Colossus reports stellar assays at Serra Pelada

The first systematic assay results for the full suite of platinum group elements at Colossus Minerals‘s (CSI-T, COLUF-o) Serra Pelada project in Brazil appear to confirm what Vic Wall, the company’s Australian president, told The Northern Miner during a visit to the site last November: “‘There are very few mineral provinces on Earth that have this kind of endowment.'”

Results released today from Serra Pelada’s central mineralised zone have yielded up to 299 grams platinum per tonne, up to 387 grams palladium, up to 7.7 grams rhodium and up to 4.9 grams iridium.

In mid-day trading in Toronto, Colossus Minerals’ shares surged 55¢ on the news, or 34.4%, to $2.15 apiece.

Core samples from seven drill holes representing 128 metres of down-hole intersections in the central mineralized zone were fire assayed for gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium by Genalysis in Perth, Australia.

“The gold-PGE assay results would be extraordinary anywhere other than Serra Pelada,” Wall said in a prepared statement announcing the results. “Colossus’ work continues to add value to the Serra Pelada treasure chest, demonstrating that PGEs will contribute significantly to the worth of this remarkable deposit.”

The drill holes are from the more southerly sections of the central mineralised zone and the platinum and palladium ratios were higher than expected from historical data for the subzones, the company said.

“The high gold-PGE subzone in FD-072 may prove to be continuous with those so far encountered in Colossus phase 1 drilling in the upper and outer fold hinge, up to 200 metres to the northeast,” Colossus said.

Drill hole FD-702 cut 7.88 metres grading 406.4 grams gold per tonne; 98.4 grams platinum; 115.7 grams palladium; 2.74 grams rhodium; 1.52 grams iridium; 0.19 gram ruthenium and 0.03 gram osmium, including 1.87 metres at 1,431.3 grams gold; 248 grams platinum; 321.4 grams palladium; 6.50 grams rhodium; 4.21 grams iridium; 0.39 gram ruthenium; and 0.10 gram osmium.

Drill hole FD-058A intersected, over a 1.91 meter interval, 169.1 grams gold per tonne; 13.64 grams platinum; 18.99 grams palladium; 0.43 gram rhodium; 0.59 gram iridium; 0.03 gram ruthenium; and less than 0.02 gram osmium.

Other highlights include drill holes FD-062 and FD-104. The first hole cut 3.06 metres grading 115.9 grams gold per tonne; 35.57 grams platinum; 46.12 grams palladium; 1.33 grams rhodium; 0.75 gram iridium; 0.11 gram ruthenium and less than 0.02 gram osmium.

Hole FD-104 intersected 7.5 metres of 27.73 grams gold per tonne; 9.68 grams platinum; 6.62 grams palladium; 0.41 gram rhodium; 0.14 gram iridium; 0.03 gram ruthenium; and less than 0.02 gram osmium.

Over the entire set of assay results, platinum to rhodium ratios ranged from about 10:1 to over 40:1, which “will contribute significantly to the value of high PGE subzones” at Serra Pelada, the company said.

Currently rhodium trades at about US$1,300 per oz. (It reached a high of US$10,000 per oz. in 2008). The hard transition metal is rare and found in platinum ores. It is used in alloys with platinum and as a catalyst.

Serra Pelada is about 434 km south of Belem, the capital of Para state, in northeastern Brazil. At the height of the gold rush there in the early 1980s, more than 100,000 artisanal miners worked in a 130-metre open pit roughly the size of fifteen soccer fields, from which they produced an estimated 2 million oz. gold.

Over the last year, Colossus Minerals has traded between a high of $4 per share (June 30, 2008) and 43¢ per share (Dec. 9 2008).