Key points
- The four licences, EL 1425, EL 1449, EL 1457 and EL 1458, were granted under PNG’s Mining Act following applications made in May and August 2006.
- The tenements are held by Neptune Minerals (PNG) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Neptune Minerals, and are granted for an initial two-year period requiring surface mapping, geophysics and sampling.
- EL 1425 covers Conical Seamount, where previous research grab-samples recorded gold grades up to 230g/t Au, averaging 25g/t Au from 40 samples, near the Ladolam deposit’s 46Moz gold resource on Lihir Island.
- CEO Dr Simon McDonald said the licences add to a portfolio now totalling more than 300,000km², following a 200,000km² licence granted last month in the Federated States of Micronesia.
Neptune Minerals is pleased to announce that it has been granted, pursuant to the Mining Act of Papua New Guinea (“PNG”), four exploration licences in the territorial waters of PNG. The tenements are within the New Ireland Province, cover a total area of 326km² and include Conical Seamount which hosts gold mineralisation similar to the Ladolam deposit on Lihir Island. These tenements are held by Neptune Minerals (PNG) Limited, a wholly-owned susidiary of the Company.
Papua New Guinea licences
Neptune has been granted four exploration licences around Lihir Island, following the Company’s exploration licence (EL) applications in May and August 2006: EL 1425 (Conical), EL 1449 (New World), EL 1457 (Dripela Maunten) and EL 1458 (Fopela Susa).
Each tenement has been granted for an initial two-year period, with a work commitment during that time to complete high resolution surface mapping and geophysics and to collect surface samples.
EL1425 targets Conical Seamount to the south of Lihir Island. Conical has already been sampled and drilled by joint British and German research cruises and hosts submarine epithermal gold mineralisation similar to the Ladolam deposit on Lihir Island (46Moz contained gold, currently being mined at 650koz per year). Previous research grab-samples recovered distinctive epithermal-style polymetallic veins with gold grades reaching 230g/t Au, averaging 25g/t Au from 40 samples. Research drilling at the summit plateau of Conical Seamount in 2002 (39 holes, 31% average recovery) confirmed the sub-seafloor extent of surface gold mineralisation and associated alteration to depths of at least 4.5m. Drill core samples of clay-silica alteration contain average gold grade of 14.2g/t Au over lengths of about 30cm and that appear to be part of a more extensive gold zone.
EL 1449 (New World), EL 1457 (Dripela Maunten) and EL 1458 (Fopela Susa) have not been researched to any great extent, but cover features similar to Conical and in similar locations on the flanks of the Lihir seamount massif.
Neptune’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Simon McDonald said:
“These newly acquired PNG tenements are an exciting addition to Neptune’s exploration portfolio, which now totals more than 300,000km 2 including current tenements and areas under application. PNG is highly prospective for gold, with Lihir Island hosting one of the world’s largest gold deposits.
“The granting of these four tenements in PNG is an important step in Neptune’s strategy to build a geographically diverse portfolio of quality exploration tenements, and follows the addition last month of a 200,000km² licence in the Federated States of Micronesia,” he concluded.
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