Alhambra Resources Ltd. Announces Zhanatobe Diamond Drilling Discovers Additional Gold Mineralization at Depth
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/04/12 -- Alhambra Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ALH)(PINKSHEETS: AHBRF)(FRANKFURT: A4Y) ("Alhambra" or the "Corporation"), an international gold producer and explorer, announces that the first diamond drilling program completed in 2012 at its 100% owned Zhanatobe project area ("Zhanatobe") has intersected significant gold mineralization at depth in both the Northern and Central areas. Zhanatobe is one of Alhambra's 2012 early stage exploration targets within the Corporation's 100% owned, 2.4 million acre, Uzboy Project located in north central Kazakhstan (see Figure 1). Zhanatobe is located approximately 90 kilometres ("kms") southeast of Alhambra's Uzboy gold deposit and 40 kms northwest of the City of Stepnogorsk, Alhambra's Kazakhstan operating base.
HIGHLIGHTS
-- Four of nine holes intersected mineralized intervals grading greater
than 0.5 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au") located with broad intervals of
lower-grade gold mineralization,
-- In the Central area, gold mineralization was discovered at depth
returning 2.11 g/t Au over 5.0 metres ("m") and 1.98 g/t Au over 3.0 m,
and was hosted by silicified sandstone and andesite,
-- Gold mineralization was traced by diamond drill holes for about 600 m
along strike remaining open in both directions (NE and SW) and to depth,
-- In the Northern area, gold mineralization was also discovered at depth
returning 0.86 g/t Au over 11.0 m (including 1.37 g/t Au over 5.30 m),
-- The gold mineralization discovered is open in all directions, and
-- In both the Central and Northern areas, gold grades become significantly
higher at depth when compared to previous shallow rotary air-blast
("RAB") drilling results
John J. Komarnicki, Alhambra's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are excited with the fact that the gold mineralization discovered earlier by Alhambra at our early stage exploration target at Zhanatobe continues at depth. Now we can concentrate our Zhanatobe exploration efforts on outlining the mineralization zones and searching for higher-grade areas of gold mineralization."
DRILLING SUMMARY
The objective of the 2012 exploration program at Zhanatobe was to check for the presence of gold at depth and to determine the geometry and style of the gold mineralization located in both the Central and Northern areas as a result of the shallow RAB drilling conducted in 2010 and 2011.
Nine diamond drill holes totaling 1,449 m were completed in both the Northern and Central areas of Zhanatobe (see Figures 2 and 3). Assay results for the mineralized intervals in both the Central and Northern areas are shown in Table 1.
Central Area:
In the Central area, RAB drilling up to and including 2011 resulted in the discovery of a new zone of gold mineralization. This new zone, oriented in an ENE direction, was estimated to be about 850 m along strike and up to 100 m in width with gold grades ranging from 0.10 g/t Au to 1.72 g/t Au.
The 2012 drilling program consisted of six diamond drill holes ("DDH") drilled along three lines totaling 905 m (see Figure 2). Of these new DDH tested, the most encouraging intercepts yielded 1.98 g/t Au over 3.0 m in DDH ZTD 06-01 and 2.11 g/t Au over 5.0 m in DDH ZTD 04-01, including an individual sample that assayed 5.76 g/t Au in a 1.0 m long core interval (see Table 1 and Figure 4). The mineralized zone in the Central area has been tested by core holes for about 600 m along strike. The mineralized zone is open to depth and in both directions (NE and SW) along strike. When compared to the shallow RAB drilling results, grades appear to increase at depth. The gold mineralization is located close to the contact between mainly to sporadically silicified sandstone and andesite as well as to their contacts with siliclastic rocks. The geological setting of the mineralization is similar to that of the Uzboy gold deposit and it is possible that orogenic volcanosediment hosted gold mineralization is developed at Zhanatobe.
Northern Area:
In the Northern area, RAB drilling up to and including 2011 led to the discovery of a second zone of gold mineralization, oriented in a NE direction, with a strike length of 400 m and a width of 150 m with gold grades ranging from 0.19 g/t Au to 0.51 g/t Au.
The 2012 diamond drilling program in the Northern area consisted of three holes totaling 544 m. Of these drill holes, the most interesting mineralized intercept was 0.86 g/t Au over 11.0 m (including 1.37 g/t Au over 5.30 m) in DDH ZTD 15-02 (see Table 1).
