TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp. (???Liberty
Star?????or the?????Company???)
(OTCQB:
LBSR) is pleased to announce that three technical breakthroughs have
occurred at the Hay
Mountain Project over the last three months. These are:
1. Additional targets
2. The potential for leachable oxide copper bodies
3. The ability to separate diamond core drill cuttings using a
centrifuge so that cuttings can be separated into samples corresponding
to drill core intervals or fractions of those intervals at any depth
desired as the drill turns without waiting for the core to be removed
from the hole. Then x-ray fluoresce analyzers will be used to analyze
these samples for an approximate assay in the field as the drill turns.
Liberty Star???s CEO/Chief Geologist elaborates point by point:
1. ???Working with geologist Dr. S. Skirvin using geologic information
systems (GIS) mapping tools, we clarified the geophysical relationships
so that the geophysical data (ZTEM- electromagnetics and magnetics) for
the Hay Mountain Project area could be related to culture on topographic
maps, and recently produced high resolution space imagery, leading to
the detection of significant number of additional targets
2. ???We have also evaluated the surrounding copper and precious metal
mines including Arizona???s Tombstone, Bisbee (historic and future Cochise
ore body), Johnson Camp, I-10 Porphyry Gunnison- Excelsior, Safford,
Morenci, Rosemont, Florence, Twin Buttes: New Mexico???s Tyrone mine,
Mexico???s La Caridad, and Cananea, and many others, which all have oxide
copper recovery units (Solvent Extraction-Electrowinning plants (SX-EW
plants)). Most porphyry copper deposits in the southwest USA, Mexico,
Latin America and other geologically similar areas have a green and
black copper oxide cap or periphery as a result of their oxidizing
history details dependent on rock type and other factors. Hay Mountain
is easily compared to Bisbee, Nord Resources Corporation???s Johnson Camp
and the Gunnison Copper Project (Excelsior Mining Corp), nearby where
the same package of layered altered and mineralized rocks exists, as
does a profound magnetic anomaly (Gunnison and Hay Mountain and others).
Gunnison has disseminated oxides that can be treated by in situ (Latin: in
place) leaching. Excelsior has done extensive testing and design of
a proposed in situ leach operation that suggests an internal rate of
return of about 45% and a payback in 2.5 years using a projected $2.75
copper price. (Pg. 246 Gunnison
Copper Project: NI 43-101 Technical Report Prefeasibility Study).
We have encountered more shallow outcrops containing green and what
appears to be black copper oxide at Hay Mountain. Also, the horizontal
tops of the recorded magnetic signals suggest the top of an oxide zone
that compels us to consider that a large, near surface body of oxide
copper may be located above the large sulfide targets which are more
easily detected by ZTEM (electromagnetic, and magnetic) geophysics. The
same host rock sediments are present at Johnson Camp, Gunnison, Bisbee
and Hay Mountain. These rocks can be selectively mined using a Vermeer
Terrain Leveler, resulting in lower cost mining and ore grade
selection than standard methods of open pit mining. I have already had
tests run at the Vermeer laboratories on ore material of each of the
various sedimentary copper bearing units at Johnson Camp to see if the
Vermeer can cut these altered and mineralized sediments. The results
demonstrate that the Vermeer machinery can readily cut these units.
Contacts between low and high grade can be followed to within 6 inches
horizontal and a couple of inches vertically. Fragmentation achieved by
the Vermeer concentrates on the ore bearing interstices of the host
rock, thus maximizing the proportion of exposed surface area of the
fragmented material that is ore bearing. This feature yields materials
that may be much more available for solvent dissolution than
conventionally crushed ore. The cut can be adjusted to get the optimum
fragment size for heap leaching: all of this without using drilling or
blasting. Thus, if we intersect significant amounts of leachable oxide
copper mineralization at a shallow depth, which, as stated above, all
surrounding porphyry copper mines have, we will immediately go into an
evaluation mode. Nothing is definite until drills define such an oxide
mineral body, but these types of deposits could go into production at a
low cost, and quickly: in the range of 4 years (See
pg. 249 Excelsior???s 43-101). The mining method at Hay Mountain could
be open pit, heap leach or in situ like that planned at the Gunnison
Copper Project.
