Mariana Resources Ltd LON:MARL is pleased to report further high grade gold-copper (Au-Cu) intercepts from the ongoing drill program at the Hot Maden Project, eastern Turkey (Figure 1). Assays have now been received for drill holes HTD-15 through HTD-17 (Figure 2) confirming continuity and further increasing the size and confidence in the Au-Cu mineralised zone including the high grade core.
Highlights:
HTD-15: 117.3m @ 13.9 g/t Au + 2.0% Cu from 216.0m downhole
Including22m @ 46.2 g/t Au + 3.1% Cu (306.0m – 328.0m)(Figure 4)
HTD-16: 100.7m @ 2.3 g/t Au + 1.8% Cu from 332.3m downhole
Including14.7m @ 7.7 g/t Au + 2.0% Cu (333.3m – 348.0m) (Figure 5)
HTD-17: 83m @ 13.4 g/t Au + 3.9% Cu from 51.3m downhole
Including 16.0m @ 34.5 g/t Au + 2.2% Cu (98.0 – 114.0m) (Figure 3)
HTD-18: (Assays Pending) Hole HTD-18 was drilled as the “step back” to HTD-15 and intersected the main mineralised zone over 93m from 313m downhole (figure 4)
The significant Au-Cu intercept from hole HTD-15 confirms the vertical continuity of the mineralised zone previously intersected in HTD-10, and similarly, the results from drill hole HTD-16 extend the Au-Cu mineralization previously intersected in holes HTD-5 and HTD-13 a further 50m down dip. Massive sulphide mineralisation was also intersected in HTD-17, the scissor hole to our original discovery hole HTD-04, and confirms a minimum true width of at least 50m for the main mineralized zone.
Based on the overall excellent results at Hot Maden to date Mariana has independently engaged RungePincockMinarco (“RPM”), a global leader in mining advisory and consulting services, to commence work on the preparation of a National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) compliant mineral resource estimate for the Hot Maden gold-copper project. RPM’s will carry out an initial data validation phase and site visit, before progressing on to the mineral resource estimation phase. The mineral resource estimate for Hot Maden is expected to be completed by early Q4, 2015.
Chief Executive Officer Glen Parsons today commented: “Our confidence in Hot Maden and the mineralised Au-Cu body has rapidly reached a critical stage for Mariana as drilling continues to deliver exceptional results.
“Based on the overall confidence in the quality of all results to date, and specifically the continuity of mineralisation and grade, we have appointed the resource specialists RungePincockMinarco to initiate an independent resource estimate. This report will provide an independent assessment of what Hot Maden has delivered to date and will certainly be able to assist in quantifying and underpinning a market related valuation for Mariana’s stake in the project.
“In line with Mariana’s disciplined portfolio strategy and following initial exploration work on Rurimarac in Peru, we have taken the decision to terminate the option with Tinka Resources Limited over the properties.
“Hot Maden has progressed significantly up Mariana’s delivery curve and continues to do so with around 4,000m drilled to date in this 10,000m program. I look forward to updating the market on the further anticipated drilling at Hot Maden, as well as the resource estimate in due course.”
Drill Holes Completed (Assays Pending)
Drill hole HTD-18 (Figures 2 & 4) is the “step back” hole to HTD-15, and was successful in intersecting the main mineralised zone (pyrite + chalcopyrite in brecciated andesites and quartz veinlets) between 271m and 406m downhole. However, the greatest sulphide content and jasperoid + hematite alteration in HTD-18 is observed over 93m between 313m and 406m downhole. The mineralised zone in HTD-18 is interpreted to represent the down-dip continuation of the Au-Cu mineralised zone in HTD-15.
Drill Holes in Progress
The drilling of diamond drill holes HTD-19 and HTD-20 is currently in progress.
