THE DRILL SERGEANT: Manas Resources has upgraded the Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource at the Shambesai gold prospect at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Isfairamsai License area in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The Shambesai Resource has been increased to 11.6 million tonnes at 2.1 grams per tonne gold for 766,000 ounces of gold at 0.5 grams per tonne gold cut-off.

“This is an increase of approximately twenty per cent on the previous Shambesai Mineral Resource estimate of 645,000 ounces, with a marked increase in tonnes and ounces,” Manas said in its ASX announcement.

“Most importantly, all of the 120,000 ounce increase has been attributed to the high‐value oxide resource, or an increase of forty per cent including reclassified material.

“Sixty per cent of the Resource ounces are now classified as oxides, with 54 per cent of total Resources in the Indicated category, and the mineralisation remains open to the west and at depth.

“The global Mineral Resource reportable under the JORC code for the South Kyrgyz gold project now stands at 1.25 million ounces of gold.”

The latest upgraded Shambesai gold Mineral Resource is the result of an infill and extensional drilling program where 12,535m of diamond drill core was completed in August 2011, combined with the results of an infill program completed by Manas in 2010.

The company’s main focus for the Shambesai drilling has been on areas it considers critical to expanding the shallow oxide resource, expanding the western pit boundary and increasing the economics of the pit optimisation for the Feasibility Study.

“These drill programs deliberately targeted lower grade oxide material with the view of adding additional ounces of gold as the low‐cost processing methodology for Shambesai provides for extra ounces immediately translating into additional cash flow,” the company said.

Manas puts total discovery costs for the Shambesai Mineral Resource at approximately US$9 per ounce.

The company is set to commence a program of infill grade‐control drilling at the high‐grade far‐eastern area targeting an upgrade to this portion of the oxide Mineral Resource.

Drilling is also being planned to infill areas along the shear zone to follow up on results of 33.7m at 10.7g/t gold and 21m at 9.71g/t gold, and at depth on the western extensions to follow up the most recent result of 54m at 2.9g/t gold from within an 87m long mineralised zone at depth.
 
Drilling is ongoing at other prospects including Obdilla, Ulugtau and Tashbulak.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: The wholly owned subsidiary company of uranium explorer Deep Yellow has received chemical assay results from its ongoing drilling program at the Ongolo Alaskite deposit and its satellite MS7 in Namibia.

Deep Yellow said the results achieved by Reptile Uranium Namibia had confirmed additional high-grade intercepts.

“In just over a month we have more than doubled MS7’s area with these high-grade, wide intersections,” Deep Yellow managing director Greg Cochran said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Clearly, the possibility that MS7 may ultimately join up with Ongolo is steadily increasing.

“However, as a result of the success at both locations, we have decided to delay the update of the Ongolo Resource in order to continue Phase 2 drilling and also to first complete a maiden JORC compliant resource estimate for MS7.”

The drill program at the Ongolo Alaskite deposit continues despite missing the scheduled cut-off date for the next JORC Resource update 0n 23 September.

Step-out reconnaissance drilling over two kilometres strike from Ongolo to the MS7 prospect will now continue through to the summer break in mid-December.

Results from drilling so far include:

• 10 metres at 853 parts per million uranium from 72 metres and 9 metres at 824 parts per million uranium from 127 metres;
• 30m at 727ppm uranium from 109m;
• 15m at 696ppm uranium from 137 metres; and
• 18m at 429ppm uranium from 41m and 12m at 417ppm uranium from 132m.

Deep Yellow has submitted the results of RC drilling carried out to date at the MS7 prospect for a maiden JORC Resource estimate, which it anticipates to be completed before the end of September.

“Drilling has returned consistently good results with growing recognition that the geology of the prospect closely replicates the main Ongolo resource area and may, with further drilling, join up with it,” Deep Yellow said.

“From regional geology it is believed that the uranium bearing alaskites are within the Khan formation and mineralisation usually seems to be concentrated when the marble acts as an impermeable layer.”

Results from the RC drilling include:

• 18 metres at 491 parts per million uranium from 48 metres and 12 metres at 563 parts per million uranium from 78 metres;
• 5m at 446ppm uranium from 5m; and
• 5m at 434ppm uranium from 111m.

The company said it intends to continue resource and delineation drilling at the Omahola project area utilising both RC and diamond drilling.

A vertical diamond hole will be drilled at MS7 for later geotechnical and metallurgical testing.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Africa-focused resource company Globe Metals & Mining has received the first batch of analytical results from a recently-completed Main Fluorite – Rare Earth Element (REE) Zone drilling program at the company’s Mount Muambe project in Mozambique.

Results for the initial eight reverse circulation drill holes from the Main fluorite prospect have demonstrated multiple zones of high-grade fluorite mineralisation at Mount Muambe.

Significant grades and widths of REE mineralisation were intersected, with many zones having high Heavy Rare Earth Oxide (HREO) to Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) ratios.

Globe Metals said that it expects further drilling will continue to return strong results.

Highlights from the initial eight RC holes show wide, high-grade, near surface fluorite zones including:

–    21 metres at 26.7 per cent fluorite, including 9 metres at 41.1 per cent fluorite; and

–    30m at 28.4% fluorite, including 15m at 38.0% fluorite and 44m at 1.0% TREO, including 10m at 2.0% TREO.

