Tournigan mobilizes second drill in Northern Ireland

Vancouver — Tournigan Gold (TVC-V) has contracted a second diamond drill rig to commence drilling at the Tyrone project in Northern Ireland.

The 346 sq. km project license is centered on the Curraghinalt gold deposit. A number of additional targets have been identified on the surrounding Tyrone license and Tournigan kicked off a drilling campaign last week aimed at Glenlark, currently the most advanced prospect.

At Glenlark, induced polarization geophysics, soil geochemistry, trenching, and limited drilling have defined stratabound gold-silver-lead-zinc mineralization. The additional rig will also be sent to test the Glenlark prospect. So far five holes have been completed. Assays are pending.

Tournigan also plans to test strike extensions to the Curraghinalt resource. A trenching program is now underway across the eastern extension of the Curraghinalt vein system. So far, a number of veins have been exposed. According to Tournigan, some of the veins appear to be extensions of known veins and others may represent new discoveries.

At Golan Burn, located three km west of the Curraghinalt deposit, Tournigan states that it has traced possible extensions of the Curraghinalt vein system via geochemical and geophysical surveys. These new targets will be trenched and drilled in the near future.

The Curraghinalt gold deposit represents a mesothermal gold quartz vein system that has an inferred resource of 468,097 tonnes averaging16.96 grams gold per tonne, or 230,000 contained ounces. Tournigan believes that this resource can be brought into production in the short term and can be substantially increased with further drilling.

Last November, Tournigan inked a deal with Strongbow Resources (SR-V) to option the Curraghinalt and Tyrone gold projects. According to the agreements, Tournigan can acquire a 51% interest in the Curraghinalt project area by spending $2.0 million over three years and can acquire a 50% interest in the Tyrone project by spending $1.5 million over three years.

Once vested, Strongbow may elect to retain the balance of its interest in the relevant project by funding its share of future programs. If Strongbow decides not to participate, Tournigan may increase its interest in the Curraghinalt project to 60% by incurring a further $2.0 million and to 75% by completing a feasibility study within seven years.

By the same token, Tournigan can increase its interest in the Tyrone project to 60% by incurring an additional $1,5 million, and to 75% by completing a feasibility study within seven years. Tournigan can acquire the remaining 25% interest in both projects by issuing shares at a deemed price equal to the net present value of each project at that time.