CRUSADER RESOURCES LIMITED Maiden JORC compliant mineral resource estimates for Querosene, Dona Maria and Crentes exceed 230,000 ounces of gold at 5.6 g/t Au (open pit and underground targets combined)
High‐grade resources at the Querosene and Dona Maria prospects total 459kt at 12.1 g/t for 178koz of gold, comprising
- Querosene vein 263kt at 12.3 g/t for 104koz of gold and
- Dona Maria vein 196kt at 11.8 g/t for 74,700oz of gold
Both Querosene and Dona Maria are open at depth and along strike and expected to grow with additional planned drilling
Initial economic reviews indicate that the Querosene and Dona Maria resources could be favorable for underground development, being near‐surface and relatively contiguous ore bodies
Crentes has reported a potentially open‐pittable resource of 846kt at
2.0 g/t for 55kozMetallurgical testwork for Querosene returns excellent (>90%) recoveries, testwork for both Crentes and Dona Maria currently underway
Crusader has appointed Global Resource Engineering to assist with optimisation and conceptual designs
Crusader's Managing Director Rob Smakman commented, 'We are delighted to be delivering maiden resources for the first of many prospects at Juruena. The high grades at Querosene and Dona Maria have confirmed
Australian Securities Exchange Information
ASX Code: CAS
Ordinary Shares 163,976,116
Options 35,242,308
(exercise prices: $0.286 to $1.35) Market Capitalisation $21M Treasury $2.8M (30 Jun 2015)
Share price $0.13
(12 month closing range: $0.12 to
$0.31)
Board of Directors
Non‐Executive Chairman
Stephen Copulos
Managing Director
Rob Smakman
Executive Director
Paul Stephen
Non‐Executive Directors
John Evans Mauricio Ferreira
our geological model and importantly, provide a platform for expansion and exploration. Crusader will now focus on progressing a conceptual study to look at the best possible development options for Juruena. The overall prospectivity of this 'district' is much larger than just these first three targets and we are confident that ongoing exploration will continue to deliver similar results‐ the list of high‐grade targets ready to be drilled include Tomato, William and Mauro as well as potential resource growth at Dona Maria and Querosene'.
The Juruena Project (> 400km2 of contiguous tenements, 100% Crusader owned) is located in Central Brazil on the southern fringe of the Amazon basin. Situated on the western end of the prospective Juruena‐Alta Floresta Gold Belt (estimated to have produced ~7Moz), Juruena has been worked extensively by artisanal miners (garimpeiros) since the 1980s, producing an estimated 500koz (see Figure 1).
Crusader's first drilling program at Juruena has successfully led to the estimation of maiden resources for three prospects within the Juruena Project‐ Querosene, Dona Maria and Crentes. A full table of the resources at different cutoffs is given below.
Prospect Name | Resource Category | Lower cut‐off | Metric Tonnes | Au (g/t) | Ounces |
Dona Maria Querosene | Inferred Inferred | 2.5 g/t 2.5 g/t | 196,300 263,500 | 11.8 12.3 | 74,700 104,100 |
Sub‐total high‐grade ounces | 459,800 | 12.1 | 178,800 | ||
Crentes | Inferred | 1.0 g/t | 846,450 | 2.0 | 55,100 |
Total Combined Inferred Resources | 1,306,250 | 5.6 | 233,900 | ||
The Querosene prospect is located on the eastern end of the Juruena project area and was the first prospect targeted in the Crusader drilling program due to consistent high‐grade drilling results from previous explorers. Results from Crusader's 2014/15 drill campaign confirmed and expanded on these results (including 2m @ 32.97 g/t gold from 84m in hole QR‐20 and 3m @ 26.35 g/t gold from 73m in hole QR‐03) and their continuity has allowed independent consultants to estimate a JORC compliant mineral resource of 263,500t at 12.3 g/t for 104,100oz Au.
Mineralisation is divided into 4 main zones, with the majority of the higher grades and ounces contained in the SE and Main zones. Mineralisation at Querosene is open to the South and at depth, with several areas on the main zone and SE zone presenting obvious drilling targets which could have immediate and significant impact (see figure 2).