3. ???We will be using some advanced equipment in the drilling program
which will make Phase 1 drilling proceed faster, more controlled,
accomplished more accurately, and data gathered very quickly. This will
be a Solids Removal Unit (SRU), developed by an Australian company and
sold in the USA (see http://www.amcmud.com/en/products-range/equipment-rental/product-data-sheets.html).
i. This device uses a centrifuge to remove drill cuttings from the mud
circulation that cools the diamond bit and carries cuttings to the
surface.
ii. The SRU removes +99% of drill cuttings from the mud and then
circulates the cleaned mud back down the hole.
iii. The cuttings are ejected from the SRU where they can be bagged and
disposed of.
iv. This give us the opportunity to sample the drill cuttings at any
interval we choose ??? say 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10 feet ??? or all of those
intervals through the length of the drill hole or whatever intervals are
desired to determine what the diamond drill is cutting even before the
core is extracted, by ???assaying??? using a modern XRF (X-Ray fluorescence)
unit: www.niton.com
either a hand held ???gun??? or a more powerful bench or pick-up tail gate
style unit. While an XRF is not a true ???assay??? used for exact grade
determination for ore calculations it is sufficient for the onsite
geologist to determine whether the gross metals content is going up,
down or remaining the same. This information can be transmitted by
computer to the Internet so all senior management personnel can review
the data if it is critical. Standard drill core assays by a certified
lab will still be undertaken following standard procedures which can
only be done that involve a carefully monitored and controlled half
sample split of the drill core, prepared in a very clean sample prep
lab, and sent under chain of custody control to a certified lab, which
we will also do. However XRF is sufficient for the onsite geologist to
determine whether the gross metals content is going up, down or
remaining the same. This droll mud sampling methodology (but without the
use of the SRU) was reported by D.K.F. McLachlan, in Mckinstry,H.E. ???
Mining Geology 1948 in the days when diamond drilling was young and the
diamond drill core bit tended to grind up core that was soft, where the
mineralized intervals were encountered. It is still a valid technique
when combined with the SRU.
???The SRU also meets the requirements of the Arizona State Land
Department permits that require collection of drill cuttings and
disposal in permitted land fill.
All of this new data and our innovative techniques, as well many other
details will be used in the presentation in Manila, Philippines March
2-3, 2015 by Director Brett Gross and myself during a full day
presentation to potential investors and mining professionals.???
???James A. Briscoe??? James
A. Briscoe, Professional Geologist, AZ CA
CEO/Chief Geologist
Liberty
Star Uranium & Metals Corp.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this news release that are not historical are forward
looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release
include all our planned drilling program, planned methodology and our
planned use of equipment, partners or funding sources, including without
limitation our plan to commence Phase 1 drilling at Hay Mountain and
define an economic body of mineralization there; that geological
conditions may allow for an in situ leaching operation, or open pit heap
leaching; that discovery of such a leachable ore body, similar those
enumerated above, could result in a 4 year time line to production.
Factors which may delay or prevent these forward-looking statements from
being realized include: the failure of our proposals to be accepted; we
may not attract any partners or funding sources; we may not be able to
raise sufficient funds to complete our intended exploration, keep our
properties or carry on operations; and we may encounter an inability to
continue exploration due to weather, logistical problems, labor or
equipment problems or hazards even if funds are available. Even if we
find a partner, we may not be able to reach agreement or carry out the
development program as contemplated. Despite encouraging data there may
be no commercially exploitable mineralization on our properties. Readers
should refer to the risk disclosures in the Company???s recent 10-K and
the Company???s other periodic reports filed from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.