Chariot soars on Marcona drilling (May 02, 2005)

The first 15 holes drilled by Chariot Resources (CHD-T) on the recently optioned Marcona project in southern Peru have returned wide swaths of high-grade copper mineralization.

All the holes were collared on the High Grade (HG) sulphide target, which is on the Mina Justa prospect. Each hole returned significant copper oxide or copper sulphide mineralization, or a combination of the two.

Copper oxide mineralization at Mina Justa overlies copper sulphide mineralization.

The sulphide intersections include the following:

– hole 5 — 50 metres (beginning 182 metres below surface) running 3% copper, including 28 metres of 4.9% copper; 30 metres (from 236 metres) of 2.3% copper; and 26 metres (from 282 metres) averaging 1.5% copper;

– hole 6 — 116 metres (from 214 metres) grading 2.55% copper, and 26 metres (from 304 metres) of 5.8% copper;

– hole 8 — 64 metres (from 248 metres) grading 3.4% copper, including 46 metres (from 258 metres) of 4.3% copper;

– hole 9 — 90 metres of 1.57% copper (from 258 to 348 metres), including a higher-grade intercept of 38 metres grading 2.29% copper (from 290 to 328 metres);

– hole 10 — 32 metres (from 286 metres) at 2.2% copper, and 10 metres (from 286 metres) of 3.2% copper;

– hole 11 — 38 metres (from 252 metres) of 2.1% copper, including 14 metres (from 268 metres) of 4.35% copper;

– hole 14 — 20 metres (from 414 metres) of 4.2% copper, including 10 metres of 5.9% copper;

– hole 15 — 102 metres (from 318 metres) of 1.5% copper, including 16 metres (from 366 metres) of 2.4% copper.

Intersections of oxide mineralization include the following highlights:

– hole 1 — 24 metres (from 254 metres) grading 1.3% copper;

– hole 3 — 20 metres (from 178 metres) of 0.5% copper;

– hole 10 — returned 22 metres (from 108 metres) grading 0.4% copper, 12 metres (from 136 metres) of 0.7% copper, 12 metres (from 192 metre) of 0.6%, and 12 metres (from 228 metres) of 0.8% copper.

Chariot says the holes yielding high-grade sulphide mineralization usually contain copper oxide grades of 0.5-0.7%.

The HG sulphide target measures 400 by 300 metres and is up to 46 metres thick. The zone remains open to the north, south and west.

The drilling was part of a 37,000-metre program aimed at increasing resources at Marcona. There are 20 targets outside the main deposit, which Chariot says have the potential to add up to 368 million tonnes.

The Mina Justa prospect contains an inferred resource of 218.3 million tonnes grading 0.8% copper, or 1.75 million tonnes of contained copper. The mineralization occurs in at least three separate zones hosted by volcano-sedimentary rocks in a northeast-trending, southeast-dipping fault system.

Chariot owns 70% of the project, with the remainder shared by Korean Resources Corp., the agency responsible for securing resources for all of Korea’s major industries, and LG-Nikko Copper, a division of LG Cable. LG has also agreed to offtake 90% of Marcona’s cathode production and 70% of its concentrate production (T.N.M., April 11-17/05).

Shares in Chariot were 7.5, or more than 28%, higher at 34 in late-afternoon trading in Toronto on April 25.