The mineralisation is associated with narrow shear zones, quartz vein and minor sulphides. Mineralisation intercepts (downhole) normally vary between 1‐4m in width (See figure 3), with narrow, non‐magnetic dolerite dykes often associated.
Results for metallurgical testing on samples from the Querosene prospect indicate recoveries of > 90% for both gold and silver using standard leaching (see ASX release 1 July 2015). Results also indicate the gold and silver are free milling and well distributed within the ore.
Dona Maria is located adjacent to the Crentes prospect, approximately 1 kilometre along the Juruena fault zone from Querosene. Mineralisation at Dona Maria appears to 'splay away' from the main Crentes trend (WNW) toward the NNW (see figure 4). There is a broad, relatively shallow garimpo working over the mineralised trend and historical intercepts indicate both very high‐grade narrower intercepts and broad, moderate grade disseminated intervals.
Results from Crusader's 2014/15 drill campaign have confirmed there is a very high grade zone within the Dona Maria prospect with results including; 12m @ 35.13 g/t Au from 99m in MR‐10, including 4m @ 75.07 g/t Au from 99m and 3.38m @ 47.97 g/t Au from 183.62m in MD‐01, including 1.87m @ 84.50 g/t Au from 183.62m and their continuity has allowed independent consultants to estimate a JORC compliant mineral resource of 196,300t @ 11.8 g/t for 74,700oz Au.
Mineralisation at Dona Maria is oriented NNW and appears to be a 'splay' away from the WNW trending Crentes fault zone (coincident with the main Juruena fault zone). The mineralised zone is associated with sulphides within a sheared quartz rich zone, associated with dolerite dykes (see figures 5 & 6).
Mineralisation at Crentes appears to be associated with sheeted quartz and sulphide veins (pyrite, +/‐ chalcopyrite) which are exposed in a shallow garimpo working. The garimpo pit is approximately 400m long (oriented WNW‐ see figure 5 & 7) and up to 40m wide. The mineralised trend is associated with the Juruena fault zone, a regionally extensive feature which is generally unmineralised and along strike from the Querosene prospect.
Crentes is a lower grade prospect than Querosene or Dona Maria, however it has the advantage of being broad, near surface and is therefore considered a potentially open‐pittable target.
Crusader has engaged with experienced mining consultancy Global Resource Engineering (GRE) to assist with conceptual mine and project planning. GRE offers a full range of consulting services from process design to mine planning, studies, water management and project optimisation. GRE have extensive experience in Brazil and bring a low overhead approach to the project team.
As per ASX Listing Rule 5.8 and the 2012 JORC reporting guidelines, a summary of the material information used to estimate the Mineral Resource is detailed below (for more detail please refer to Appendix 1 and Sections 1 to 3 included below in Appendix 2).
The Juruena mineralisation is considered to have resulted from magmatic activity (intrusions and fluids) which could be sourced from a gold porphyry system or intrusive‐related gold system, whilst still containing characteristics commonly associated with epithermal systems. The mineralisation is hosted by Paleoproterozoic volcanic and granitoid rocks of varying composition. The host rocks are found within the Juruena‐Rondonia block of the Amazon Craton.
The Querosene and Dona Maria resources are constrained with discrete, narrow, steeply dipping high grade gold mineralised zones associated with alteration and mafic dykes. True thickness for these is typically between 1m to 3m. The Crentes resource forms a broader (5m to 35m wide), typically lower grade zone over a 600m strike length trending west‐north‐west.
Primarily targeting the Querosene, Dona Maria and Crentes zones, Crusader completed 73 RC drill‐holes in 2014 and 2015 (7,749.50m) using a nominal 5 ½ inch face sampling hammer. In early 2015 Crusader also completed 11 diamond drill‐holes (1,863.81m) of NQ2 diameter with HQ pre‐collars. Over the wider Juruena project area, Lago Dourado Minerals Ltd ('Lago') completed 90 RC drill‐holes (6,618m) and 70 diamond drill‐holes (22,497.81m) between 2010 and 2013. Between 1996 and 1997 by Consolidated Madison Holdings Ltd ('Madison') completed 91 diamond drill‐holes (15,821.89m).
