Resource World Magazine

F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 5 www.resourceworld.com 33 a u s t r a l i a n u p d at e G r e g B a r n s heron resources reports high grades at Woodlawn T he Hume Highway, the road between Sydney and Australia's capital city Canberra, is not known for points of interest. But if you were to turn off the Hume Highway about 70 km before Canberra you would discover a hive of activity at the Woodlawn volcanogenic mas- sive sulphide project being developed by heron resources [HER-TSX; HRR-ASX]. The Woodlawn Project was in produc- tion between 1978 and 1998 (it produced 13.8 Mt grading 9.1% Zn, 3.6% Pb, 1.6% Cu, 74 g/t Ag, 0.5 g/t Au). Heron is focusing on a high-grade, underground and advanced tailings project. Heron's merger with TriAusmin, in 2014, saw the Woodlawn Project become the key focus of the former company. The Woodlawn underground project (WUP) currently has total resources (mea- sured, indicated, inferred) of 10.1Mt of 10.2% Zn, 4.0% Pb, 1.8% Cu, 84 g/t Ag, 0.6g/t Au. The tailings retreatment project (WRP) has reserves of 11.2 Mt of 2.2 Zn, 1.3% Pb, 0.5% Cu, 31 g/t Ag, 0.3 g/t Au. On December 22, 2014, Heron Resources announced a number of high-grade assay results for several massive sulphide inter- cepts including 5.6 m of 13.3% Zn, 0.7% Cu, 5.4% Pb, 1.2 g/t Au, 26 g/t Ag; and 4.0m of 4.8% Zn, 0.5% Cu, 0.2% Pb, 14 g/t Ag from 679 m. The results also included new significant massive sulphide intercepts of 6.0m from 348 m; 4.8 m massive sulphides from 135 m and 6.0 m massive sulphides from 76 m. The Woodlawn Project is close to infra- structure with two major ports less than 250 km away and rail access is available. Power is also abundant with gas, electricity and wind power access close to the project. The resource extension drilling cam- paign of 2014 will continue in 2015 and Heron Resources Managing Director, Wayne Taylor, is optimistic about next year. Taylor told Resource World, "key milestones for the company in 2015, on the Woodlawn Project, include finalizing the 2014 drilling program (early 2015), completion of the Woodlawn Underground Project Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in the first half of 2015 and leveraging this work to rapidly prog- ress the BFS on the combined development of the underground and tailings projects at Woodlawn." New South Wales has not been an easy place for miners and other resource com- panies to do business in recent years with community campaigns rallying against projects, particularly in areas where farm- ing and tourism are dominant. But the Woodlawn Project is fully permitted within the NSW legislative framework. This permitting approval was received in July 2013 and covers both the tailings and underground projects. Taylor adds that in "attaining these approvals the company was required to engage with the community and the approval process that included a forum for the community to comment on the proposed development scope and program. Heron has been partic- ularly pleased with the level of community support that it has received." The main focus of the Woodlawn Project will be zinc production and while some base metals like copper are struggling in terms of price, at the moment, zinc has momentum due to inventory rundowns and some major mines closures. n MARATHON GOLD REPORTS ENCOURAGING NEwFOUNDLAND DRILL RESULTS Philip Walford, President & CEO of Marathon Gold corp. [MOZ-TSX], has released positive results from the remaining 2014 drill holes (MA-14-023 to MA-14-025) in the Marathon Zone at the 100%-owned, road-accessible, Valentine Lake gold project 55km south of Buchans, Newfoundland. The Marathon Zone is 7 km northeast along strike from Marathon's Leprechaun gold deposit and 5 km southwest along strike from its Victory gold deposit which host a combined 816,000 oz gold measured and indicated. Mineralization is character- ized by multiple, shallow, southwest-dipping gold-bearing veins typical of the Valentine Lake gold camp. Drill holes MA-14-023 to MA-14-025, located in the southwestern portion of the growing Marathon Zone, inter- sected wide intervals of gold mineralization with narrower high-grade ore shoots. The 2014 drilling, totaling 4,133 metres in 25 drill holes, has outlined a gold mineralized cor- ridor with a strike length of over 200 metres and true widths ranging from 50 to 100 metres, plus a vertical depth of more than 200 metres. Mineralization is open along strike and to depth. Highlights included step-out drill hole MA-14-024 with 2.11 g/t gold over 27.5 metres including 3.72 g/t gold over 1.0 metre, 10.99 g/t gold over 0.5 metres, and 10.43 g/t gold over 0.5 metres, confirming the southwestern continuation of the mineralized corridor and demonstrating that this gold-rich zone is open along strike. The winter 2015 drilling campaign, now under way, will focus on developing new near-surface open-pit resources at the Marathon Zone with possible testing of new mineraliza- tion found in late 2014 at the Triangle and Narrows areas that are along strike northeast of the Marathon Zone. n

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