Continental tests Xietongmen (July 27, 2005)

Ongoing drilling by Vancouver-based junior Continental Minerals (KMK-V) continues to return some wide swaths of copper mineralization from the Xietongmen copper-gold project, 240 km southwest of Lhasa in Tibet.

Highlights are as follows:

• Hole 5001 261.8 metres (from 15.8 metres below surface) grading 0.41% copper and 0.6 gram gold per tonne, including 25.4 metres (from 44.6 metres) of 0.74% copper and 0.81 gram gold;
• Hole 5002 251.3 metres (from 8.6 metres) running 0.55% copper and 0.82 gram gold, including 32.7 metres (from 44.5 metres) averaging 0.96% copper and 0.77 gram gold;
• Hole 5008 289 metres (from 17 m) containing 0.63% copper and 1.07 grams gold, including 29.8 metres (from 40.2 m) of 1.05% copper and 0.89 gram gold;
• Hole 5013 307.4 metres (from 42 m) of 0.64% copper and 0.76 gram gold, including 110 metres (from 66 metres) of 0.83% copper and 0.89 gram gold;
• Hole ZK0701 206.5 metres (from 25.4 metres) grading 0.66% copper and 1.43 grams gold, including 92.7 metres (from 25.4 metres) of 0.97% copper and 1.96 grams gold.

The company believes it has a major new porphyry copper-gold deposit on its hands, and has six drill rigs working to systematically delineate the deposit, which remains open in all lateral directions.

Xietongmen is home to porphyry-like, disseminated and quartz stockwork mineralization. Continental is exploring a 4-km-long alteration zone where two previously sunk holes were highlighted by a 92.65-metre interval running 1% copper and 1.96 grams gold. A sample from a 200-metre-long underground adit between the two holes yielded 76.2 metres of 1.23% copper and 1.9 grams gold, including 20 metres of 1.87% copper and 4.01 grams gold.

Continental can earn a 50% interest in the project by paying China NetTV US$2 million and funding US$5 million worth of exploration over two years. The junior can boost its stake to 60% by covering a further US$3 million worth of exploration. Thereafter, the project would be funded on a joint-venture basis.

Continental Minerals is part of the Hunter-Dickinson group of companies.