Figure 4 shows the position of the gold mineralization in section 15 of the Northern area. This section is orientated E-W and is oblique to the mineralized zone. DDH ZTD 15-02 was unfortunately stopped in the mineralized zone and the scissor hole ZTD 15-03 collapsed at the depth of 138.4 m and did not reach the mineralized zone. DDH ZTD-15-02 intersected significant gold mineralization over a core interval of 11.0 m and the mineralized zone remains open to depth. The maximum individual gold assay in this drill hole was 3.45 g/t Au in a 1.0 m long core interval. The gold mineralization is related to the contact between silicified sandstone and andesite located below a horizon of silicified andesite.
Alhambra believes that the gold mineralization at Zhanatobe is controlled by lithology. The gold grades appear to be increasing at depth. The gold mineralization is related to a series of silicified sandstone horizons and andesite flows. The surface and near surface gold concentrations and alteration is interpreted to represent a more extensive mineralized body at depth. To validate this concept, Alhambra plans on re-logging all core and reviewing all sections more precisely. Anticipated follow-up drill programs include a reverse circulation ("RC") and follow-up core drilling program for a better understanding of the geological model.
DRILLING AND SAMPLING PROCEDURES
For the core drilling, an NQ diamond drilling core barrel was utilized and average core recovery was 100%. The core was split by the drilling contractor under the supervision of the Corporation's geologists with one half used for sampling and another half left for references. Every meter of core was sampled and the exact borders of the sampling interval were determined according to the lithological contacts. The average sample weight was 2.2 kilograms.
Sample preparation was completed by Stewart Assay and Environmental Laboratories located in Kyrgyzstan using the following procedure: samples were crushed to minus 2 mm, mixed and split into two 200 gram sub-samples. One sub-sample was pulverized to - 200 mesh and the other sub-sample was retained for reference purposes. A 30 gram sample of the -200 mesh material was used for fire assay atomic absorption finish. Stewart Assay and Environmental Laboratories is independent of Alhambra and is accredited to International Standard Organization ("ISO") 17025 for certain relevant assay methodologies.
Table 1 - Summary Drilling Results
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Area Section DDH# Length Azimuth Dip
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Northern 15 ZTD15-01 205.50 125 -60
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ZTD15-03 138.40 305 -60
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ZTD15-02 200.30 125 -60
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Central 6 ZTD06-01 156.90 125 -60
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ZTD06-02 160.00 305 -60
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ZTD06-03 107.80 305 -60
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5 ZTD05-01 160.00 125 -60
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ZTD05-02 160.30 305 -60
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4 ZTD04-01 160.20 305 -60
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Grade
Interval Au Mineralization
Area From (m) To (m) (m) (g/t) Type
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Northern 14.30 17.30 3.00 0.23 Oxide
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108.00 113.00 5.00 0.14 Sulphide
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92.90 95.10 2.20 0.22 Sulphide
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125.10 127.10 2.00 0.14 Sulphide
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164.10 166.10 2.00 0.25 Sulphide
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176.30 180.30 4.00 0.15 Sulphide
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189.30 200.30 11.00 0.86 Sulphide
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including 195.00 200.30 5.30 1.37 Sulphide
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Central 72.60 76.60 4.00 0.29 Sulphide
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80.60 100.40 19.80 0.63 Sulphide
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including 95.40 98.40 3.00 1.98 Sulphide
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3.40 9.70 6.30 0.18 Oxide
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22.50 28.60 6.10 0.19 Oxide
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34.60 60.70 26.10 0.41 Transition
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including 43.70 53.70 10.00 0.70 Transition
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including 43.70 47.70 4.00 1.02 Transition
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66.70 71.90 5.20 0.55 Sulphide
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88.90 95.60 6.70 0.21 Sulphide
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83.40 87.40 4.00 0.14 Sulphide
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99.00 102.40 3.40 0.40 Sulphide
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122.50 124.50 2.00 0.31 Sulphide
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116.3 119.20 2.90 0.41 Sulphide
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43.10 49.10 6.00 1.25 Transition
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53.90 65.90 12.00 0.97 Transition
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53.90 58.90 5.00 2.11 Transition
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The intervals set out in the above table are not true widths and the assay results are uncut. Intercepts are calculated using a 0.1 g/t Au cut-off without upper cut, and with not more than 2 m of internal waste.
