Acadian reports assay results from Getty deposit

Initial assay results from Acadian Mining‘s (ADA-T, ADAIF-O) Getty zinc-lead deposit indicate there’s good potential for a bulk tonnage, open-pit deposit.

Highlights from 38 holes of a planned 100 diamond drill program at the site, near Gays River in Nova Scotia, include Hole S1019, which intersected 15.5 metres grading 6.45% zinc plus lead, including 9.7 metres of 8.7% zinc plus lead.

Hole S1020 intersected 11.5 metres grading 5.48% zinc plus lead; Hole S1023 intercepted 19.8 metres grading 4.23% zinc plus lead; and Hole S1024 encountered 12 metres grading 6.50% zinc plus lead.

“Some of the intercepts were a little higher than we expected so we hope to add another 3 to 5 years of mine life, on top of the 7.5 years of mine life we have at the Scotia mine,” Terry Coughlan, Acadian’s vice president and director, told The Northern Miner.

“Of course we’ll need to have a feasibility study done on that but it’s holding together very nicely and we’re getting some nice wide, high-grade intercepts.”

The Getty deposit forms part of the western extension of the carbonate reef that also hosts Acadian’s Scotia mine, 700 metres to the east. It is also just 1,700 metres from Acadian’s state-of-the-art milling facility.

Drilling has yet to fully define the shape of the mineralized carbonate reef structure, so true widths were not calculated. But Acadian estimated they could vary in some places from 80% to 100% of the intersection width.

Acadian said 15 of the 38 holes it assayed intersected low-grade lead-zinc mineralization and define the deposit’s east and northeastern boundaries.

The diamond drilling program is designed to support a new resource estimate in the measured and indicated categories.

“We’re infilling so we might possibly bring the resource up to measured and indicated by the end of the first quarter, or early second quarter of 2008,” Coughlan said.

On Dec. 12, Acadian announced that based on historical drilling, Getty, at a 2% cut-off, had an inferred resource of 4.1 million tonnes grading 1.4% lead, 1.81% zinc and a zinc equivalent of 3.21%.

Getty is subject to a 1% gross metal royalty to Globex Mining Enterprises (GMX-T). Acadian has an option to purchase .5% for $300,000 at its option, at any time, and has a first right of refusal on the remaining .5%.

The Scotia mine operates as an open pit and is expected to produce 30,000 tonnes of high-grade zinc concentrate and 10,000 tonnes of high- grade lead concentrate per year.

The Scotia mine has a reserve sufficient for about five years of open-pit production planned at 700,000 tonnes per year, and 2.5 years of underground production planned at 472,500 tonnes per year.

News of the Getty deposit’s assay results sent Acadian on the Toronto Stock Exchange up 1 to 81 on a trading volume of 362,406.