Hana Picking Up Speed At Ghanzi In Botswana

VANCOUVER–Following up on last summer’s percussion-drill campaign at the Ghanzi property in central Botswana, Hana Mining (HMG-V) has confirmed strong copper intercepts with two diamond-drill holes.

Hana drilled the holes, collared 500 metres apart, on the North Limb of the Banana zone. They are the most southwestern diamond- drill holes on the North Limb to date.

Hole 95 hit 14 metres of 2.02% copper and 41.8 grams silver per tonne and hole 93 hit 7 metres of 1.53% copper and 26.3 grams silver.

Respectively, the intercepts started 131 and 138 metres down-hole, and Hana reports that they are at least 80% of true width.

Mineralization on the North Limb of the Banana zone is still open at depth and on strike to the southwest, where Hana notes there are strong copper-silver soil anomalies beginning about 6 km away.

The intercepts are the latest in a string of results Hana has released this winter that have enabled the company to raise funds while many other juniors of its size exploring copper projects have had a hard time getting funding.

First, Hana closed a $1.5-million non-brokered private placement in February and then in April, it announced a $4-million brokered private placement.

In the first financing, Hana sold about 30.7 million units at 5¢ per unit with each unit consisting of one share and one share purchase warrant redeemable at 10¢ until Jan. 27, 2011.

In the second, which has yet to close, Hana did a fair bit better. The company is selling 16 million units at 25¢ a unit. Each unit is worth one share and half a warrant, with each warrant entitling holders to one share at 35¢ over two years following closing.

Hana president Peter Wilson credits the company’s ability to source funds to its success in finding mineralization at a predictable rate and the district-scale of the 2,200-sq.-km Ghanzi property.

He notes 97 of 98 core holes drilled on 16 km of a potential 600-km strike length have hit copper mineralization.

“It’s just such a predictable rate,” he says.

Mineralization occurs in a horizon that folds five or six times on the Ghanzi property. Hana has concentrated drilling in the Banana zone, a two-limbed, 30-km-long, northeast-trending structure made up of the parallel running North and South limbs, and two other zones, 5 and 6.

The latter zones respectively lie 60 km and 90 km northeast of the Banana zone.

With a recharged kitty, the company is planning a 15,000-metre drill program this summer and intends to begin hydrological and metallurgical studies.

A resource estimate should be out early this summer.

“The focus at Ghanzi will be on building tonnage,” he says.

Hana vice-president of exploration Joseph Arengi says that the drill campaign will likely begin in the copper-silver soil anomalies in the southwest area of the Banana zone and that Hana will also collar holes in zone 5 and 6.

The Banana, 5 and 6 zones will be the focus of the planned resource estimate, he says.

The Ghanzi property is 150 km northeast of town of Ghanzi.

Hana shares recently traded at 36¢ in a 12-month range of 16.7¢- $1.81. The company has 24.5 million shares outstanding.