Apogee Commences 20,000 Meter Diamond Drill Program on Paca and Pulacayo Deposits, Bolivia
TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Oct. 4, 2007) – Apogee Minerals Limited (“Apogee”) (TSX VENTURE:APE) is commencing a 20,000 meter diamond drill program on the Pulacayo and Paca silver-zinc-lead deposits in Bolivia, approximately 420 km south of La Paz (Figure 1). The objective of the drill program will be to increase the resource base by incorporating a significant resource contribution from the Pulacayo deposit and upgrade the current resource at Paca to an “Indicated” category (CIMM definition) in order to support completion of a feasibility study. The drill proposal has been structured to target areas that have potential to add higher grade resources with the objective of increasing the over-all grade of the deposits. Preliminary economic modeling indicates that if successful this will have a positive impact on the project’s economic potential. The drill contract has been awarded to Compania de Sondeos Fujita. Three drills are being deployed to the site.
The project is an option joint venture with Apex Silver Mines Limited (Apex) of Denver, Colorado whereby Apogee can earn up to a 60% interest by completing a feasibility study. In compliance with the terms of an underlying agreement, Apogee submitted a major technical report to Apex and Comibol (the Bolivian state mining company) in June, 2007. Comibol has an underlying agreement on the project. The technical review of this report has been completed by Comibol and following constructive meetings with the President of Comibol and the Minister of Mines of Bolivia formal documentation was provided by Comibol confirming that the terms of the agreement had been satisfied. Mr. Helio Diniz, President of Apogee, stated, “We were very encouraged by our discussions with the Senior Officials in Bolivia and are excited to reactivate this important project for Apogee and its partners. We are proceeding with a carefully designed program in which activities are focused on collecting data required to support completion of a feasibility study as efficiently as possible. Apogee will also continue to work on initiatives with local community leaders, who have been very supportive of the project.”
The drill program will budget 14,000 meters for the Pulacayo deposit where management expects that a significant increase in the mineral resource estimate and an improvement in grade can be achieved by supplementing the existing wide-spaced drill holes. Drilling to date at Pulacayo indicates there are structurally controlled higher grade zones and these will be specifically targeted by the diamond drill program.
At Pulacayo the mineralized zone being targeted is more than 600 m long and ranges from 10 to 60 m in thickness. This zone is characterized by intense mineralized stockwork and veins. Three high grade structures are interpreted to occur within the mineralized zone (Figure 2) and include intersections such as in drill hole PuD007, which intersected 413 g/t silver, 1.8% lead, and 3.5% zinc over 44 meters and hole PuD005, which intersected 231 g/t silver, 1.2% lead and 2.2% zinc over 43.5 meters (true widths). The drill program will target the mineralized zone from near surface to approximately 300 meters below surface. Management believes that the Pulacayo mineralization continues to significantly greater depths as this is within the structure where approximately 600 million ounces of silver were produced from the historical Pulacayo mining camp.
At the Paca deposit 6,000 meters will be targeted to expand the highest grade area of the existing resource complete infill drilling to increase the confidence in the resource to at least an indicated classification required for the prefeasibility/ feasibility study.
As part of this program metallurgical sampling will commence to determine the end-member ore characteristics in order to determine the design parameters for the full metallurgical test program to follow
About Apogee Minerals
Apogee Minerals Ltd. is a Canadian producer of silver-zinc-lead and also carries out exploration and development activities. The Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol APE. Apogee is focused on advanced silver-zinc-lead projects in South America that demonstrate the potential to be rapidly developed to production. Currently all of its projects are located in the historic silver producing regions of central and southwest Bolivia. The Company’s 100%-owned La Solucion Mine has a 14 year production history and has a 120 tonne per day flotation mill. The Pulacayo-Paca project is an option to joint venture with Apex Silver Mines Ltd. The project occupies the property that includes the second-largest silver mine in the history of Bolivia with over 600 million ounces of past production.
For Further Information Contact:
Ana Lopes, Investor Relations – phone: (1) 416 861 5902
Email: info@apogeeminerals.com
Web: www.apogeeminerals.com
Forward Looking Statements
This document may contain or refer to forward looking information based on current expectations, including, but not limited to, mineralization projections, estimates regarding the timing for resource modeling and the preparation of a 43-101 compliant technical report and the impact of additional drill hole data on the existing resource estimate and the Company’s understanding of the Property. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.