Vancouver, British Columbia, December 14, 2009 (TSX Venture: EMX) - Eurasian Minerals Inc. (the “Company” or “EMX”) is pleased to provide a summary of 2009 exploration results from the Gezart gold property in Kyrgyzstan. This year’s results at Gezart’s Orgatash gold prospect include further increases in the size of the intrusion-hosted gold zone and bulk sample assays that suggest upside grade potential for previously reported drill and trench sample results. At the namesake Gezart prospect, where EMX discovered Orgatash-like mineralization last year, additional work has built on last year’s discovery, and established multiple zones of gold mineralization at surface.
Gezart Property Overview. The Gezart license occurs in the Kyrgyz Republic’s southern Tien Shan gold belt. Multiple styles of gold mineralization are developed over an extensive area within the 164 square kilometer license, including reduced granitoid-hosted, sediment-hosted, and skarn style mineralization. The areas of mineralization are aligned along the regional scale, northeast-trending Abshir structural zone. EMX first identified intrusion-hosted, gold-bearing quartz vein and stockwork mineralization at the Orgatash prospect in 2006; and this prospective bulk tonnage target type has been the focus of subsequent exploration through the 2009 field season.
Orgatash Prospect. This year’s work at Orgatash focused on expanding the mineralized zone, bulk sampling, and metallurgical testing. EMX’s previous trenching returned over 4000 meters of samples at a 0.3 g/t gold cutoff that defined a core gold mineralized zone with surface dimensions of 480 by 400 meters. All eleven EMX core holes, drilled in 2007-8, intersected significant (> 3 m at a 0.3 g/t Au cutoff), near-surface gold mineralization to depths of 50-100 meters. The significant drill intercepts total 387.7 meters, or 25.8%, of the 1501 total drilled meters, and average 1.17 g/t gold. Please see map accompanying this news release.
Gold Zone Expansion. The 2009 trench and profile chip channel and channel sampling, totaling 575 samples from 1660 line meters of sampling, continued to expand the surface footprint of the Orgatash gold zone. The mineralized footprint was extended a further 120 meters south, with select intercepts of 51.6 meters averaging 0.87 g/t gold (including 23.6 m @ 1.26 g/t Au), six meters averaging 1.37 g/t gold, 6 meters averaging 1.07 g/t gold, and 17 meters averaging 0.46 g/t gold. The zone was also extended to the northeast, with select intercepts of 12 meters averaging 3.32 g/t gold, 6 meters averaging 0.96 g/t gold, and 5 meters averaging 1.86 g/t gold. The Orgatash gold zone remains open for further extension, particularly to the east and south.
Bulk Sampling Program. This year’s bulk sampling program was designed to confirm the grades and thicknesses of the gold zone delineated from select 2007-8 drill holes. The bulk samples were taken from two exploration shafts, each measuring 1.0 by 1.25 meters at surface, and excavated to depths of 10 meters. The shaft locations were situated adjacent to vertical core holes ODDH-2 and ODDH-6. Two one-meter channel samples (one vertical and one horizontal) were taken from all four sides of the shaft at approximately one meter depth intervals. The samples were crushed, composited and analyzed by one kilogram screen fire assay (SFA), a technique designed for assaying samples with coarse gold. The resulting SFA analyses returned higher gold grades over similar mineralized drill intervals: a) hole ODDH-2, from 1.5-10 meters averaged 1.57 g/t gold, with the corresponding bulk sample interval averaging 1.66 g/t gold (5% higher), and b) hole ODDH-6 averaged 1.24 g/t gold, with the corresponding bulk sample interval returning 1.38 g/t gold (11% higher). The lower results from conventional fire assay are interpreted to be due to the observed occurrence of coarse, visible gold at Orgatash; a sampling issue that screen fire assays are designed to address. As a result, the bulk sample SFA assays suggest that the drill core conventional fire assay results are yielding similar, but marginally under-estimated gold grades.
Metallurgical Test Work. Orgatash 2009 metallurgical test work consisted of bottle roll cyanide leach tests conducted by Alex Stewart Assay Laboratories Ltd. (Karabalta facility) on a composite 48.6 kilogram sample from EMX drill core (holes ODDH-4, -5, -8 and -10). The length-weighted average grade of the selected drill core as originally assayed is 1.21 g/t gold. The composite sample was crushed, homogenized, and four size fractions (<25 mm, <12.5 mm, <5 mm and <0.075 mm) tested in a bottle roll agitator for cyanide leach gold extraction. The bottle roll tests were conducted on two, three-kilogram samples for each size fraction. The gold recoveries averaged 94.9% for -0.075 mm (72 hours), 56.6% for -5 mm (20 days), 52.3% for -12.5 mm (20 days), and 23.1% for -25 mm (20 days). These preliminary metallurgical test results indicate that the gold mineralization at Orgatash may be a candidate for conventional cyanide leach extraction.