Drill hole HTD-19 (Figure 2) is a scout drill hole which was collared approximately 320m S of the southernmost cross section (4,542,100N, and which contains drill holes HTD-11 and HTD-12). This hole was designed to commence exploring for large scale extensions to the broadly N-S trending Au-Cu mineralised zone at Hot Maden. Currently, HTD-19 is at a downhole depth of 354m and has successfully intersected: i) spotty Cu +/- Zn mineralisation in the upper portions of the drill hole ii) three silicified/veinlet zones (203m-221m, 245m-250m, and 266m-283m) with Cu +/- Zn-Pb mineralisation and iii) three semi-massive sulphide zones (297.6m-305m, 309m-322.3m, and 332m-337m) with Cu-Zn-Pb mineralisation.
Drill hole HTD-20 (Figures 2) was designed to test the northern, near-surface extension of the massive sulphide mineralisation intersected in both holes HTD-04 and -17. HTD-20 has passed through a mixed “slag” / void zone between 15m and 25m followed by a zone of faulting, with the hole ultimately being lost in a fault zone at 54.5m.
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Intercept (m) | Au g/t | Cu % | Zn % |
Zone |
| HTD-15 | 157.0 | 161.0 | 4.0 | – | – | 1.02 | Zinc Zone |
| 216.0 | 333.3 | 117.3 | 13.9 | 2.04 | – | Au-Cu Zone | |
| Including | 277.0 | 285.0 | 8.0 | 15.1 | 1.46 | – | |
| 306.0 | 328.0 | 22.0 | 46.2 | 3.06 | – | ||
| HTD-16 | 150.0 | 158.0 | 8.0 | – | – | 1.18 | Zinc Zone |
| 163.4 | 164.1 | 0.7 | – | – | 1.54 | ||
| 183.0 | 185.6 | 2.6 | – | – | 1.51 | ||
| 222.5 | 224.5 | 2.0 | – | 1.23 | 1.34 | ||
| 234.2 | 235.5 | 1.3 | – | – | 1.76 | ||
| 233.8 | 234.2 | 0.4 | – | – | 11.90 | ||
| 245.0 | 247.0 | 2.0 | – | – | 2.15 | ||
| 270.0 | 273.6 | 3.6 | – | – | 1.20 | ||
| 274.6 | 275.6 | 1.0 | – | – | 3.19 | ||
| 278.1 | 279.1 | 1.0 | – | – | 1.89 | ||
| 284.7 | 290.0 | 5.3 | – | – | 1.43 | ||
| 307.0 | 308.0 | 1.0 | – | – | 1.95 | ||
| 332.3 | 433.0 | 100.7 | 2.3 | 1.84 | – | Au-Cu Zone | |
| Including | 333.3 | 348.0 | 14.7 | 7.7 | 1.98 | – | |
| 399.0 | 405.0 | 6.0 | 7.9 | 1.36 | – | ||
| 439.0 | 451.0 | 12.0 | 0.14 | 0.58 | – | ||
| 467.0 | 477.0 | 10.0 | 0.05 | 0.72 | – | ||
| 482.0 | 484.0 | 2.0 | 0.05 | 1.17 | – | ||
| HTD-17 | 51.3 | 134.3 | 83.0 | 13.4 | 3.88 | – | Au-Cu Zone |
| Including | 58.0 | 69.9 | 11.9 | 16.4 | 5.27 | – | |
| 83.0 | 89.0 | 6.0 | 13.8 | 5.62 | – | ||
| 98.0 | 114.0 | 16.0 | 34.5 | 2.22 | – | ||
| 159.8 | 171.0 | 11.3 | – | 1.05 | Zn Zone | ||
| 171.0 | 189.5 | 18.5 | 0.24 | 0.71 | Au-Zn Zone | ||
Hot Maden Definitive Agreement
Aegean Metals Group Inc. signed a Definitive Agreement with Lidya Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (“Lidya”) on 24 June 2014, through which Lidya retains the exclusive right to earn-in to a 70% interest in the Hot Maden Project by incurring a total of USD 2.5 million of combined exploration expenditures and USD 0.5 million cash payments within a 48 month period. Prior to the commencement of the Phase II drill program, Lidya had invested approximately USD 700,000 on exploration at Hot Maden.
