AYAN/ TAGUIBO

Sierra Mining announced that a geophysical surveying contractor has mobilised a geophysical survey team to undertake a combined induced polarization, resistivity and magnetometer survey of the main soil anomalies on the company’s Taguibo project in South Eastern Mindanao, Philipines. A drilling campaign of up to 10 diamond core holes totaling up to 4,000 m is also planned to commence shortly after the geophysical survey.

The scout drilling and training program was suspended following completion of four drill holes totalling 1,132.9m due to technical problems affecting core recovery. Assay results of core recovered at Taguibo, along with results of the previously completed soil sampling, confirm the presence of a large precious and base metal mineralised hydrothermal system with porphyry copper affinities. The better gold grades (greater than 0.5 g/t Au) lie within zones logged as breccias. The highest gold assay of 1.0 m at 14.4 g/t Au comes from breccia with mixed clasts of chloritized rock fragments and silica in clay matrix. A 50-cm wide massive pyrite-sphaleritechalcopyrite vein assayed 7.5 g/t Au. Other quartz-sulphide veins yield assays ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 g/t Au. Silver values are mostly less than 2 ppm, with sporadic anomalous values up to 20 ppm and highest values of 43 and 110 ppm. There is no clear correlation between Ag and Au. Anomalous values of zinc up to 1.0% Zn are common and a small number over 1.0% Zn, with a highest value in a 15-cm vein of 23.0% Zn. Near the bottom of the hole 3.3% Zn is recorded in a 50-cm sulphide vein and 2.8% Zn averaged over a 1.8 m wide quartz-healed breccia “vein”.

A 2,000m scout drilling and safety training program commenced with 10 proposed drill sites. The drill program was designed to test immediately under the mineralised outcrops in the Project area. Three holes were completed during the quarter and samples have now been sent for assay.