Engineering studies set for Cerattepe project

Through metallurgical and engineering studies at the Cerattepe copper project in Turkey, Cominco Resources International (TSE) is aiming for an early production decision.

The focus is on the main high-grade zone of 1.2 million tonnes averaging 10% copper (after including a provision for dilution during mining). The gently dipping zone is overlain by an additional four million tonnes of lower-grade mineralization averaging about 2% copper. Drilling last year confirmed that a gold- and silver-rich oxide zone overlies the copper deposit, with preliminary indications of more than one million tonnes grading at least three grams gold and 150 grams silver per tonne.

Underground mining of the high-grade zone is being considered, as is the potential for concurrent or sequential open-pit mining of the oxide precious metals zone and the lower-grade copper zone.

Positive results are also reported from drilling on the newly discovered Kardelen zone. The zone was discovered late last year, after a single hole 500 metres north of the known deposit intersected 22 metres of massive sulphides (from 153 to 175 metres) below surface with an average grade of 3% copper.

Six holes were recently completed on Kardelen. One of them cut the target zone, 135 metres of the discovery hole, and intersected six metres of massive sulphides averaging 6% copper, 2% zinc, 1% lead, three grams gold and 98 grams silver per tonne (between 152 and 158 metres below surface). Footwall stringer mineralization below this zone returned values averaging 1.8% copper over the first 28 metres, followed by 22 metres of lower-grade material.