Hana Mining Hits Copper-Silver In Botswana

VANCOUVER–New results from the Ghanzi copper-silver project in Botswana show promising grades for owner Hana Mining (HMG-V).

Hana drilled nine reverse-circulation (RC) holes at Ghanzi and hit mineralization in seven, extending the strike length at Zone 5 to 2,000 metres. The company is exploring six mineralized zones within the 4,370-sq.-km project and first hit mineralization at Zone 5 in October. One of those hits — hole 25 — returned the best intercept on the property to date: 30 metres of 2.06% copper and 16.9 grams silver per tonne.

In subsequent drilling, five holes stretched out along 800 metres of strike to the southwest returned mineralized intercepts. From 200 metres southwest of hole 25, hole 26 cut 21 metres grading 1.48% copper and 17.9 grams silver from 66 metres depth. Collared on the same section, hole 27 hit 18 metres averaging 1.32% copper and 14.2 grams silver.

From 200 metres southwest of holes 26 and 27, hole 28 intercepted mineralization at 75 metres depth and cut 24 metres averaging 0.96% copper, with less than 2 grams silver. Moving another 200 metres southwest, hole 29 returned 2.29% copper and 15.3 grams silver over 18 metres from 54 metres down-hole.

Three other holes drilled to the northeast of earlier drilling also hit mineralization, though grades and widths were not as strong. Hole 31 returned 1.52% copper and 5.2 grams silver over 3 metres, within a 12-metre interval grading 0.69% copper and 2 grams silver. Mineralization at Ghanzi Zone 5 includes copper oxides and native copper along with chalcopyrite and bornite.

In November, Hana reported drilling results from Zone 6, where only two of 12 RC holes along strike from previous work intersected significant mineralization. Hole 4 hit 3 metres grading 1.3% copper and 9.4 grams silver from 129 metres depth and then returned 0.98% copper and 5.4 grams silver over 12 metres from 144 metres down-hole. And hole 12 cut 24 metres averaging 1% copper from 57 metres depth.

At Zone 2, six of seven holes hit mineralization along a 1.5-km strike length. Hole 8 cut 27 metres grading 1.12% copper and 25.4 grams silver from 57 metres depth, hole 11 hit 63 metres of 0.63% copper and 3.8 grams silver from 24 metres, hole 12 returned 33 metres averaging 0.33% copper and 4.5 grams silver from 57 metres depth, and hole 13 intercepted 27 metres grading 0.31% copper and 6.6 grams silver from 105 metres down-hole.

Hana acquired the property in the summer of 2007 by taking a 70% stake in privately owned Stellent, which owned the Ghanzi prospecting licences. Hana is required to pay Stellent US$400,000 and 2.5 million shares over three years while also committing US$1.2 million to exploration.

Ghanzi is in northwestern Botswana, 100 km southwest of Maun. Since 1962, the Ghanzi property has passed through many hands, including Gencor, Anglo American (AAUK-Q , AAL-L), Newmont Mining (NMC-T, NEM-N), and De Beers.

Hana recently traded at just under 10¢. The company has a 52- week trading range of 6-62¢ with 41 million shares outstanding.