend, Nevada, USA.
-- The recognition that the majority of the significant trench and diamond
drill intercepts returned to date occur within the same flat lying or
shallow dipping sedimentary package has significant implications for the
gold potential of the Korkan-Bigar trend and the entire sediment-hosted
gold belt.
-- Exploration drill testing within the Korkan-Bigar trend will continue
with wide spaced (nominal 160 meter by 160 meter), exploration diamond
drill holes, in conjunction with the ongoing resource definition
drilling program, to allow Avala to outline the potential size and
economic potential of the sediment-hosted gold system.
-- In addition, the Jurassic limestone package has strongly anomalous gold
in soil geochemistry where it is exposed in the Korkan-Bigar & Umka-
Strnjak trends and numerous gold mineralized trench intercepts have been
returned to date, hosted in limestone, which require drill follow-up in
due course.
-- Avala controls 100% of the newly identified sediment-hosted gold belt
which totals approximately 250 square kilometers and intends to
systematically drill test all currently defined priority target areas.
-- Please see the following link to view all Korkan-Bigar and Kraku Pestar
drill holes located spatially in three dimensions:
http://www.corebox.net/properties/potoj-cuka-gold-belt
5. SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS
The majority of soil samples have been assayed at the ALS Chemex
laboratory, Perth, Australia. More recent programs have been
assayed at the SGS managed laboratory at Chelopech in Bulgaria
using a combination of ICP-OES and ICP-MS whereas gold has been
assayed by low level detection fire assay method with an AAS
finish. The Company has established a laboratory facility at Bor,
Eastern Serbia which is independently managed by SGS. Trench
samples were prepared at the laboratory facility at Bor and the
samples have been assayed at the SGS managed laboratory at
Chelopech in Bulgaria or the laboratory facility at Bor. Diamond
drill core has been prepared at the laboratory facility at Bor and
assayed at either the SGS managed laboratory at Chelopech in
Bulgaria or the assay laboratory at Bor. A one metre sampling
interval has been used where possible for the Sediment-Hosted Gold
project diamond drilling program. Half core is routinely submitted
to the laboratory for analysis. Reverse circulation drill samples
have been prepared at the laboratory facility at Bor and assayed at
the laboratory at Bor. A one metre sampling interval has been used
for the Sediment-Hosted Gold project reverse circulation drilling
program. Following Avala standard quality assurance procedures, a
full suite of field and laboratory duplicates and replicates along
with internationally accredited standards and blanks, have been
submitted with each batch of samples.
Trench sampling was carried out as channels in the wall just
above the trench floor on 2m intervals. Except where extensive soil
cover is encountered, trenches were sampled in their entirety. The
samples were routinely weighed prior to final bagging to maintain
an even sample size and to avoid sampling bias in harder rock
types. An average channel sample weight was maintained at 3kg/m,
which produces a consistent sample weight approximating half HQ
core samples. Field duplicate samples were taken every 20 samples
and known standards were inserted into the sample stream after
every 20th sample. A geological and structural log was completed as
for diamond drilling. All data collected in the field was routinely
entered into geology and structural geology spread sheets using
Field Marshal software for subsequent entry to an acQuire database
and validation.
Dr Julian F. H. Barnes, a qualified person under National
Instrument 43-101, a Director and the Company's Special Consultant,
has supervised the preparation of the technical data in this press
release.
Previously released data refers to data included in the "Potoj
Cuka Gold Project, Serbia National Instrument 43-101 Technical
Report" by Paul Mazzoni dated March 10, 2010 (the "Technical
Report"), filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Further information in
respect of results, investigations, interpretations, quality
assurance and quality control measures, along with geology,
mineralogy, sampling, and analytical procedures is included in the
Technical Report.
About Avala Resources Ltd.: Avala is a recently-formed company
focused on the exploration and development of the Potoj Cuka
sediment-hosted gold project and the Timok gold-copper project in
Serbia. The common shares of Avala trade on the TSX Venture
Exchange under the symbol AVZ.
Avala is well-capitalized, with approximately $37 million in its
treasury at September 30, 2011, which it plans to use for the
exploration and development of its mineral projects in Serbia.
Avala's issued and outstanding share capital totals 214,492,223
common shares, of which approximately 51.4% is held by Dundee
Precious Metals Inc.
Cautionary Statement
The potential quantity and grade described in this press release
are conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration
to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further
exploration will result in the Korkan-Bigar target area being
delineated as a mineral resource.
This press release contains forward-looking information.
Although the Company believes in light of the experience of its
officers and directors, current conditions and expected future
developments and other factors that have been considered
appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking
information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on
them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove
to be correct. Forward looking information in this news release
includes statements regarding the nature of the mineralization of
the project, the results of the exploration activities and
interpretation of such results, the gold potential of the project,
the potential size of the sediment-hosted gold system, the
suggested similarity to the style of gold mineralization of the
North Carlin Trend project and the similarities suggested and with
timing and location of future work programs. Forward-looking
information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties,
assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results or
events to differ materially from those anticipated in such
forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements
contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and
the Company undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise
any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required
by applicable securities laws.
Figures 1 and 2 are available at the following address:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Avala_Figures_1_2.pdf
Figures 3 and 4 are available at the following address:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Avala_Figures_3_4.pdf
Figures 5 and 6 are available at the following address:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Avala_Figures_5_6.pdf
Tables 1 to 4 are available at the following address:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Avala_Tables_1017.pdf
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this press release.
Contacts: Avala Resources Ltd. James Crombie President and Chief
Executive Officer
+1.450.640.0810info@avalaresources.comwww.avalaresources.com
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