Quaterra Acquires Cave Peak Molybdenum Prospect in Texas

Tag : niobium metal

The Company initially acquired rights to the property through alease-option agreement with the holders of two prospecting permits.The agreement allows Quaterra to purchase their entire interest bymaking staged payments totalling US$600,000 over a five yearperiod. Additionally, an agreement to use the Marble mine road foraccess has been finalized with the surface owners of the propertybetween the highway and the prospect.
The Company's work program for the remainder of 2008 will includepossible additional land acquisition, mapping, sampling, reloggingof available drill core and preparation of an exploration plan.Drilling is tentatively scheduled for Q1 2009.
HISTORIC INFORMATION
All of the information in this release comes from published andprivate reports thought to be reliable and accurate. None of thedata comes from Quaterra's own investigations and the companywarrants neither the accuracy nor completeness of the informationpresented in this release.
The Cave Peak prospect is located about two miles west of Highway54 in the Sierra Diablo Mountains of west Texas, about 100 mileseast of El Paso and 35 miles north of Van Horn. Union CarbideCorporation began a core drilling program in 1965 and completedover 40,000 feet of diamond drilling in 26 holes before selling theproperty to Draco Mines in 1975. Draco Mines and related companiesdrilled a few more holes and performed metallurgical test work onthe oxidized molybdenum mineralization before relinquishing theproperty in 2001. All drilling was completed prior to 1980.
The only published description of the geology and mineralization atCave Peak was written by James E. Sharpe in 1979 (Econ. Geol v.74,p. 517-534). Three rhyolite breccia pipes of Tertiary age, withcores of partially brecciated igneous rock, crop out in theprospect area along a north-south line about a mile long andintrude a flat-lying sequence of Paleozoic limestone, sandstone andshale. The Main pipe is the largest and northernmost of the threepipes, with a diameter of 2,500 feet. About two-thirds of the pipeis on Quaterra's Mining Lease, with the remainder extending ontocontiguous ground to the north. Efforts to acquire this ground areongoing, but when or if acquisition will occur is uncertain.
Union Carbide's core drilling program identified a large stockworkmolybdenum system in the Main pipe, the extent and configuration ofwhich has not yet been fully defined. The upper mineralized zone isexposed at surface and is variably oxidized to depths of up to 1000feet. The table below shows the mineralized intervals from tenholes that tested the Main pipe on Quaterra ground. Holes collaredto the north and east in areas outside the Company's Mining Leaseare not included. Of particular interest are holes CP-7, CP-26,B-25 and B-30 drilled in the southwest quadrant of the pipe, all ofwhich intersected thick intervals of mineralization. Hole B-30contains 425 feet of 0.77% molybdenum beginning at a depth of 145feet.
Union Carbide calculated an historic indicated and inferred reserveof 19.36 million tons of 0.225% Mo at a cut-off of 0.10% Mo fromsurface to a depth of 1,530 feet which coincides with the 3000 footelevation (Coryell, 1966, unpublished company report). Coryell'sreport was based on about 16,000 feet of core drilling. His workwas done carefully and conservatively and in accordance with bestpractices of major mining companies at that time. He used 200 footvertical sections in his calculations, with each drill interceptweighted according to the percentage of the block penetrated. Anestimated tonnage factor of 12 cubic feet per ton was used in thecalculations. His use of the terms indicated and inferred reservesare not in accordance with NI 43-101 because no studies had beencompleted at that time to demonstrate the economic viability of thedeposit.
A later resource estimate by Union Carbide in 1970 (Younger,unpublished company report) incorporating additional drill resultsshows an indicated reserve of 18.6 million tons of 0.18% Mo at a0.1% cut-off, to an elevation of 2800 feet; (31 million tons of0.13% Mo at a 0.06 Mo cut-off). Younger employed a polygonal blockmethod using plan maps at 100 foot intervals throughout thevertical extent of the deposit to calculate tonnages. This workalso is not in compliance with NI 43-101 because the no studies hadbeen completed at that time to demonstrate the economic viabilityof the deposit. Younger's work is considered reliable and wascompleted using the geologic interpretation of James E. Sharpe.Approximately 40% of this tonnage is listed as oxide and 60% assulfide. Up to 40% of this tonnage occurs off the Company's land tothe north. Sampling shows that the area also contains significantamounts of copper, tungsten, silver, beryllium and niobium, one ormore of which might represent a by-product credit.
These drill hole intercepts and tonnage estimates by Coryell andYounger of Union Carbide Corporation were deemed sufficientlyrelevant and reliable by Quaterra to initiate land acquisition.
Excellent potential exists to find additional mineralization innearby targets. The Central pipe, located 400 feet south of theMain pipe, is 800 feet in diameter; the South pipe, 1,200 feetsouth of the Central pipe, is 550 feet in diameter. Both of thesepipes are entirely within Quaterra's lease. Surface sampling hasidentified anomalous base metal values in both pipes that mayrepresent high level haloes around a blind molybdenum ore shell.One hole drilled by Draco in the Central pipe intersectedsignificant lead-zinc-silver-manganese over an interval of 500 feetthat may signal molybdenum mineralization below.
Dr. Thomas Patton, President and CEO, is the qualified personresponsible for this news release. Please note, neither Quaterranor the qualified person has done sufficient work to classify thehistorical estimate as a current mineral resource as defined bysection 1.2 of NI 43-101. The issuer is not treating the historicalestimate as current mineral resources and the historical estimatesshould not be relied upon.
Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:QTA)(AMEX:QMM) is a juniorexploration company focused on making significant mineraldiscoveries in North America. The Company uses in-house expertiseand its extensive network of consultants, prospectors and industrycontacts to identify, acquire and evaluate prospects inmining-friendly jurisdictions with the potential to host large basemetal, precious metal or uranium deposits. The company's preferenceis to acquire a 100% interest in properties on reasonable terms andmaintain this interest through initial evaluation.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Thomas Patton, President and CEO, Quaterra Resources Inc.
Some statements contained in this news release are forward-lookingstatements within the safe harbor of the Private SecuritiesLitigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements generally areidentified by words such as the Company "believes", "expects", andsimilar language, or convey estimates and statements that describethe Company's future plans, objectives or goals. Sinceforward-looking statements are based on assumptions and addressfuture events and conditions, by their very nature they involveinherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regardingrisks and uncertainties which may cause results to differmaterially from those projected in forward-looking statements, areincluded in filings by the Company with securities regulatoryauthorities. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance onforward-looking statements, which speak only as of the datethereof. The Company does not undertake to update anyforward-looking statement that may be made from time to time exceptin accordance with applicable securities laws.References may bemade in press releases to historic mineral resource estimates. Noneof these are NI 43-101 compliant and a qualified person has notdone sufficient work to classify these historic estimates as acurrent mineral resource. They should not be relied upon andQuaterra does not treat them as current mineral resources.
Expanded information on the Company's projects is described on ourwebsite at www.quaterraresources.com.
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