Partners step up drilling at Copler

Follow-up drilling by partners Rio Tinto (RTP-N) and Anatolia Minerals Development (ANOU-V) has intersected gold mineralization north of the Main zone at the Copler prospect in Turkey.

Hole 54A, collared 300 metres north of the Main zone, returned 85 metres grading 1.5 grams gold per tonne.

Holes 65 and 66 tested the southern portion of the Manganese Mine zone and returned 47.3 metres (from 165 metres below surface) grading 4.2 grams gold and 99 metres (from 60 metres) grading 3 grams, respectively. The partners say the holes extend the zone south and at depth.

A single wildcat hole, no. 67, was drilled 300 metres southwest of the Main zone but failed to intersect any significant values.

The latest holes followed a 29-hole campaign, completed in April. Those holes confirmed and delineated shallow gold mineralization in the Main and Marble zones, while extending mineralization along the intrusive-marble contact and northwest of the Main zone.

Highlights from that round include the following:

— Hole 39 — 59.9 metres (from 13 metres) averaging 4.6 grams gold;

— Hole 41 — 65 metres (from surface) running 2.5 grams gold;

— Hole 45 — 93.8 metres (from surface) grading 3.3 grams gold;

— Hole 53 — 13.8 metres (from surface) of 3.2 grams gold.

In all, 24 of the holes returned grades exceeding 1 gram gold over intervals exceeding 1 metre.

In March, Watts Griffis & McOuat updated the Main zone’s inferred resource to 33 million tonnes grading 2.1 grams gold per tonne, based on a cutoff grade of 0.5 gram gold. The new figure represents 2.2 million contained ounces of gold, a 35% increase over the April 2002 estimate.

Overall, Copler is home to an inferred resource of 47.7 million tonnes grading around 2.7 grams gold. The Marble zone accounts for 7 million tonnes running 4.1 grams gold, and the Maganese Mine zone contains 4 million inferred tonnes averaging 7.7 grams.

Initial testing of the refractory portion of the Copler deposit indicated that up to 80% of the gold could be recovered to concentrate. Preliminary bioleach testing on the concentrates yielded gold recovery rates of up to 92%. An update on metallurgical work is expected shortly.