In addition to the bottle roll tests, ten sub-samples of the composited and homogenized metallurgical material were analyzed by fire assay, and yielded a range of values from 1.62 to 2.15 g/t gold, with an average of 1.83 g/t gold. By comparison, total gold content calculated from the bottle roll tests yielded an average of 1.72 g/t. The 1.83 g/t and 1.72 g/t average grades are 52% and 42% higher, respectively, than the 1.21 g/t gold grade from the original core sampling and conventional fire assaying. These variations are interpreted to result from a coarse gold ‘nugget effect’, with the bulk sample providing higher, and perhaps more representative assays than those from standard core sampling and fire assaying.
Gezart Prospect. The Gezart prospect, located nine kilometers west of Orgatash, underwent a program of geologic mapping and sampling in 2009 as follow-up to the discovery of gold bearing zones in 2008 (see EMX news release dated December 11, 2008). The project area is underlain by an elongate, northeast trending granodiorite body that is in intrusive contact with hornfels-altered siltstone. Similar to Orgatash, the Gezart prospect’s gold mineralization is associated with quartz vein swarms in sheeted fracture zones principally hosted by the granodiorite, and to a lesser degree in the hornfels-altered rocks. The quartz veins range from a few millimeters to up to a meter in thickness, and some contain visible gold. Please see map accompanying this news release.
EMX’s 2009 work at the Gezart prospect included 56 rock and 457 chip channel samples collected from profiles, trenches and road cuts. The sampling mainly targeted the granodiorite, and delineated a broad, northeast trending, 1800 by 300 meter corridor of quartz veining and gold mineralization. Within this corridor are three separate areas of mineralization, termed the central, southwest, and northeast zones.
- Central Zone. The strongest gold mineralization identified to date occurs in the central zone, and consists of high-density sheeted quartz veinlets that trend north-south to northeast-southwest. The central zone is about 100 to 200 meters wide and 800 meters long, and remains open along strike. The average grade from 720.8 meters of trench sampling is 1.38 g/t gold, including 8 meters averaging 22.34 g/t, 1.8 meters @ 100.54 g/t, and 2.5 meters @ 24.58 g/t gold. Of note, combining results from 2009 and 2008 sampling starts to define broader zones of mineralization (that include internal waste with anomalous gold) such as 59 meters averaging 1.87 g/t. Approximately 40% of the trench samples assay greater than 0.1 g/t gold.
- Southwest Zone. This zone occurs as a N-S trending alignment of quartz-arsenopyrite veins and veinlets measuring from 50-250 meters E-W, by 550 meters N-S. The average grade from 100.6 meters of trench sampling is 0.69 g/t gold, with high grade samples of 0.5 meters @ 45.2 g/t, and 0.2 meters @ 60.2 g/t gold. Approximately 43% of the trench samples assay greater than 0.1 g/t gold.
- Northeast Zone. A cluster of granodiorite outcrops and subcrops occurring within erosional windows of hornfels hosts gold mineralization in this zone. Quartz and quartz-carbonate veins and veinlets are developed in both the granodioritic rocks and the surrounding hornfels. The average grade from 46.1 meters of 2009 trench sampling is 1.32 g/t gold, including an intercept of 4.3 meters averaging 13.56 g/t Au. These 2009 results are in addition to 223 meters of 2008 sampling that returned 30% of the samples that assayed greater than 0.1 g/t gold.
The 2009 trench intercepts reported above are at, or near to true thickness, and were calculated at a 0.3 g/t gold cutoff. In addition to the trench sampling, 56 rock chip channel and grab samples were taken in 2009 over all three zones, with 57% assaying greater than 0.3 g/t gold.
The Gezart prospect area also hosts skarn mineralization that is a significant exploration target, but has not yet been systematically sampled. Preliminary reconnaissance sampling results include 4.6 meters averaging 5.4 g/t, 7 meters averaging 1.07 g/t, and 9.5 meters averaging 0.54 g/t gold. In addition to continuing work on vein hosted gold mineralization, next year’s work will be broadened to include upside exploration assessment of the nearby skarn mineralization.
Comments on Sampling, Assaying, and QA/QC. EMX’s drill and geochemical samples were collected in accordance with accepted industry standards. The samples were submitted to the ISO 9002 certified Alex Stewart (Assayers) Limited laboratory in Karabalta, Kyrgyz Republic, for sample preparation and analysis. Gold was analyzed by fire assay (30 gram sample) with an AAS finish. As standard procedure, the Company conducts routine QA/QC analysis on all assay results, including the systematic utilization of certified reference materials, blanks, field duplicates, and umpire laboratory check assays.
Dr. Pavel Reichl, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and Exploration Manager-Kyrgyzstan, has reviewed and verified the technical information contained in this news release.
EMX is exploring and investing in a first class mineral property and royalty portfolio in some of the most prospective, but under-explored mineral belts of the world.
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For further information contact:
David M. Cole
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (303) 979-6666
Email: dave@eurasianminerals.com
Website: www.eurasianminerals.com
Kim C. Casswell
Corporate Secretary
Phone: (604) 688-6390
Email: kcasswell@eurasianminerals.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statement:
Some of the statements in this news release contain forward-looking information that involves inherent risk and uncertainty affecting the business of Eurasian Minerals Inc. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
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