Tirex sees promise in underexplored Albania

VANCOUVER–The first drill result out of Tirex Resources’ (TXX-V, TIRXF-O) Mirdita project indicates the company’s decision to delve into underexplored Albanian geology may have been a good one.

Hole 1 returned mineralization over 65 metres from 38 metres depth, with average grades of 0.6% copper, 9% zinc, 0.3% lead, 48.4 grams silver per tonne and 2.7 grams gold. The intercept included 14.1 metres grading 0.9% copper, 11.6% zinc, 1% lead, 141.6 grams silver and 5.5 grams gold from 53 metres depth, followed by 3.1 metres of 2.3% copper, 34.8% zinc, 2.4% lead, 376.1 grams silver and 14.6 grams gold from 64 metres.

The system demonstrated the ability to generate very high-grade zinc — one 0.8-metre segment returned 53.8% zinc — as well as significant gold values.

Tirex acquired Mirdita in 2007. The district-scale project, which covers 344 sq. km, lies some 70 km northeast of Albania’s capital city, Tirana, and 85 km northeast of the port city of Durres on the Adriatic Sea.

A recent National Instrument 43- 101 technical report on Mirdita notes Albania was fairly isolated for the past 40 years. As a result, Albanian geologists were shut out of advancements in the understanding of volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits. Hence, government decisions meant exploration focused exclusively on copper.

One of Tirex’s first moves in the eastern European country was to fly an airborne electromagnetic survey of Mirdita, marking the first large, modern geophysical survey ever conducted in Albania. The survey identified several strong EM responses that Tirex plans to investigate as VMS targets.

The drill hole reported above is the beginning of a large drill program at Mirdita. Hole 1 was punched into an area called Koshaj, one of 17 known deposits on the property that was partially drilled and defined by Albania’s state-owned mining company. The state identified Koshaj as a zinc-rich deposit not mined at the time because of a lack of zinc processing facilities.

Historic holes at Koshaj were drilled vertically. As such, Tirex drilled hole 1 vertically to verify historic data. Two more vertical holes are currently being drilled, after which the company plans to continue with angled holes throughout the Mirdita district, targeting both known despoits and new geophysical anomalies.

Tirex debuted on the TSX Venture Exchange in mid-October at $1.15 and had since seen its share price range up to $3.66. After releasing news of the first Mirdita hole, Tirex gained as much as 50 before closing up 4 at a new high of $3.70. The company has 34.9 million shares issued.