Wetar Copper Update
January 19 2007 - 2:33AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:7981P
Finders Resources Limited
19 January 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 19th JANUARY 2006
NEW LEACH TESTS SHOW POTENTIAL FOR HIGH CU RECOVERIES BY HEAP LEACHING AT THE
WETAR COPPER PROJECT
Finders Resources is the operator of the Wetar Copper and Ojolali Gold-Silver
Projects, both in Indonesia and holds an investment in Geopacific Resources NL,
an ASX-listed company.
HIGHLIGHTS
* Interim results received from column leach test work on representative
Kali Kuning ore has yielded 75% copper recovery after 57 days. The sample is
still leaching strongly as the test continues. A parallel test on Lerokis
material shows only 30% copper recovery
* Independently, amenability tests using proprietary BioHeapTM bacteria
have yielded 82% copper recovery for Kali Kuning and 57% for Lerokis,
indicating that these bacteria can successfully treat otherwise refractory
Lerokis material.
* Three twin-holes at Kali Kuning, drilled to assess suspected selective
copper losses in previous drilling, have yielded copper grade increases of 1%,
19% and 70% in corresponding intervals.
The Wetar Copper Project is currently in the feasibility stage after the
completion of a Scoping Study in June 2006. The feasibility study is in two
stages, the first of which is designed to evaluate and select the most optimum
processing option. Finders has previously reported copper recoveries of around
86% using the Albion and HydroCopper hydrometallurgical techniques after
production of a rougher concentrate.
Chris Farmer, Managing Director, said
"The high copper recoveries from the leach test work are highly promising and
impressive for this stage of the test program and may lead towards a major
breakthrough for the Wetar Copper project.
An onsite heap leach process route offers potential to substantially reduce
capital and operating costs for comparable levels of copper production and the
possibility of shortened timelines to production.
In view of these results Finders will undertake a fundamental review of the
relative economics between the concentrate/off-site Albion process route and the
new option of heap leaching and on-site copper cathode production by SXEW."
For further information please contact:
College Hill: Paddy Blewer or Nick Elwes, 020 7457 2020
Finders Resources Ltd: Chris Farmer, cbf@findersresources.com
Website:http://www.findersresources.com
WETAR COPPER PROJECT
(Finders 72% subject to audit and earning)
www.findersresources.com
The leach test work reported in this update represents the first stage in the
assessment of SX-EW copper production at the Wetar project using heap leach
techniques.
Column Leach Tests
In November, Finders started a number of controlled column tests at HRL Testing,
using acidified ferric sulphate solutions to simulate bacterial leaching
conditions. The columns are 1m high and comprise 6.5mm crushed samples of Kali
Kuning and Lerokis drill core in both open and closed circuits at 25oC. In
December, an additional 1m column was commenced with Kali Kuning material
inoculated with non proprietary bacteria.
These tests are still continuing, but results after the first 2 months of test
work are highly encouraging for the Kali Kuning deposit. After 57 days, 75.5%
copper recovery has been achieved from the Kali Kuning column, and the column is
still leaching strongly. After 27 days the inoculated column had reached 52.8%
recovery, and was leaching faster than the corresponding ferric solution column
The Lerokis columns show lower levels of recovery (approx. 30%), reflecting the
different mineralogical composition of the Lerokis sample.
BioHeapTM Test Work
Representative samples of Kali Kuning and Lerokis ore material were supplied to
BioHeap Ltd for bacterial adaptation and BioHeapTM amenability tests.
Proprietary bacterial strains, specifically developed to leach metals form
sulphide ores, were successfully adapted to the Wetar samples within 28 days
using an agitated aerated reactor at 50oC.
Leach amenability tests on each sample were then conducted with the adapted
bacteria for a further seven week period. Results of the test work show good
leaching rates with 81.2% Cu recovery from the Kali Kuning sample and 57% Cu
recovery from the Lerokis sample. The proprietary bacteria thus appear to offer
a significant advantage for leaching of Lerokis material, but show a generally
similar performance to nonproprietary strains for Kali Kuning.
Kali Kuning Twin Holes
Assay results have been received from three twin holes at the Kali Kuning
deposit, specifically targeted to test lower grade portions of the deposit. The
holes were drilled to help correlate between assay results between Finders' 2005
and 2006 drill programs and help evaluate the scale of copper losses during
drilling recovery.
