VANCOUVER, Sept. 21 /CNW/ - Norsemont Mining Inc. ("Norsemont" or "The
Company") (TSX-V: NOM; Frankfurt: N8S; WKN: A0DQKK; OTC-BB: NOMFF) is very
pleased to announce significant copper mineralization has been encountered in
the first seven diamond drill holes at its Constancia project located in
Chumbivilcas province in Peru. The drilling thus far has confirmed and locally
exceeded the wide-spaced drilling program previously completed by Rio Tinto
and Mitsui and confirms the presence of a large Copper, Gold, and Molybdenum
mineralized system.
Highlights include:
- Hole CO-05-01, which intersected 54m of 0.79% Copper
- Hole CO-05-02, which intersected 16.55m of 2.07% Copper and a further
52m of 0.68% Copper
- Hole CO-05-04, which intersected 97.8m of 0.61% Copper
- Hole CO-05-05, which intersected 110m of 0.87% Copper including 72m of
1.10% Copper
- Hole CO-05-06, which intersected 58m of 1.44% Copper
- Hole CO-05-07, which intersected 30m of 1.08% Copper.
Silver and Gold assay results are pending and will be released as they
come available. The Company is particularly pleased with these very positive
results and has immediately expanded the current 15 hole diamond drill program
to 20 holes.
"We are extremely pleased with the thick, continuous and high-grade
intercepts of copper generated in this phase of drilling. Our current copper
and moly drill results on average, exceed those reported from the drilling
program completed by Rio Tinto and confirm the presence of a robust,
potentially low cost heap leachable mineralized system" said Marc E. Levy,
President and CEO of Norsemont Mining Inc., "We are currently drilling holes
No. 12 and No. 13, and we expect to release the next batch of results in the
near future."
Secondary chalcocite and/or primary copper sulphide mineralization, in
potentially commercial quantities, have been intersected within phyllically
altered monzonite and skarn in each of the first eleven holes completed for
Norsemont (Assay's are pending for the four other completed holes), including
the two drill holes in progress. The overall thickness of the secondary
chalcocite and primary copper sulfides, encountered during this phase of
drilling, ranges from a thickness of 120 meters in hole CO-05-05 and down to a
thickness of 34.9 meters in CO-05-03 (partially oxidized chalcocite blanket).
A summary of the significant intercepts from the current diamond drill
program are as follows:
<<
Drill Holes From (m) To (m) INT. (m) Cu (%) Mo (%)
CO-05-01 80 134 54 0.79 0.002
CO-05-02 99.45 116 16.55 2.07 0.010
CO-05-02 126 178 52 0.68 0.007
CO-05-03 110.01 117.65 7.55 0.81 0.002
CO-05-03 158.65 186 27.35 0.63 0.003
CO-05-04 62 78 16 0.47 0.006
114.2 212 97.8 0.61 0.008
Including 116 184 68 0.73 0.009
CO-05-05 0 12 12 0.55 0.001
50 160 110 0.87 0.011
Including 56 128 72 1.10 0.012
CO-05-06 56 68 12 0.67 0.029
CO-05-06 144 202 58 1.44 0.008
CO-05-07 64 94 30 0.73 0.004
110 140 30 1.08 0.033
148 172 24 0.46 0.006
Note: All above holes are vertical.
Drill hole CO-05-05, at the south end of the 2005 drill area, contains an
interval of 110 meters (50m - 160m) of 0.87% copper and 0.011% molybdenum
within a mixture of chalcocite and primary copper sulfides in monzonite and
skarn. This interval includes 72 meters (56m - 128m) of 1.1% copper and 0.012%
molybdenum. Drill hole CO-05-01, at the north end of the 2005 drill area,
contains 54 meters (80m - 134m) of 0.79% copper in chalcocite and 0.002%
molybdenum beneath a leached cap of 80 meters. Hole CO-05-02, 300 meters south
of CO-05-01, contains two significant chalcocite-bearing intervals, separated
by 10 meters of oxidized and leached chalcocite blanket. The upper 16.55 meter
interval (99.45m - 116m), contains 2.07% copper in chalcocite and 0.01%
molybdenum beneath 99.45 meters of leached cap. The lower interval of
52 meters (126m - 178m) exhibits a grade of 0.68% copper in chalcocite and
0.007% molybdenum. The copper mineralization appears to be increasing in grade
and thickness to the south.
The detailed drilling completed by Norsemont in 2005 has tested the
chalcocite blanket and the primary copper sulfides of the Constancia zone for
approximately 600 meters north-south. The 2005 surface geologic mapping and
geochemical sampling, combined with Mitsui, Rio Tinto and Norsemont drilling,
collectively suggest that the zone of secondary chalcocite and primary copper
sulfides in the Constancia zone alone has dimensions north-south of over one
kilometer and east-west dimensions ranging from 200 to over 800 meters. Higher
grades and wider surface projections of the secondary chalcocite and primary
copper sulfides seem to be associated with broad (200m - 400m wide) east-west
trending fracture zones where they intersect a prominent north-south
silicified zone, also several hundred meters in width. The average thickness
of the partially eroded chalcocite blanket, as defined by Norsemont thus far
in 2005, is in the range of 60 to 80 meters.
The Constancia Project is located between the Tintaya Mine of BHP
Billiton and the Las Bambas copper project of Xstrata Resources. The principal
purpose of this phase of drilling is provide sufficient data to produce a
NI 43-101 Compliant Resource Estimate at the Constancia zone by infill and
step-out drilling on 100 meter centres. This zone is only part of the large
Constancia porphyry and skarn copper system, which also includes the San Jose
zone one kilometre to the west. Rio Tinto previously reported an historical
unclassified resource in the Constancia porphyry copper system of 189 million
tonnes of 0.68% copper (0.5% copper cut-off) and 0.021% molybdenum (this
resource has not been audited by NI 43-101 Standards and should therefore not
be relied upon), based on the drilling of Rio Tinto and Mitsui, in both the
Constancia zone and the San Jose zone. The 2005 drilling by Norsemont has to
date suggested that the copper grades reported by Rio Tinto have been
exceeded.
The initial drilling program and geological studies at the Constancia
project are being supervised by Dr. Thomas A. Henricksen, P.Geo., Qualified
Person as defined in NI 43-101. Core samples are cut with a diamond saw, with
one-half of the core placed in sealed bags, and shipped to ASL Chemex Assay
Labs in Lima, Peru. The program includes extensive Quality Control for
assaying which includes the systematic use of standards, blanks, and field
duplicate samples. Secondary laboratories are also used for check assaying.
Art C. Freeze, P. Geo., Director of Norsemont and Qualified Person as
defined by NI 43-101 has reviewed and approved information contained in this
news release.
A plan map and cross-section with drill hole locations will be available
shortly on the Norsemont website at www.norsemont.com
Marc E. Levy
Director & President
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release. We seek
Safe Harbor.
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