“Fluorite has seen a significant price hike in recent times,” Globe Metals said in its ASX announcement.

“Included in the list of 14 raw materials labelled “critical” by a European Union expert group, it is no surprise that China – by far the largest consumer and responsible for more than 50% of production globally – has adopted new policy designed to limit the export of fluorite resources.”

Five holes in the recently completed program were selected for REE analyses.

In all these holes, the company said it had encountered both LREO and HREO-enriched zones.

The amount of significant REE results returned has prompted the company to submit all samples taken from the fluorite zone for routine REE analysis.

Further drilling results are expected to follow over the next four months as the drilling program of around12,000 metres continues.

Globe Metals will be focussing most of the remaining drilling to be completed this year on pure REE targets including, but not limited to those, in zones DD and EE outside of the Main Fluorite Zone.

The company has already earned 20% of the project and by the end of 2011 will have earned 51% through its exploration programs at Mount Muambe.

Globe Metals is also currently running exploration activity across a number of other projects it has, which are at an earlier stage of development than Mount Muambe.

The company is earning up to an 80% interest in the Machinga rare earth project in southern Malawi, and can earn up to a 90% interest in the Mount Muambe REE – Fluorite project.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Vector Resources has received the first batch of assay results from a high priority drilling campaign being undertaken as part of the Phase 1 RC program at the company’s Mt Dimer project in Western Australia.

Priority holes of the Phase 1 drilling have targeted near mine locations of Lightning, Anomaly 2, Silver Wing and Golden Slipper South.

Mt Dimer tenements cover more than 2,029 hectares and the project currently hosts a JORC compliant measured, indicated and inferred resource of 377,200 tonnes at 5.8 grams per tonne gold for 70,230 ounces of contained gold.

The results of the drilling program received to date have identified substantial mineralisation at depth and along the strike of Lightning, while the drilling at Anomaly 2 has identified a significant intercept that will require further delineation for resource construction,” Vector Resources said in its announcement to the ASX.

“It is anticipated that these results will increase the current resource.”

Of the priority one targets already drilled, 16 holes totalling 1,418 metres of sample results are still pending for Silver Wing and Golden Slipper South.

Lightning was discovered during the sterilisation drilling for the Golden Slipper waste dump.

Vector said the drilling at Lightning has demonstrated mineralisation continues at depth and along strike.

Intercepts of note achieved during the drilling include:

–    6 metres at 24.81 grams per tonne gold inclusive of:-

–    1m at 136g/t gold, 4m at 20.98g/t gold, 7m at 13.07g/t gold, 10m at 14.39g/t gold, 9m at 10.18g/t gold, 7m at 5.28g/t gold, 18m at 2.86g/t gold, and 6m at 3.99g/t gold.

Anomaly 2 contains several zones of mineralisation and lies approximately one kilometre to the east of Lightning.

Vector said the current drilling had enhanced its understanding of the geology and mineralisation of the Anomaly 2 prospect;

Significant intercepts received from Anomaly 2 include:

–    4 metres at 21.71 grams per tonne gold from 50 metres inclusive of:-

–    1m at 11.85g/t from 50m, 1m at 28.90g/t from 51m, 1m at 19.40g/t from 52m, and 1m at 26.70g/t from 53m.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: White Rock Minerals is currently undertaking a drilling program on its 100 per cent owned Mt Carrington project in northern New South Wales.

The program has been designed to expand the current shallow Inferred Resource base of the project of 190,000 ounces of gold and 10 million ounces of silver.

Drilling has been spread across a number of targets within the Mt Carrington project area.

Positive assays received from the first hole of a five-hole program at the White Rock silver deposit so far include results that the company has said confirms the continuity of strong silver mineralisation with widths and grade similar to what it has intersected in previous drilling.

Result from the White Rock deposit include:

–    22.5 metres at 70 grams per tonne silver from 9 metres and 28.6 metres at 69 grams per tonne silver from 28.6 metres;

–    37m at 79g/t silver from 21m and 15m at 65g/t silver from 138m;

–    81m at 82g/t silver from 82m;

–    21m at 61 g/t silver from 127m; and

–    51m at 60 g/t silver from 98m.

White Rock Minerals said the results enhance the prospect that drilling at White Rock North will lead to the definition of a new near‐surface silver Inferred Resource in addition to the existing eight million ounce silver Inferred Resource already defined at White Rock.

Assay results for the remaining 4 holes are expected in late September.

At the Lady Hampden silver‐gold deposit the company continued with the second phase of step‐out drilling with the first two holes of the nine‐hole program confirming further silver mineralisation based on field XRF and visible analysis.

“These two holes are located 300 metres to the east and down plunge of the Resource,” the company said in its announcement to the ASX.

“Assay results are expected in October and this program is anticipated to result in further extensions to the Inferred Resource.”

Earlier this month White Rock Minerals had reported it was undertaking further drilling at the Strauss‐Kylo gold deposits.

Drilling of potential extensions to the Strauss and Kylo gold Resources will be undertaken in October, as follow up to the positive results returned from holes drilled below the Strauss pit.