Horizonte Minerals plc / Index: AIM / Epic: HMZ / Sector: Mining
8th October
2007
Horizonte
Minerals plc (‘Horizonte’ or ‘the Company’)
Signs
Option Agreement on its Mara Rosa Gold Project in Brazil
Horizonte Minerals plc,
the AIM listed exploration and
development company focused on Brazil and Peru, has signed Heads of Agreement
with Canadian company, Amarillo Gold Corporation (TSX-V AGC)
to develop its 1,000 Ha Mara Rosa gold property in the Goias State of Brazil. Under
the terms of the agreement, Amarillo
can earn a 60% interest by expending US$400,000 on exploration over the next three
years. Subsequent to the earn-in, a 60:40 joint venture agreement will govern
the development of any major gold discoveries. In addition, Horizonte will
receive a one off cash payment of US$30,000 for data acquisition.
The Mara Rosa gold
project was developed as part of Horizonte’s generative exploration programme
initiated to develop a pipeline of early stage projects. Initial reconnaissance
exploration work, including stream and soil geochemical sampling, defined a
series of gold anomalies, which will now be targeted by Amarillo.
The project is located
adjacent to Amarillo’s
Posse gold deposit, which it purchased in October 2003. Previously the mine
was developed by BHP Billiton and Western Mining Ltd, and it is estimated to
have produced in the region of 80,000 ounces of gold.
Due to
the prospectively of the area, Amarillo
has been actively exploring the region. From November 2005 until November 2006
it completed a 24 hole drilling programme on the Posse deposit. This provided
infill information on the known mineralisation, but more importantly,
discovered new gold mineralisation beneath the North pit. A 43-101 compliant mineral
resource estimate was completed in March 2007 by Caracle Creek International
Consulting Inc. This reported an Inferred mineral resource of 22,468,000 tonnes
grading at 1.35 g/t Au for 974,000 ounces of contained gold with a 0.5 g/t Au
cut off.
Horizonte CEO Jeremy Martin said, “This is excellent value
addition for one of the Horizonte non core projects. Mara Rosa is adjacent to
the Posse gold deposit actively being explored by Amarillo. By combining the projects, we
believe that we can significantly increase the possibility of expanding the
resources at Posse and developing an economic mining operation. Importantly, the
deal is structured so that Horizonte will see further value in this transaction
when mining commences. I believe this is a good example of exploration risk
management and value enhancement while also allowing Horizonte to focus on its
core projects.”
Sampling,
assaying, and QA/QC
Procedures adopted by
Horizonte in the collection, preparation and storage of samples from the auger
drilling programme, conform to industry-wide best practice and with chain of
custody being observed for all samples. Analysis is undertaken by ALS Labs at
its laboratories in Vancouver,
Canada, and the
Company maintains QA/QC on all analytical work via the inclusion of certified
reference materials and field duplicates and blanks, in addition to monitoring
of the laboratory’s own internal check-analyses.
The above information has
been reviewed and verified by Mr. Jeremy Martin, a Director and Chief Executive
of Horizonte, for the purposes of the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas
Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in March 2006. Mr. Martin, with seven
years of mining and management experience, graduated with a degree in geology
from the Camborne School of Mines, and an MSc in mineral exploration from the University of Leicester
and is a member in good standing with the Society of Economic Geologists and
the Institute of Mining Analysts.
*
* ENDS * *
For further information
visit www.horizonteminerals.com
or contact:
Jeremy Martin/David Hall Horizonte
Minerals plc Tel: 020 7495 5446
David Paxton Hichens
Harrison Tel: 020 7382 7785
Hugo de Salis St
Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7242 4477
John Frain/Fergal Meegan Davy Tel:
+353 1 679 6363
Notes
to Editors:
Horizonte Minerals Plc is
an AIM listed exploration and development company focused on gold, silver and
base metal opportunities in Brazil
and Peru.
It aims to become, through experience and a track record of discovery success,
to become the preferred exploration partner for Major gold and base metal
mining companies, in the region.
The Group’s has two
flagship gold exploration projects in Brazil, a one silver-zinc-lead project in
Peru as well as additional gold, zinc and nickel exploration projects in
Brazil. The two Brazilian gold projects, Tangara and Falcao, south of the
highly prospective Carajas
Mineral Province
each cover an area of approximately 300 sq km and are centred over greenstone
belts, with known gold mineralisation. The scale of these project areas, early
results, the overall aerial extent of the mineralised system and the high
density and magnitude of related gold anomalies, indicate the potential for
multiple deposit discoveries.
The El Aguila
silver-zinc-lead project is located in the historic mining district of Cerro de
Pasco in Central Peru. Drilling has
demonstrated the high grade potential of this project. Additional projects
include the 4,660 hectare on the prospective Achaean aged Crixas greenstone
belt, where multiple nickel-copper anomalies have been defined and the 25,556
hectare Lontra Ni Project situated in the Araguaia mobile belt, which flanks
the eastern margin of the Carajas Mineral Province
of northern Brazil.
St Brides Media and Finance Ltd
38
Bow Lane
London
EC4M 9AY
Tel: +44 (0)207 242 4477
Fax: +44 (0)207 242 4488
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