East Asia keeps rising on Miwah results

Vancouver – Consistent, high-grade channel sample and drilling results from the Miwah gold project in Indonesia have lifted East Asia Minerals’ (EAS-V) share price 460% since early June.

Miwah is a high-sulphidation epithermal gold system in Aceh province, North Sumatra. The zone as delineated to date has three major parts: the main Miwah zone, the Miwah Bluff zone adjacent to the west, and the South Miwah Bluff zone that, as the name implies, sits south of Miwah Bluff. In addition the Sipopak gold zone lies 1.5 km to the north-northeast.

At the main Miwah zone, more than 2,000 metres of rock saw channel sampling in 2008 over a 1-sq. km area of high sulphidation alteration averaged 1.2 grams gold per tonne and better than 3 grams silver per tonne. Higher gold grades, including 4.1 grams gold over 200 metres, are associated with massive, residual vuggy silica-sulphide that forms a clear, east-northeast-trending cliff stretching 1,200 metres along strike.

The latest channel sampling at Miwah has focused on the eastern end of that 1,200-metre strike and the results remain strong. Recent results include 106.5 grams gold over 4.6 metres, 3.1 grams gold over 5.6 metres, and 1 gram gold over 12 metres. Earlier results from the eastern portion of the main zone include 14 grams gold over 20 metres, 6.19 grams gold over 6 metres, 2.41 grams gold over 32 metres, and 0.58 grams gold over 50 metres.

East Asia is also drilling at Miwah. The company has completed five holes of an initial 10-hole program, with results available for the first three holes. The first three holes were drilled from the same collar, located near the western end of the main zone

Hole 1 cut 57.1 metres grading 1.97 grams gold from 11 metres depth, including 38.3 metres of 2.78 grams gold. Hole 2 intercepted 158 metres grading 1.71 grams gold from 8 metres depth, including 66 metres averaging 3.29 grams gold.

And hole 3 returned 142.9 metres grading 2.25 grams gold from 9 metres below surface, including 51 metres of 4.31 grams gold. For all three holes, channel sampling results from directly above the intercepts indicate that mineralization is continuous to surface.

Hole 4 was collared to the southwest, and at some 60 metres lower in elevation, and was designed to validate a historic drilling result. And holes 5 to 7 are short scout holes in the South Miwah Bluff zone. Once those scout holes are complete the rig will return to the main zone to drill holes in the central and eastern portions.

Based on work to date Miwah is resolving into two components. The majority of the 2008 rock samples came from a tabular, 1,200-km long, 300- to 400-metre wide zone that is 200 metres thick on average. The other component comprises vertical diatreme breccia feeder zones that are beneath the tabular zone and cut through it. These feeder zones support higher gold grades, such as 83.6 grams gold over 24 metres and 20.1 grams gold over 12 metres in channel samples.

South Miwah Bluff is a southwesterly extension of the high-grade structures at Miwah. Specifically, South Miwah Bluff comprises three to four northerly-trending feeder structures, with associated cross-cutting structures providing more concentrated gold mineralization. The feeder zone is currently 650 metres long; the north limit is defined as where the structures enter the Miwah Bluff zone but the structures continue through the zone and toward Sipopak, 1.5 km to the north. And South Miwah Bluff is up to 350 metres wide on surface.

To date, East Asia has taken 205 metres of rock channel samples from South Miwah Bluff and the average grade is 14.25 grams gold. Dominant alteration is vuggy, sugary, and massive silica, with moderate to strong oxidation.

The Miwah prospect saw 11 drill holes totalling 3,000 metres by a previous explorer in 1997. All of those historic holes intersected alteration and mineralization; some of the best results were 71 metres grading 1.4 grams gold and 58 metres grading 1.1 grams gold. On reviewing the historical data East Asia concluded that the early drilling was oriented parallel to the higher-grade gold structures at surface and was topographically too low to intersect those structures at depth, and so the company expects to prove up a resource that is both bigger and higher-grade than the historical estimate of 100 million tonnes averaging just over 1 gram gold.

This is East Asia’s first time focusing its efforts at Miwah – last year the company concentrated more on its other project in Indonesia. A 130-hole drilling effort at the Abong prospect, which is part of the Barisan property also in North Sumatra, returned significant near-surface epithermal gold mineralization in most holes. The mineralization came from an extensive, sub-horizontal, outcropping jasperoid unit that remains open in several directions.

Abong results indicate the presence of a series of northeast-trending, elongated, high-grade gold zones surrounded by lower-grade envelopes. High-grade results include 9 metres of 4.84 grams gold and 11 metres of 6.29 grams gold. The pods are contained within a major northwest-trending corridor that is up to 800 metres wide and traceable for over 2 km. The company expects to release a resource estimate for Abong before October.

And East Asia completed a similar resource-definition drill program at its Sangihe property, where the company drilled 79 holes for 7,560 metres. Sangihe hosts two major prospects. At Bawone, drills cut through significant shallow gold mineralization; results included 95 metres of 2.15 grams gold and 125 metres of 1.67 grams gold. At Binebase results were similar: 36 metres of 4.03 grams gold and 188.3 grams silver and 96.2 metres of 1.3 grams gold and 48.3 grams silver. East Asia also expects a resource estimate for Sangihe before the end of the third quarter.

At the end of June East Asia had $5.5 million in cash, following the close of a non-brokered private placement wherein it sold 9.1 million units at 51¢ a piece for proceeds of $4.64 million. Each unit consisted of one share and half a warrant exercisable at 75¢ for 2.5 years.

Throughout the spring East Asia’s share price sat near 50¢ but news out of Miwah has since lifted it roughly $2.30 or 460% to its current hover near $2.80. The company has 56 million shares outstanding.