Additional tonnage proves elusive at North

Vancouver Scout drilling from around the Boyongan copper-gold deposit has so far failed to find additional resources on the North project in the Philippine.

Partners Philex Gold (PGI-V) and Anglo American (AAUK-Q) currently have seven rigs turning in an effort to fully evaluate the economic potential of the North property in Surigao province. The latest batch of assay results from 4 holes returned a best value of 0.14% copper and 0.18 gram gold over 420 metres in hole 67.

"Quite a number of scout holes primarily south of Boyongan have been completed," says Philex’s CEO Gerard Brimo, "although unfortunately none of these have given us the results that we had hoped for."

There are four rigs drilling at the Northwest porphyry target, one rig is drilling southeast of Boyongan while two rigs are conducting scout drilling southwest of the deposit and east of Magpayang.

Anglo American discovered the Boyongan deposit in September 2000, when hole 6 returned a 365-metre intercept grading 0.7% copper and 1.9 grams gold per tonne. Subsequent drilling throughout 2001 and 2002 continued to yield impressive numbers, including 393 metres grading 1.58% copper and 2.39 grams gold in hole 15, and 896 metres of 0.49% copper and 1.57 grams gold in hole 18. ) However, results by the end of 2002 indicate that although the deposit contains high grades in part, the tonnage anticipated from the oxide zone is unlikely to be sufficient to support a large-scale, long-life operation. Also, the deep-seated sulphide mineralization now appears to have an erratic grade distribution. This finding prompted Anglo American to launch an aggressive regional drill program aimed at finding additional mineralization.

Anglo American plans on drilling 28,000 metres this year with resource estimates for the Boyongan deposit and metallurgical test work is expected by the third or fourth quarter.

Currently, Philex and Anglo American each hold a half-stake in the project. The major can earn an additional 30% by completing a bankable feasibility study.