ASX / Media Release 20 May 2010 Infill Drilling at Kapok West in WA Defines Stacked Lenses of High Grade Lead and Zinc Mineralisation Highlights Infill drilling at the Kapok West prospect, on the Lennard Shelf Project, has intersected stacked lenses of high grade, up to 30.5% combined lead and zinc, mineralisation in the core of the Kapok West mineral resource (currently an Inferred mineral resource of 2.5Mt @ 3.1% Zn, 6.3% Pb and 13.0g/t Ag, above a combined 3% zinc plus lead cutoff); 3 stacked lenses of zinc and lead mineralisation have been intersected in all 3 holes drilled to date on section 12,996E with mineralisation intersected over a maximum vertical depth of 87m; To date 52 drill holes have been completed at the Kapok West prospect and of these, 31 holes are classified as infill holes and 21 as extensional drill holes. Results from 8 extensional and 6 infill holes are being released today; Results from the 14 drill holes released today include: o 5.0m @ 30.5% Pb+Zn in KW10 049 (Infill) o 23.0m @ 11.3% Pb+Zn in KW10 049 (Infill) o 14.0m @ 9.8% Pb+Zn in KW10 047 (Infill) o 4.0m @ 13.9% Pb+Zn in KW10 048 (Infill) o 2.0m @ 10.4% Pb+Zn in KW10 051 (Extension) o 4.0m @ 6.1% Pb+Zn in KW10 040 (Extension) The main objectives of the Kapok West drilling is to, define the boundaries of the mineralisation through extensional drilling and then, increase the confidence in the size and grade of the Kapok West mineral resource through infill drilling, with the aim of allowing a portion of the mineral resource to be classified as Indicated in accordance with the guidelines of the JORC Code (2004): Drilling has recommenced at Kapok West following a 3 week break. Australian resources company Meridian Minerals Limited ( Meridian or Company ) (ASX: MII) today announces assay results from a further 14 diamond drill holes drilled at the Kapok West prospect, on the Lennard Shelf Project ( Lennard Shelf ). Of these 14 holes, 8 were drilled with the objective of extending the currently defined Kapok West mineral resource and 6 holes were drilled as part of an infill drill program. The objective of the infill diamond drill program is to increase the confidence level in the size and grade of the Kapok West mineral resource such that following the conclusion of the infill drill program, a portion of the mineral resource will be able to be classified as Indicated in accordance with the guidelines of the JORC Code (2004).
Meridian s Managing Director, Jeremy Read, said that Meridian is very encouraged with the results from the Kapok West drill program and in particular the infill drilling part of the program, which has recently produced some thick and very high grade lead zinc intersections. Today we have announced our highest ever grade intersection, of 30.5% lead+zinc, over a downhole 5m interval, Mr Read said. Our infill drilling is defining a series of 3 stacked lenses of lead and zinc mineralisation, towards the middle of the Kapok West mineral resource, with the bottom lens being 21 23m thick near the basal contact with the Emanuel Shale. Further drilling will be conducted to determine the lateral extent of this thicker lens of mineralisation, but it is very encouraging to intersect such thicknesses of lead and zinc mineralisation. The Kapok West infill drill program will comprise a total of 39 holes, the 6 holes for which results are being announced today. Results from 30 holes have now been released. A 3 week break to the Kapok West drilling program has just ended and drilling is now continuing at Kapok West. It is anticipated that the infill and extensional drilling at Kapok West will be concluded by the end of June 2010. Meridian is aiming to release the next batch of Kapok West drill results by mid June. Kapok West Drill Program In late November 2009, Meridian commenced a Bankable Feasibility Study ( BFS ) to determine the viability of recommencing mining of the Kapok mineral resource and establishing new mining operations at the Kapok West and Cadjebut Splay mineral resources. This study is termed the Emanuel Range BFS, due to the geographic location of Kapok, Kapok West and Cadjebut Splay in the Emanuel Range region of the Lennard Shelf. The initial part of the BFS comprised a diamond drilling program to drill out the immediate extensions of the Kapok West mineral resource. The extensional drilling resulted in greater definition of the limits of the Kapok West mineralisation. A revision of the Kapok West mineral resource was announced to the ASX on 25 February 2010. The revised mineral resource for Kapok West is 2.5Mt @ 6.3% Pb, 3.1% Zn and 13.0g/t Ag above a combined 3% zinc plus lead cutoff, reported as Inferred in accordance with the guidelines of the JORC Code (2004) (Figure One). Infill and extensional drilling at Kapok West have been continuing in parallel, with the majority of recent drilling focussing on the infill component of the drill program. It is anticipated that a further 9 drill holes will be completed as a part of the infill drill program. The results for the 6 infill drill holes announced today are given in Table One. Extensional drilling has been continuing at Kapok West with the goal of further increasing the Kapok West mineral resource over and above its current 2.5Mt. The results from 8 extensional drill holes are announced today and are given in Table Two. A summary of both the infill and extensional drill results announced today is presented in Figure Two with reference to the boundary of the revised Kapok West mineral resource.
