Poland

Myszkow Geology

The Myszkow Mo/Cu project is located in South-West Poland near the towns of Myszkow and Zarki, some 80 km to the north-west of the city of Krakow. Mineralisation in the area was identified by the Polish Geological Institute in the late 1960’s. Follow up drilling by Polish Government institutions identified the Myszkow Mo-Cu-W deposit. Geologically, the concession area is located within the Malopolska Block, which is a major geological unit of Southern Poland. The Myszkow deposit itself developed along a major NW-SE trending fault system of the Malopolska Block. This structure is a part of a major, central Europe scale NW-SE trending lineament/tectonic zone known as the Hamburg-Krakow Fault Zone (HKFZ). In a tectonic sense, on the HKFZ about 200km NW of the Myszkow Project in the Lubin area, the Kupferschieffer type Copper-polymetallic mineralisation developed. This is recognised as one of the world’s most prominent metalliferous deposits (>100Mt of metallic Cu).

The copper-silver deposits of the Lubin district are examples of peneconcordant, red-bed associated deposits. They are located about 75km north-west of Wroclaw in southwest Poland, on the northwest-dipping limb of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline. The deposit currently being mined extends over nearly 500km2, varies in thickness from .4 to 26m, and contains on average 2% Cu, 40ppm Ag, 0.2%Pb, 0.1%Zn, as well as anomalous concentrations of As, Ni, Co, Au and platinum-group metals. The deposit limits are undefined down dip to the northeast and the mine workings will eventually reach a maximum economic mining depth. It has been estimated that the entire mining district contains about 68mt Cu, 170,000t Ag, 5.2mt Pb, and similar amounts of Zn. The noble metal reserves are currently estimated at the level of 156t Au, 20t Pt, and 10t Pd. Therefore, the Lubin copper deposits of the district rank as one of the largest in the world. A detailed inventory of the amount of Cu present within the ore series estimates that the Zechstein basin in Poland may contain about 350Mt of copper metal.

Even after some 40 years of exploitation, today’s unexploited resources are estimated at 1.5 billion tons at 2% Cu and 56g/t Ag. As a result of the size of the documented copper ore resources in the region, Poland holds 8th place globally in terms of copper resources, and 1st place in terms of silver (based on the U.S. Geological Survey-2007)

The Myszków porphyry molybdenum-copper-tungsten deposit is one of several porphyry copper-type deposits that have been identified within a poorly defined belt of Precambrian to Palaeozoic rocks in south-central Poland. It is in a complex of Proterozoic (Vendian) to early Palaeozoic-aged metasedimentary rocks that was intruded by a predominantly granodioritic pluton.

The intrusive rocks and associated mineralisation phases are Late Carboniferous age, a time of porphyry-copper deposit formation not known to be present elsewhere in Europe. The chemistry, mineralogy, and vein morphology of the Myszków mineralisation are similar to calc-alkaline-associated porphyry copper deposits.

The geology of the tenement area is dominated by clastic rocks of a pre-Cambrian age (Wend), which had undergone a low grade metamorphism. These rocks were intruded intensely by magmatic bodies, particularly porphyritic granitoids to which most of the metalliferous mineralisation is confined. Locally, these clastic rocks are covered by lower Palaeozoic sediments with limited thickness.

The Myszków deposit is strongly enriched in Cu and Mo but contains very little gold. In comparison to other calc-alkaline-type porphyry Cu deposits, this deposit also contains an unusually high concentration of tungsten, particularly in the mineralised part of the stock. Therefore, the Myszków mineralisation can best be described as representing a rather unique, porphyry molybdenum-tungsten type of deposit. Overall, the mineralisation at Myszków exhibits typical mineralogy for the deeper parts of a porphyry Cu system.

The area of the Mo-Cu-W known mineralisation is associated with rocks extending over approximately 700 km2 in which several areas with increased concentration of metalliferous mineralisation were identified. The Company's concession covers 234 km2 of the known mineralisation domain. It is the most prospective region and is best documented by drilling in the area covering the Myszków and Żarki vicinity.

Beside the Myszków deposit, there are within the tenement a number of very promising drill holes, indicating high exploration potential. The PZ-40 drill hole, for example, is located 2 km north-east of the Myszków deposit and returned rich Cu and Mo mineralisation, including an intersection of 166.5m averaging 0.423% Cu between 299.5m and 466.0m depth. The characteristics and intensity of the mineralisation in this hole are similar to those observed in the marginal parts of the Myszków deposit, indicating its possible continuation, or the presence of a new deposit.

The deposit itself developed within a granodiorite intrusion of Upper Carboniferous age, and also within surrounding metasediments of pre-Cambrian age which are cut by numerous ryolite intrusions. Mineralisation is associated with a number of minerals, including: pyrite (FeS2), chalcopiryte (CuFeS2), molybdenite (MoS2), schelite (CaWO4) and magnetite (Fe304). Also rutile (TiO2), sphalerite (ZnS) and galena (PbS) are present in certain areas. Usually, mineralisation is accompanied by hydrothermal alteration, in particular: potassic metasomatose (biotite and feldspar type), silification, sericitisation and carbonatisation