Sections are generally spaced 25m to 50m with hole directions varying depending on the orientation of the targeted mineralised zone.
Sample information used in resource estimation was derived from both RC and diamond core drilling. The drill samples and core have been geologically logged in detail and sampled for lab analysis in line with industry standards.
SGS were used by Crusader for all analyses. Acme in Santiago, Chile were used for fire assays for the Lago samples, whilst Acme in Vancouver, Canada were used for multi‐elemental analyses. The samples were assayed for Au by Fire Assay of 50g aliquots followed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), a technique designed to report total gold. In addition all Lago samples were analysed for a suite of 34 elements with an aqua regia digest and ICP‐MS finish. Quality Control procedures were adopted by both Lago and Crusader including field duplicates, blanks and standards. No geophysical tools were used to determine any element concentrations used in the resource estimate.
For Dona Maria and Querosene, hard boundary envelopes have been wireframed to geological (mafic dyke) and structural/alteration boundaries which also typically coincide with high gold grade. For Crentes, the zone has been wireframes to a broad, low grade, approximately 0.2 ppm Au mineralised zone for use for a Multiple Indicator Kriging (MIK) modelling method.
For Querosene and Dona Maria, grade estimation by Inverse Distance Squared (ID2), Ordinary Kriging (OK) and accumulation methods was completed using Geovia Surpac™ software for gold. For Crentes, Multiple Indicator Kriging (MIK) was used. At Dona Maria and Crentes, the block model was constructed with parent blocks of 10m (E) by 10m (N) by 10m (RL) and at Querosene, with parent blocks of 4m (E) by 20m (N) by 20m (RL). Both have been sub‐celled at the domain boundaries for accurate domain volume representation. Estimation parameters were based on the variogram models, data geometry and kriging estimation statistics. Top‐cuts were decided by completing an outlier analysis using a combination of methods including grade histograms, log probability plots and other statistical tools. Based on this statistical analysis of the data population, top‐cuts of 60ppm Au were applied to Querosene and Dona Maria and 15ppm to Crentes.
The Mineral Resource has been classified on the basis of confidence in the geological model, continuity of mineralised zones, drilling density, confidence in the underlying database and the available bulk density information. The Juruena Mineral Resource has been classified entirely as Inferred according to JORC 2012.
Dona Maria and Querosene have been identified as potential underground mining zones with their narrow, steeply dipping and high grade natures. Crentes has been identified as a potential open‐pit zone with broad lower grade mineralisation close to surface.
A representative composite mineralised sample from Querosene has been tested by an independent laboratory and gold recovered using a variety of techniques, including cyanide leaching. Composite samples from mineralisation at both Crentes and Dona Maria have been submitted for testwork, however results are not yet available.
Mr. Rob Smakman Mr. Paul Stephen
Managing Director, Brazil Executive Director, Australia
Office (Brazil): +55 31 2515 0740 Office (Aus): +61 8 9320 7500 Email: rob@crusaderdobrasil.com Email: paul@crusaderresources.com
About Crusader
Crusader Resources Limited (ASX:CAS) is a minerals exploration and mining company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its major focus is Brazil; a country Crusader believes is vastly underexplored and which offers high potential for the discovery of world class mineral deposits.
Crusader has three key assets:
Posse Iron Ore
The Posse Iron Ore Mine is located 30km from Belo Horizonte, a city acknowledged as the mining capital of Brazil and the capital of Minas Gerais state. The project had an indicated and inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 36Mt @ 43.5% Fe when mining began in March 2013. Posse is currently selling DSO into the domestic market. With an experienced mining workforce amongst a population of over 2.5 million people, the infrastructure and access to the domestic steel market around the Posse Project is excellent.
Borborema Gold
The Borborema Gold Project is in the Seridó area of the Borborema province in north‐eastern Brazil. It is 100% owned by Crusader and consists of three mining leases covering a total area of 29 km² including freehold title over the main prospect area.
