VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/24/13 -- Tigray Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TIG) ("Tigray" or the "Company") provides an update on exploration activities at its Harvest and Adyabo projects in northern Ethiopia.
Updated surface targets include VTEM09 at Harvest and Mato Bula and Da Tambuk at Adyabo. Da Tambuk is an emerging gold target four kilometres northeast of Mato Bula. The proposed program includes 1,750 metres of drilling in nine diamond drill holes, with diamond drilling commencing in the near future. A diamond drill rig has been contracted and is currently being mobilized to site for testing advanced targets at both Harvest and Adyabo, including VTEM09 and Mato Bula.
VTEM09
Assays from continuous channel sampling of 40-metre spaced trenches across the VTEM09 airborne electromagnetic (EM) anomaly on the Harvest project have yielded the following gold bearing intercepts, from northeast to southwest:
-- Trench 02(1) - 10 metres at 3.85 grams per tonne gold, 26 grams per tonne silver, 0.84% copper and 0.67% lead, including 5 metres at 7.27 grams per tonne gold, 45 grams per tonne silver, 0.65% copper and 1.14% lead. This intercept is within a broad copper-rich zone averaging 74.85 metres at 0.43% copper.-- Trench 03(1) - 2 metres at 9.58 grams per tonne gold, 161 grams per tonne silver, 0.21% copper and 0.78% lead
(1) True thickness estimated to be 70-80% of stated thickness.
The VTEM09 airborne EM anomaly is located on the Terakimti concession approximately five kilometres east-northeast of Terakimti, and comprises a strong bedrock conductor over 200 metres in strike length hosting several malachite-rich gossan outcrops (refer to Tigray's news release dated October 16, 2012). Four trenches (up to 1.5 metres deep and 103 metres long) were completed over 160 metres of strike length in late 2012. Additional trench results await re-assay confirmation. Several sections of diamond drill holes have been planned to test the VTEM anomaly and gold-bearing gossans.
MATO BULA
Previous grab and channel sampling in the artisanal bedrock workings at Mato Bula on the Adyabo project have defined a gold target approximately 350 metres long within the overall target zone of 2.1 kilometre strike length (refer to Tigray's news release dated October 16, 2012), with the main bedrock working focused on an interpreted high-grade gold zone called the Central Lode. A total of 12 exploration trenches 1.0 to 1.5 metres deep were completed in August-September 2012 for a total of 654 metres to test along strike and stratigraphically above and below the Central Lode of the main workings in areas of poor outcrop. Three gold-bearing lode horizons have now been identified over 90 metres in width, including the Central Lode (main gold workings are focused on this), the Upper Lode, which is 20 to 33 metres west of the Central Lode, and the Lower Lode, which is 50 metres east of the main workings.
Results include, from southwest to northeast:
-- Trench 03(2) - 10 metres at 1.68 grams per tonne gold from the Upper Lode and 8 metres at 1.23 grams per tonne gold from the Central Lode (110 metres west-southwest of the main gold workings);-- Trench 06(2) - 20 metres at 0.66 grams per tonne gold from the Upper Lode and 11 metres at 1.19 grams per tonne gold from the Central Lode (west-southwest end of main gold workings);-- Trench 02(2) - 10 metres at 1.94 grams per tonne gold (Upper Lode) 27 metres west of the main stope in the Central Lode;-- Trench 01(2) - 1 metre at 2.81 grams per tonne gold (edge of Central Lode open into stopes to east);-- Trench 07(2) - 51 metres east of Central Lode - 11 metres at 3.31 grams per tonne gold in the Lower Lode, and-- Trench 12(2) - 7 metres at 0.7 grams per tonne gold in Lower Lode.