Phase 1 Hole Twin Hole From (m) Interval (m) Phase 1 Twin Hole Increase
Cu % Cu% in copper
KKG008 KKG052 22 42 0.95 1.13 19%
KKG011 KKG050 23 18 2.00 2.02 1%
KKG006 KKG053 12 69 1.40 2.39 70%
Additional interval
KKG050 42 15 - 5.80 -
The results support the interpretation that the average copper grade at Kali
Kuning may be understated due to uneven levels of copper losses in earlier
drilling, as demonstrated by the above data.
Hole KKG050 also recorded an additional 15m @ 5.8% Cu beneath the corresponding
interval in KKG011. Hole KKG011 failed to reach the base of the massive sulphide
unit.
Background Information on BioHeap Ltd
BioHeap Limited is a company specialising in the development of bacterial
oxidation projects with an emphasis on bacterial heap leaching. Over the past
ten years BioHeap has developed a suite of mixed bacterial cultures capable of
leaching base metals, including copper from chalcopyrite and oxidising
refractory gold ores. Cultures have also been developed for operating in highly
saline water, allowing the opportunity for BioHeapTM to be implemented in
operations that have previously been unable to process sulphide ores due to a
lack of availability of good quality water.
BioHeap has developed a patented bacterial heap leaching process BioHeapTM which
leaches low grade sulphide ores using adapted proprietary bacterial cultures.
During 1999 to 2001 BioHeapTM was successfully trialled at the Radio Hill Mine
in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
For more informationon BioHeap Ltd visit: www.pacificore.com.au
Statements by Finders
Geological information in this announcement is based on information compiled by
Dr R Fountain who is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists and
a Director of Finders. Dr Fountain has sufficient experience that is relevant to
the styles of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration and to
the activity that he is undertaking to qualify as Competent Person as defined in
the JORC Code. He consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters
based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.
All assaying of drill core samples was undertaken by the ITS laboratory in
Jakarta. ITS is one of the world's largest product and commodity testing,
inspection and certification organizations. The Jakarta laboratory is ISO 17025
accredited and employs a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for
sample tracking, quality control and reporting.
Statements in this document that are forward-looking and involve numerous risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
expected results are based on the Company's current beliefs and assumptions
regarding a large number of factors affecting its business. Actual results may
differ materially from expected results. There can be no assurance that (i) the
Company has correctly measured or identified all of the factors affecting its
business or the extent of their likely impact, (ii) the publicly available
information with respect to these factors on which the Company's analysis is
based is complete or accurate, (iii) the Company's analysis is correct or (iv)
the Company's strategy, which is based in part on this analysis, will be
successful.
Notes for editors and analysts:
Finders Resources LTD (AIM:FND)
www.findersresources.com
Advanced Projects in Indonesia Wetar Copper Project
- 9.8 Mt @ 2.5% Cu, 0.4% Zn, 28 g/t Ag and 0.68 g/t Au, in two
deposits at a cut-off grade of 0.5% Cu
- Independent JORC estimates; approx. 35% measured, 55% indicated
- High grade, low strip ratio, coastal location
- Variety of process route alternatives being investigated
- Exploration potential with known satellite deposit
- 72% Finders (subject to audit) with potential for further
expenditure-based equity
Ojolali Gold -Silver Project
- Jambi Prospect: CIL or CIP target with Inferred Resource of around
150,000 oz Au and low strip ratio
- Tambang Prospect: Current Inferred Resource of around 40 million
Oz Ag and around 170,000 Oz Au
- Bonanza grade veins targeted in under explored mining district,
strong potential to increase Resource base at Batu Kuning
- 72% Finders
Investment Geopacific Resources (ASX:GPR)
- Portfolio of copper-gold and gold projects in Fiji, many existing
ore grade intercepts and 10 drill-ready targets
- Finders has a 16.7% interest in Geopacific
Proven Team - Extensive collective experience and expertise in the exploration,
assessment, evaluation and development of mineral projects
- Track record of bringing mines into development
- Significant, extended Indonesian experience
Finders Resources Limited - Market capitalisation of #14.5 million on 18/01/07
- Fast track development and cash generation potential
- Quality team
Resource estimates are reported in accordance with the 2004 edition of the
Australasian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore
Reserves (the "JORC Code", available at www.jorc.org). The estimates were
performed by Dr Phillip Hellman who is a Director of Hellman & Schofield Pty Ltd
("H&S") and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. He qualifies
as a Competent Person under the meaning of the JORC Code and consents to the
inclusion of these estimates in this release by Finders Resources Ltd in the
form and context in which they appear.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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