QUALITY ASSSURANCE QUALITY CONTROL
The Kyrgyzstan Stewart Assay and Environmental Laboratories, as a part of the worldwide ALS Group, have stringent quality assurance and quality control ("QA/QC") procedures. Alhambra also follows a rigorous QA/QC program consisting of inserting standards, blanks and duplicates into the sample stream submitted to the laboratory for analysis to ensure that the sampling and analysis of all samples is conducted in accordance with the best possible practices.
Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., a technical consultant, is the Corporation's nominated Qualified Person. Mr. Stewart has reviewed but not confirmed the technical information contained in this news release.
ABOUT ZHANATOBE
Zhanatobe is one of Alhambra's early stage exploration targets within the Corporation's 100% owned Uzboy Project located in north central Kazakhstan. Zhanatobe is located within the Mamay block approximately 90 kms southeast of Alhambra's Uzboy gold deposit and 40 kms northwest of the city of Stepnogorsk, Alhambra's Kazakhstan operating base.
ABOUT ALHAMBRA
Alhambra is a Canadian based international exploration and gold production corporation with NI 43-101 gold resources as per ACA Howe International UK and Micromine Consulting Services UK as noted below:
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Measured (M) Indicated (I)
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Project Grade Grade
Tonnes (g/t) Ounces Tonnes (g/t) Ounces
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Uzboy (1) 14,317,200 1.52 700,000 7,009,500 1.22 275,500
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Dombraly (2) - - 559,000 1.22 22,000
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Shirotnaia (3) - - 2,900,000 0.76 71,000
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TOTAL 14,317,200 1.52 700,000 10,468,500 1.09 368,500
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M + I Inferred
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Project Grade Grade
Tonnes (g/t) Ounces Tonnes (g/t) Ounces
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Uzboy (1) 21,326,700 1.42 975,500 11,258,200 1.17 421,700
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Dombraly (2) 559,000 1.22 22,000 9,317,000 1.01 301,000
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Shirotnaia (3) 2,900,000 0.76 71,000 34,577,000 0.58 645,000
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TOTAL 24,785,700 1.34 1,068,500 55,152,200 0.77 1,367,700
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(1) Effective as of Dec 31/07 as per ACA Howe per news release dated Apr
8/08 at a 0.40 g/t cut-off.
(2) Effective as of Nov 27/11 as per ACA Howe per news release dated Feb
7/12 using natural cut-off grades of 0.13 g/t, 0.1 g/t and 0.2 g/t for the
low grade stockpile, pit infill and in-situ mineralized zones
respectively.
(3) Effective as of Jan 9/12 as per ACA Howe per news release dated Feb
28/12 using cut-off grades of 0.1 g/t for oxide gold mineralization and
0.2 g/t for transitional and primary gold mineralization respectively.
Alhambra holds exploration and exploitation rights to a 2.4 million acre (9,800 km2), 100% owned license called the Uzboy Project, located in the Northern Kazakhstan Metallogenic Province which hosts numerous world-class gold deposits. Over 100 mineral targets, including three advanced exploration areas, are contained within the Uzboy Project.
Alhambra common shares trade in Canada on The TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ALH, in the United States on the Over-The-Counter Pink Sheets Market under the symbol AHBRF and in Germany on the Frankfurt Open Market under the symbol A4Y. The Corporation's website can be accessed at www.alhambraresources.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable Canadian and US securities laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. In particular, statements concerning finding higher-grade gold at depth, re-logging all core, conducting follow-up drill programs and other factors and events described in this news release should be viewed as forward-looking statements to the extent that they involve estimates thereof. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, finding higher-grade gold at depth, re-logging all core, conducting follow-up drill programs, the availability of capital to fund future exploration programs; political, social and other risks inherent in carrying on business in a foreign jurisdiction and such other business risks as discussed herein and other publicly filed disclosure documents. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could vary or differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release.
Forward looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements and if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable law.
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimates of future events. When used herein, words such as "intended" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions by and information available to the Corporation. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
To view the figures associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ALH123.pdf.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the Policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Alhambra Resources Ltd.
Ihor P. Wasylkiw
VP & Chief Information Officer
+1 (403) 508-4953
Alhambra Resources Ltd.
John J. Komarnicki
Chairman & CEO
+1 (403) 228-2855
www.alhambraresources.com