The Borborema Gold Project benefits from a favourable taxation regime, existing on‐site facilities and excellent infrastructure such as buildings, grid power, water, sealed roads and is close to major cities and regional centres. The project's Ore Reserve includes Proven and Probable Ore Reserves of 1.61Moz of mineable gold from 42.4Mt @ 1.18g/t (0.4 & 0.5g/t cut‐offs for oxide & fresh).
The measured, indicated and inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 2.43Moz @ 1.10 g/t gold, remains open in all directions.
Juruena Gold
The Juruena Gold Project is located in the highly prospective Juruena‐Alta Floresta Gold Belt, which stretches east‐west for >400km and has historically produced more than 7Moz of gold from 40 known gold deposits.
The Juruena Project has been worked extensively by artisanal miners (garimpeiros) since the 1980s, producing ~500koz in that time. Historically there is a database of more than 30,000 meters of drilling and extensive geological data.
Competent Person Statement
The information in this report that relates to Juruena Gold Project exploration results, Posse Iron Ore Project exploration results and Borborema Gold Project exploration results released after 1 December 2013, is based on information compiled or reviewed by Mr. Robert Smakman who is a full time employee of the company and is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources at the Juruena Gold Project is based on information compiled or reviewed by Mr. Lauritz Barnes and Mr. Aidan Platel who are independent consultants to the company and Members of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Each of Mr. Smakman, Mr. Barnes and Mr. Platel have sufficient experience that is relevant to the type of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr. Smakman, Mr. Barnes and Mr. Platel consent to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.
The information in this report that relates to:
Borborema Gold Project and Posse Iron Ore Project Exploration Results released prior to 1 December 2013 is based on information compiled or reviewed by Mr. Robert Smakman who is a full time employee of the company;
Borborema Gold Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Mr. Lauritz Barnes and Mr. Brett Gossage, independent consultants to the company;
Borborema Gold Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Mr. Linton Kirk, independent consultant to the company;
Posse Fe Mineral Resources is based on and accurately reflects, information compiled by Mr. Bernardo Viana who was a full time employee of Coffey Mining Pty Ltd,
and who are all Members of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Rob Smakman and Linton Kirk being Fellows), and who all have sufficient experience that is relevant to the type of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Each of Mr. Smakman, Mr. Barnes, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Viana, and Mr. Gossage consent to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.
The information was prepared and disclosed under the JORC Code 2004. It has not been updated since to comply with JORC Code 2012 on the
basis that the information has not materially changed since it was last reported.
Hole ID | Hole Type | Easting | Northing | RL | Max. Depth (m) | Dip | Azimuth | Domain | mFrom | Downhole (m) | True Thickness (M) | Au ppm |
