AusQuest Limited
(ASX: AQD)
ASX
RELEASE
14 AUGUST 2008
IOCG SYSTEM INTERSECTED AT DIAMANTINA
AusQuest Limited (ASX: AQD) is pleased to
advise that the initial diamond drill-hole at the Machattie Prospect at its
Diamantina Project, located approximately 450km south of Mt Isa in western
Queensland, has intersected a large Iron-Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG) intrusive
system from 960
metres to the end of the hole at 1,790 metres.
The purpose of the drill-hole was to establish
whether the strong coincident gravity (32 milligals) and magnetic anomaly
located below the Eromanga
Basin sediments was caused
by an IOCG system, as these systems can contain significant occurrences of
copper and gold mineralisation.
Drilling intersected ~800 metres of
magnetite-rich pyroxenite rock, cut by numerous mafic dykes and containing
abundant calcite-pyrite mineralisation both within the rock itself and within
veins and stock-works, suggesting the presence of large scale fluid movement, a
prerequisite for the concentration of metals in IOCG systems.
The Company believes this is a highly unusual
rock-type and may have analogies with the Palabora complex in southern Africa,
which researchers have recently classified as an IOCG type deposit.
Measurements on core confirm the very high
densities (3.5 gm/cc) and very high magnetic susceptibilities (>25,000 x 10-5 SI units) that are a result of the
high iron content of the rock.
Drill core has been systematically sampled and
sent for analysis. Selected samples were collected for microscopic study.
Results are expected within the next six to eight weeks.
The Company is encouraged by this result which
has established the presence of a large scale IOCG intrusive system (~25km�) at
the southern boundary of the Mt Isa Block, which may have potential for
copper-gold mineralisation. Further exploration at the Machattie Prospect will
be planned once all analytical results have been received and assessed.
Diamond drilling at the Mulligan Prospect which
represents a second IOCG target located approximately 120 kilometres west
of Machattie, has commenced.
Graeme Drew
Managing Director
COMPETENT
PERSON'S STATEMENT
The details contained in this
report that pertain to exploration results are based upon information compiled
by Mr Graeme Drew, a full-time employee of AusQuest
Limited. Mr Drew is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy (AUSIMM) and has sufficient experience in the activity which he is
undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the December 2004
edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results,
Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" (JORC Code). Mr Drew consents to the
inclusion in the report of the matters based upon his information in the form
and context in which it appears.