The lead and zinc mineralisation at Kapok West is hosted within the Pillara Limestone unit adjacent to the Cadjebut Fault Zone, which juxtaposes the Pillara Limestone against the underlying Emanuel Shale. The mineralisation dips steeply to the south. A representative cross section of the stacked lenses of lead and zinc defined towards the centre of the Kapok West mineral resource is presented as Figure Three. Currently, it is anticipated that the Kapok West drill program will be concluded during June. Following the receipt of all assay data from the drill program, the Kapok West mineral resource will be revised. Meridian is aiming to announce a further revision of the Kapok West mineral resource in August and this revised resource will then be used to determine how much of the Kapok West mineral resource could potentially be mined. This estimate of a mining inventory for Kapok West will be a key input into the Emanuel Range BFS due for completion prior to the end of calendar year 2010. For further information please visit www.meridianminerals.com.au or contact: Mr Jeremy Read Managing Director Meridian Minerals Limited Tel: 07 3225 0400 Mob: 0409 484 322 Mr James Harris Professional Public Relations Tel: 08 9388 0944 Mob: 0400 296 547 Em: james.harris@ppr.com.au The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results and historical Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Mr Jeremy Read, who is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Read is a full time employee of Meridian Minerals Limited. He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to quality as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Read consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based upon his information in the form and context in which it appears. The information in this report that relates to the Kapok West Mineral Resource is based on information compiled by Mr Jason Hosken, who is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Hosken is a full time employee of Xstract Mining Consultants Pty Ltd. He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to quality as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Hosken consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based upon his information in the form and context in which it appears.
Table One Kapok West Infill Drill Program Results HOLE_ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Zn % Pb % KW10 039 Ag (g/t) Zn+Pb (%) Zn+Pb Cut off KW10 044 504.00 506.00 2.00 0.01 4.71 5.5 4.72 1% ZnPb cut off 472.00 476.00 4.00 0.12 4.00 19.3 4.12 1% ZnPb cut off 489.00 495.00 6.00 0.45 2.14 12.8 2.58 1% ZnPb cut off KW10 046 499.00 506.00 7.00 0.45 5.67 11.6 6.12 0.5% ZnPb cut off 500.00 505.00 5.00 0.60 7.66 12.4 8.26 1% ZnPb cut off also 500.00 503.00 3.00 0.89 10.88 19.3 11.77 5% ZnPb cut off 393.00 407.00 14.00 2.31 7.49 1.9 9.80 3% ZnPb cut off 395.00 399.00 4.00 3.49 15.01 2.0 18.50 5% ZnPb cut off KW10 047 454.00 464.00 10.00 2.97 2.54 3.3 5.51 1% ZnPb cut off 459.00 464.00 5.00 5.04 4.44 5.2 9.48 5% ZnPb cut off 273.00 278.00 5.00 2.54 0.48 3.6 3.02 1% ZnPb cut off 281.00 283.00 2.00 2.91 1.22 3.0 4.13 3% ZnPb cut off KW10 048 293.00 305.00 12.00 2.33 2.99 10.2 5.32 0.3% ZnPb cut off 308.00 312.00 4.00 5.94 8.00 22.0 13.94 5% ZnPb cut off 418.00 422.00 4.00 1.51 5.44 17.5 6.95 3% ZnPb cut off 418.00 421.00 3.00 1.88 6.30 20.3 8.18 5% ZnPb cut off 460.00 464.00 4.00 7.61 0.90 10.8 8.50 5% ZnPb cut off 460.00 462.00 2.00 10.02 1.61 16.5 11.62 6% ZnPb cut off KW10 049 468.00 470.00 2.00 7.99 1.47 14.0 9.46 5% ZnPb cut off 485.00 508.00 23.00 7.41 3.90 12.0 11.30 1% ZnPb cut off 497.00 507.00 10.00 13.33 6.53 13.0 19.85 5% ZnPb cut off 500.00 505.00 5.00 19.56 10.89 16.6 30.45 10% ZnPb cut off KW10 052 438.00 443.00 5.00 0.72 8.50 14.2 9.22 5% ZnPb cut off 474.00 481.00 7.00 0.37 3.49 17.3 3.86 1% ZnPb cut off 479.00 481.00 2.00 0.14 8.82 21.5 8.96 5% ZnPb cut off
Table Two Kapok West Extensional Drill Program Results HOLE_ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Zn % Pb % Ag g/t % Zn+Pb Zn+Pb Cut off 385.00 387.00 2.00 4.09 1.81 3.0 5.90 3% ZnPb cut off 403.00 405.00 2.00 0.36 8.7 18.5 9.03 1% ZnPb cut off KW10 037 411.00 413.00 2.00 3.56 2.64 4.0 6.20 3% ZnPb cut off 458.00 463.00 5.00 2.87 0.17 6.0 3.03 1% ZnPb cut off 458.00 460.00 2.00 3.91 0.15 4.5 4.06 3% ZnPb cut off KW10 038 KW10 040 333.00 337.00 4.00 0.55 2.66 8.8 3.21 1% ZnPb cut off 349.00 353.00 4.00 2.74 3.31 8.5 6.05 3% ZnPb cut off KW10 041 KW10 042 386.00 391.00 5.00 2.39 1.59 16.4 3.98 1% ZnPb cut off 386.00 388.00 2.00 4.51 3.26 15.5 7.77 3% ZnPb cut off KW10 043 KW10 045 275.00 277.00 2.00 2.44 0.21 9.0 2.65 1% ZnPb cut off KW10 051 371.00 373.00 2.00 2.20 0.02 7.0 2.22 0.5% ZnPb cut off 445.00 447.00 2.00 10.12 0.28 11.5 10.40 0.3% ZnPb cut off
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