Mawson West Limited (TSX:MWE) ("Mawson West" or "the Company") is pleased to provide an update on the results of ongoing drilling at the Company's Kapulo copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC").
Overview
Kapulo comprises three outcropping copper deposits, Shaba, Safari North and Safari South (Figure 1). Together, the three deposits comprise total Indicated Resources of 5.95Mt @ 3.5% Cu and 9ppm Ag, and Inferred Resources of 2.42Mt @ 2.2% Cu and 6ppm Ag(1) (Table 1, Appendix A). Mineral Reserves have been estimated only for the Shaba deposit: 3.6Mt @ 3.6% Cu and 8.3ppm Ag (Table 2, Appendix A). The Shaba Mineral Reserve formed the basis for the decision to proceed with development of Kapulo copper project.
Drilling programs have been carried out at Shaba, Safari North and Safari South deposits since February 2013, with the effort stepped up from one rig to three rigs in May 2013. The objectives of the drilling campaign have been to upgrade the confidence categories of all resources, enable estimates of Mineral Reserves for Safari North and South deposits and obtain core samples for additional metallurgical test work. To the end of October, the 2013 program totalled 9,735 metres in 149 RC holes and 6,500 metres in 45 diamond core holes (including 2.034 metres in RC pre-collars). A further 353 metres of RC and 110 metres of core has been drilled in eight sterilisation holes.
At the end of October remaining planned drilling totalled approximately 1,900 metres of RC and 1,100 metres of core. It is anticipated that drilling will be complete by the end of November 2013, with re-estimation of resources to follow immediately. The updated resource models will form the basis for new Mineral Reserve estimates, mining schedules and financial modelling to be undertaken in Q1 2014.
Shaba Deposit
Figure 2 shows a long-projection of Shaba deposit, looking west. The figure represents horizontal width of mineralisation above 1% Cu cut-off multiplied by Cu grade, i.e. Cu grade x thickness metal accumulation. The figure is diagrammatic, based on the drill results available at mid-September 2013 and does not represent the model of Mineral Resources. The southerly plunge of the mineralisation is clearly represented. The open pit profile on the image represents the pit design within which the June 2011 Mineral Reserve was delineated.
Drill intercepts shown on Figure 2 represent holes for which assay results were available at mid-September 2013, with those returning greater than 10 metres estimated true width x Cu% labelled. Table 3 (Appendix B) presents the entire table of results along with drill hole location details.
The results to date confirm high-grade mineralisation proximal to the current pit design limits. The Company anticipates that re-evaluation of the optimum pit limits, in conjunction with upgrading of Inferred Resources to Measured and Indicated categories by virtue of closer drill spacing, may lead to an increase in the Shaba Mineral Reserve.