JRND018 | DD | 329668.9 | 8989470.6 | 244.2 | 170.0 | ‐49.2 | 78.3 | 3 | 136 | 3 | 2.64 | 20.3 |
8 | 65 | 4 | 3.77 | 32.5 | ||||||||
JRND020 | DD | 329622.3 | 8989513.9 | 245.0 | 400.0 | ‐50.3 | 23.6 | 8 | 122 | 1 | 0.68 | 62.2 |
JRND022 | DD | 329570.2 | 8989637.3 | 241.5 | 340.0 | ‐49.4 | 25.0 | 8 | 69 | 2 | 1.5 | 47.1 |
JRND023 | DD | 329483.7 | 8989693.2 | 239.6 | 340.0 | ‐50.0 | 25.0 | 6 | 30 | 2 | 1.85 | 0.1 |
JRND027 | DD | 329391.0 | 8989708.9 | 233.0 | 280.0 | ‐49.9 | 23.3 | 6 | 57 | 1 | 0.95 | 30.7 |
7 | 66 | 1 | 1 | 22.6 | ||||||||
JRND028 | DD | 329607.6 | 8989541.0 | 244.0 | 301.4 | ‐49.5 | 82.3 | 8 | 104 | 1 | 0.97 | 4.3 |
JRNRC037 | RC | 329783.0 | 8989378.1 | 244.3 | 60.0 | ‐55.0 | 45.0 | 3 | 53 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
QD‐02/2015 | DD | 329619.0 | 8989629.0 | 244.5 | 185.3 | ‐72.0 | 90.0 | 8 | 84 | 1 | 0.7 | 5.2 |
QD‐05/2015 | DD | 329647.6 | 8989476.9 | 244.4 | 200.5 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 3 | 179.05 | 0.25 | 0.21 | 4.8 |
8 | 88.46 | 1.03 | 0.94 | 58.2 | ||||||||
QD‐06/2015 | DD | 329535.5 | 8989677.3 | 245.3 | 177.7 | ‐68.0 | 25.0 | 8 | 70.99 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
QD‐07/2015 | DD | 329646.5 | 8989477.5 | 244.4 | 191.3 | ‐63.0 | 90.0 | 8 | 97.41 | 1.3 | 1.06 | 0.9 |
QR‐01/2014 | RC | 329730.0 | 8989374.9 | 245.8 | 120.0 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 3 | 113 | 1 | 0.85 | 5.3 |
QR‐03/2014 | RC | 329649.5 | 8989523.7 | 244.8 | 100.0 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 8 | 73 | 3 | 2.67 | 26.4 |
QR‐07/2014 | RC | 329472.9 | 8989671.5 | 236.6 | 150.0 | ‐55.0 | 25.0 | 6 | 52 | 2 | 1.91 | 12.1 |
QR‐10/2014 | RC | 329391.5 | 8989707.7 | 232.4 | 163.0 | ‐66.0 | 25.0 | 6 | 64 | 4 | 3.15 | 0.5 |
7 | 74 | 2 | 1.4 | 1.4 | ||||||||
QR‐12/2014 | RC | 329424.6 | 8989679.9 | 234.0 | 157.0 | ‐68.0 | 25.0 | 6 | 66 | 2 | 1.52 | 1.3 |
QR‐13/2014 | RC | 329479.1 | 8989674.7 | 237.2 | 160.0 | ‐64.0 | 25.0 | 6 | 51 | 1 | 0.83 | 7.0 |
QR‐15/2014 | RC | 329398.2 | 8989716.6 | 233.5 | 70.0 | ‐68.0 | 25.0 | 6 | 56 | 1.5 | 1.22 | 5.6 |
7 | 60 | 1 | 0.88 | 1.9 | ||||||||
QR‐16/2014 | RC | 329654.4 | 8989425.0 | 245.1 | 160.0 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 3 | 157 | 1 | 0.91 | 4.1 |
QR‐20/2015 | RC | 329623.4 | 8989573.8 | 244.2 | 120.0 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 8 | 82 | 4 | 3.4 | 16.9 |
QR‐21/2015 | RC | 329621.9 | 8989628.3 | 244.7 | 107.0 | ‐72.0 | 90.0 | 8 | 84 | 1.5 | 0.94 | 23.7 |
QR‐22/2015 | RC | 329621.8 | 8989631.3 | 244.6 | 122.5 | ‐76.0 | 25.0 | 8 | 76 | 2 | 0.78 | 0.1 |
QR‐24/2015 | RC | 329750.7 | 8989375.7 | 244.7 | 96.0 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 3 | 87 | 1 | 0.85 | 5.5 |
QR‐25/2015 | RC | 329771.3 | 8989324.2 | 244.1 | 90.0 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 3 | 86 | 1 | 0.89 | 2.8 |
QR‐27/2015 | RC | 329820.9 | 8989425.6 | 241.0 | 84.0 | ‐55.0 | 270.0 | 3 | 16 | 8 | 0.47 | 0.6 |
QR‐28/2015 | RC | 329808.1 | 8989325.4 | 243.5 | 54.0 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 3 | 48 | 2 | 1.78 | 9.6 |
QR‐29/2015 | RC | 329828.9 | 8989275.3 | 242.7 | 75.0 | ‐55.0 | 90.0 | 3 | 30 | 1 | 0.89 | 2.2 |
QR‐30/2015 | RC | 329777.8 | 8989530.7 | 239.6 | 110.0 | ‐60.0 | 270.0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0.38 | 1.8 |
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