Quality Control and Assurance
Mineralised intervals presented in Table 1 are drill intersection widths and may not represent true widths of mineralisation. Drill core obtained from the diamond drill program was dominantly HQ-sized core with the remainder being PQ-sized core. All drill core was photographed and quick logged prior to sampling. Standard sampling protocol involved the halving of all drill core and sampling over generally 1 m intervals (in clearly mineralised sections) or 2 m intervals (elsewhere), with one half of the core being placed in a sealed sample bag and dispatched to the analytical laboratory for analysis.
Samples from the Phase II drill program are being analysed at ALS Laboratories’ facility in Izmir, western Turkey. All samples are analysed for gold using a 30g Fire Assay with AAS finish, in addition to a 32 element ICP-AES analysis of an aqua regia digest. Samples in which ICP analyses returned greater than the maximum detection limit for the elements Ag (10 ppm), Cu (10,000 ppm), Fe (15%), Pb (10,000 ppm), and Zn (10,000 ppm) were reanalysed using the AAS analytical technique. Standards and blanks were inserted in to the analytical sequence on the basis of one standard for every 20 samples, 2 blanks in every batch, and one duplicate every 40 samples.
Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE)
No HSE incidents have been reported during the current diamond drill program.
Hot Maden drill holes – technical data
Technical data relating to the Hot Maden drill holes are given in the following table:
| Hole ID | Easting | Northing | Elevation (m) | Azimuth | Dip (degrees) |
Depth (m) |
Assays |
| Phase I | |||||||
| HTD-01 | 740,503.26 | 4,541,740.88 | 902.58 | 245 | -60 | 223 | Complete |
| HTD-02 | 740,602.64 | 4,542,143.24 | 877.77 | 222 | -60 | 286 | Complete |
| HTD-03 | 740,514.81 | 4,541,793.26 | 910.87 | 270 | -60 | 150 | Complete |
| HTD-04 | 740,609.82 | 4,542,260.07 | 893.42 | 090 | -60 | 185 | Complete |
| HTD-05 | 740,730.37 | 4,542,159.99 | 883.87 | 270 | -60 | 291 | Complete |
| HTD-06 | 740,652.94 | 4,542,368.64 | 914.58 | 105 | -60 | 215 | Complete |
| HTD-07 | 740,550.03 | 4,541,765.20 | 915.43 | 245 | -60 | 240 | Complete |
| Phase II | |||||||
| HTD-08 | 740,581.58 | 4,542,298.29 | 877.81 | 090 | -60 | 274 | Complete |
| HTD-09 | 740,562.94 | 4,542,255.00 | 873.02 | 090 | -60 | 361 | Complete |
| HTD-10 | 740,578.92 | 4,542,201.35 | 862.08 | 090 | -60 | 245 | Complete |
| HTD-11 | 740,776.46 | 4,542,099.01 | 866.72 | 270 | -60 | 450 | Complete |
| HTD-12 | 740,774.00 | 4,542,098.00 | 867.00 | 270 | -50 | 360 | Complete |
| HTD-13 | 740,795.00 | 4,542,160.00 | 873.00 | 270 | -60 | 369 | Complete |
| HTD-14 | 740,692.55 | 4,542,144.26 | 868.22 | 270 | -54 | 234 | Complete |
| HTD-15 | 740,493.85 | 4,542,204.22 | 855.12 | 090 | -54 | 375 | Complete |
| HTD-16 | 740,852.90 | 4,542,141.94 | 872.24 | 270 | -59 | 498.5 | Complete |
| HTD-17 | 740,721.82 | 4,542,245.80 | 873.53 | 270 | -50 | 261 | Complete |
| HTD-18 | 740,461.99 | 4,542,208.64 | 853.30 | 090 | -57 | 425 | Pending |
| HTD-19 | 740,503.36 | 4,541,790.50 | 888.41 | 090 | -60 | In progress | Pending |
| HTD-20 | 740,639.37 | 4,542,285.54 | 874.16 | 080 | -60 | In progress | Pending |
Peru Update
Mariana has terminated the option agreement with Tinka Resources Limited (“Tinka”) (TSXV:TK) over the Rurimarac Properties which are located 4km to the west of Mariana’s recently drilled and strongly mineralised copper-gold Soledad project.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: Mariana Resources Ltd (LON:MARL) – SPECULATIVE BUY*: Hot Maden update Market Cap: £16.6m; Current Price: 2.2p
