Brilliant grows new nickel zone at Lanfranchi

Vancouver – Further wide, high-grade nickel intercepts at the recently discovered Deacon zone has Brilliant Mining (BMC-V) optimistic it could add significant resource to its Lanfranchi mine joint venture in Western Australia’s Kambalda region.

Resource delineation drilling returned intercepts of 30.5 metres (25 metres true width) grading 4.5% nickel and 32.85 metres (29.5 metres true width) of 3.88% nickel in holes HS245 and HS240 respectively.

The program also delivered a couple of high tenor nickel intersections within massive sulphides. A 3.6-metre section (3.23 metres true width) of hole 240 returned 10.14% nickel and 5.05 metres (4 metres true width) of hole 245 assayed 9.68% nickel.

Brilliant gives the Deacon zone an estimated true thickness of up to 30 metres and has traced it for 200 metres down-plunge where it remains open.

Deacon is adjacent to and just to the West of the currently mined Helmut South orebody that hosts an indicated resource of 729,000 tonnes of 2.9% nickel (including 358,200 tonnes of probable reserves at 3.4% nickel).

“Not only is the Deacon zone a significant new discovery with the potential to dramatically increase the nickel resource inventory at the Lanfranchi mine, it is located less than 50 metres from existing mine workings,” stated Brilliant Mining president Mike Sieb.

Brilliant acquired its 25% interest in the Lanfranchi mining operations in early-2006 by taking over private Australian company Donegal Resources, which held a one-quarter interest in the JV. Project partner Sally Malay Mining (SMY-A) holds the remaining 75% interest.

Ore from the mine is directly shipped to BHP Billiton’s (BHP-N) nickel concentrator at Kambalda, located 42 km to the north, under a long-term ore tolling and concentrate purchase agreement whereby the major’s subsidiary Nickel West buys up to 350,000 tonnes of ore annually for processing.