Linear’s Cobre Grande proving itself worthy of name (June 18, 2007)

Vancouver — Linear Metals (LRM-V, LMTCF-O) is showing its Cobre Grande or “great copper” site in Oaxaca, Mexico, is worthy of its name, with the latest drill effort cutting high-grade copper along with zinc, molybdenum, and silver.

In the site’s southern skarn zone, until now thought to be a smaller resource than the northern zone, Linear intersected 130 metres of 1.62% copper, 0.51% zinc, 0.01% molybdenum, and 29 grams silver per tonne, beginning at 48 metres below surface.

Going deeper, the same hole cut 7 metres of 0.91% copper, 0.05% zinc, 0.01% molybdenum, and 19.14 grams silver, starting at 188 metres.

Combined with previous drilling, Linear has now outlined two high-grade mineralized zones at Cobre Grande. One is the northern skarn, which was considered to have the best exploration potential in the area. Now the second zone, called the southern skarn, has been found to hold equal grade potential, as well as exploration upside.

“It’s a polymetallic zone and so there are hot spots where you get higher grades,” says Linear’s president and chief operating officer, Grant Ewing. “Based on results to date, the north zone was looking hotter, but now we see the southern zone is also very encouraging.”

The Cobre Grande site also includes the historical Kennedy mine, which produced oxide zinc-copper ore. The old mine spurred further exploration, which was rewarded when Linear’s initial drill program identified copper-silver-zinc mineralization below the old mine, as well as near-surface mineralization in nearby areas.

Ewing does not yet know when Linear will be able to complete reserve and resource estimates, but says the company is planning to work towards that in the coming months.

“We’re going to add another drill to the project and commence metallurgical studies very soon,” Ewing says.

While it’s still early days, Ewing says the site has potential as an open-pit mine, with the possibility of continuing underground.