The exceptional drill results continue to come from Mariana Resources at the Hot Maden Project where joint venture partner Lydia is earning 70% of the project by funding this drill programme. To the north on section 4,542,250N (Figure 2) the high-grade copper-gold mineralised zone appears to be c. 67m wide within this the very high-grade zone appear to be c. 50m wide. As we move south to section 4,542,200N (Figure 3), the high-grade copper-gold zone appears to widen from c. 25m wide just below the overburden to c. 60m at c. 250m below the surface. The very high-grade zone appears c. 20m wide at c. 100m below the surface and appears to bifurcate into two zones at a depth of c. 250m below the surface. Further south 4,542,150N (Figure 4) the mineralised zone appears to widen again to c. 60m at a depth of c. 100m below the surface and appears to continue to widen to c. 90m at a depth of c. 300m below the surface. The very high-grade core appears c. 15m wide at a depth of c. 100m and again appears to bifurcates at depth (c. 300m below surface). This simple description is useful as it allows us to compare Hot Maden, albeit at a very high level, with Roxgold’s 90%-owned 1moz Yaramoko deposit that has an average grade of 15g/t Au. The width of the mineralisation at Yaramoko varies from c. 1m to c. 17m over a strike of c. 800m to a depth of 900m. Hot Maden currently has a defined strike of c. 225m but the visual inspection of HTD-19 appears to indicate that mineralisation continues to be present over a strike of c. 500m and remains open along strike to the south and at depth. Roxgold currently has a market cap of c. £90m and Yaramoko only has gold mineralisation unlike Hot Maden that also has copper and zinc. We believe Marian Resources looks significantly undervalued on this basis. Termination of the earn in agreement with Tinka Resources for the Rurimarac project is a sensible move by Mariana as right now it will get more “bang for its buck” for every pound it spends at Hot Maden.
117.3m at 13.9g/t Au and 2% Cu
- Mariana Resources has received the latest set of assay results from the drilling at Hot Maden from holes 15-17. Results include 117.3m at 13.9g/t Au and 2% Cu from 216m (HTD-15), 83m at 13.4g/t Au at 3.9% Cu from 51.3m (HTD-17) and 100.7m at 2.3g/t Au and 1.8% Cu from 332.3m (HTD-16).
- HTD-18 has been completed and intersected the main zone of pyrite and chalcopyrite mineralisation between 271m and 406m, with higher levels of sulphides and alteration are present between 313m and 406m. This mineralisation is the down-dip continuation of the zone in HTD-15.
- HTD-19 was a scout drill hole to test for the potential southern extension of the mineralisation. The hole is currently at a depth of 354m and has intersected three areas of interest; 1) spotty Cu-Zn mineralisation in the upper portion of the holes, 2) three silicified/veinlet zones with Cu-Zn-Pb mineralisation (203-221m, 245m-250m and 266-283m), and 3) three semi massive sulphide zones with Cu-Zn-Pb mineralisation (297.6m-305m, 309-322.3, and 332m-337m).
- HTD-20 was designed to test the northern extension of the mineralised zone. The holes passed through a mixed slag/void zone between 15m-25m and then into a fault zone where the holes was lost at 54.5m.
- Mariana has terminated its option agreement with Tinka Resources on the Rurimarac Properties.
- Mariana has engaged RungePincockMinarco for the Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate at Hot Maden expected to be completed in Q415.
