Lara Options Iron And Copper-Gold Targets In Carajás District Of Brazil
Lara Exploration ("Lara" or the "Company") (LRA-TSX.V) is pleased to report that it has signed an Option Agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Curionópolis Property, near the town of Curionópolis in the highly prolific Carajás District of northern Brazil.
Description of Property
The 8,569 hectare property covers a ridge of banded to massive iron formations and several areas of artisanal workings on Iron Oxide Copper Gold ("IOCG") style veining. Limited grab sampling during the Company's due diligence work returned grades as high as 8.4 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold and 31.5 % copper from the IOCG veins and between 29.7% and 66.1% iron from the iron formations.
The central part of the Curionópolis Property covers low angle bedded iron formations that are a mixture of massive hematite-rich material and silica-hematite banded iron formations that extend for several kilometres and rising over 100m above the surrounding topography. Nine check samples were collected of massive and banded material from different parts of the ridge.
The southern portion of the Curionópolis Property, topographically separate from, and stratigraphically below, the ridge of iron formations is host to at least eight roughly north-south oriented copper vein systems ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 metres thick within wider 3.0 to 4.0 meter zones of carbonate alteration. The known vein systems are approximately 50 meters apart and exposed at surface, hosted by a NNW-SSE oriented belt of mafic rocks. The veins are high-angle and oriented around north to south, varying 20-30 degrees both sides of north and are likely to merge in places. The mineralization appears to be IOCG-type, similar to that seen in several copper (gold) deposits in the district. Twenty-six check samples were collected from different artisanal workings during due diligence, with twenty-two returning greater than 1% copper and eight returning greater than 1 g/t gold.
Terms of the Option
Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Lara has the option to acquire 100% of the Curionópolis Property from Redrock Exploration (BVI) Ltd. ("Redrock") and its Brazilian subsidiaries for US$ 630,000 in cash payments and US$2.7 million in exploration expenditures staged over three years and royalties. The royalties comprise a 50% net profits interest ("NPI") on income derived from the sale of iron or iron mining rights and a 2% net smelter return royalty ("NSR") on any other metals produced. Lara has the option to acquire half of the NSR (i.e. 1%) for US$ 1.5 million in cash. The option is subject to publication of the exploration licence covering the property and regulatory approval.
The Carajás District
The Carajás District is one of Brazil's most prolific mining districts. A major producer of high-grade iron ore has reported producing 100 million tonnes of iron ore from the Carajás District in 2007.
The Carajás District is also an emerging IOCG copper province of considerable importance with five IOCG deposits discovered to date -- Sossego, Salobo, Alemão, Km-118 and Cristalino. Sossego is currently producing approximately 140,000 tonnes per year of copper in concentrates while Km-118 is expected to start production of copper metal in 2009 and Salobo is slated to start producing in 2010.
Disclosure of Related Party Interests
Redrock and its Brazilian subsidiaries are companies wholly-owned and controlled by Lara's President, Miles Thompson, and Helio Ikeda, an employee of Lara. Their ownership of the Curionópolis Property is the result of winning a tender process with the Brazilian Department of Mines, which was initiated in 2001.
Quality Control
Michael Bennell, Lara's Vice President Exploration and a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and is responsible for the preparation and verification of the technical information in this release.
About Lara
Lara is a well-funded junior exploration company projects in Brazil and Peru. Lara's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "LRA".
For further information on Lara Exploration Ltd. please consult our website www.laraexploration.com or contact: Miles Thompson, President or Kim Casswell, Corporate Secretary at (604) 669-8777.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.