Properties

Kabba

Drill Results

Phase I Drill Summary:

All four drillholes showed geological indications of proximity to a porphyry copper-molybdenum system such as sericitic or potassic alteration or sulfide mineralization. The drillholes were spread over an area of 1.3 kilometers by 3.3 kilometers, reflecting the large size of the target and the large magnitude of horizontal slip on the Hualapai fault, the principal fault that has decapitated the porphyry Cu-Mo system. The distance between holes K-1 to K-2 was 1.3 kilometers heading east. The distance between holes K-2 to K-4 was 1.8 kilometers, in the same easterly direction.

Drillhole	Depth to Bedrock	Total Depth	Notes
K-1	645 m	914 m	Footwall block - widespread potassic alteration. Sparse chalcopyrite and pyrite. Ended in quartz monzonite porphyry.
K-2	610 m	837 m	Hangingwall block - postmineral basalt capping widespread weak fluorite-pyrite mineralization disseminated in Precambrian granite.
K-3	506 m	826 m	Footwall block - common low grade molybdenite, common intense sericitic alteration, ended in quartz monzonite porphyry. Intersected 90 meters averaging 0.014% Mo.
K-4	101 m	1053 m	Hangingwall block - strong exotic iron oxide staining up to 180 meters below top of bedrock, widespread sericitic alteration with disseminated pyrite, local breccia intervals with strong arsenic, mercury, thallium, zinc, nickel, and lead anomalies, and more than 20 altered porphyritic dikes. Samples submitted to laboratory for Au-Ag fire assay all returned values below 100 ppb Au.

Drillholes K-1 and K-3 cut the footwall block of the faulted porphyry system 1.0 and 1.3 kilometers, respectively, east of the outcropping quartz monzonite porphyry. K-3 was sited 1.3 kilometers north of K-1. Both of these holes cut altered and mineralized quartz monzonite porphyry, demonstrating that the outcropping part of the footwall mineralization extends more than 1 kilometer under gravel cover to the east, and that the full width of the quartz monzonite porphyry stock is at least 3 kilometers. Molybdenum assays in K-3 showed up to 90 meters grading 0.014% Mo at depths between 644 m and 734 m hosted by strongly sericitized quartz monzonite porphyry. This intersection is interpreted to be part of the relatively barren root zone of the porphyry system in the footwall block of the Hualapai fault. Drillhole K-1 intersected sparse, blebby copper mineralization as chalcopyrite and pyrite associated with locally intense potassic alteration, also interpreted to be typical of the root zone of the porphyry system. Both holes showed rare-earth enriched fluorapatite, a common accessory mineral in fluorine-rich porphyry systems.

Drillhole K-2 was the first hole in the program to successfully penetrate the hangingwall block of the Hualapai fault, wherein the target is expected to be found. The position of K-2 in the hangingwall block was confirmed by the presence of 24 meters of post-mineral basalt capping the Precambrian granitic bedrock. A single 10-meter-thick porphyry dike was cut in K-2 at a depth of 774 meters. Other than widespread, sparsely disseminated fluorite, hydrothermal alteration was largely absent in this hole, suggesting a distal position from the target. Precambrian granite in the hole was identical to granite seen in the footwall block, but in a position well west of the targeted porphyry system. Consequently, the final hole in the program was sited 1.8 kilometers east of K-2.

Drillhole K-4 intersected hydrothermally altered and weakly mineralized granite at a surprisingly shallow depth beneath only 101 meters of gravel cover. This drillhole is believed to have penetrated the outer barren pyritic shell of a major porphyry Cu-Mo deposit. Strong exotic iron oxides were seen coating fracture surfaces in the bedrock for 180 meters in depth, followed by variably sericitized granite and strongly altered andesitic porphyry dikes throughout the rest of the 1053-meter-deep hole. A swarm of more than 20 altered andesite porphyry dikes was cut in the hole. Sericitized and quartz-veined Precambrian granite carried disseminated pyrite, sparse fluorite mineralization, and locally anomalous lead, zinc, arsenic, copper, and nickel, typical of values seen in the outer pyritic fringes of major porphyry Cu-Mo systems. Visible molybdenite was present in at least one milky quartz vein cut by the drillhole. Veinlets having texturally destructive sericitic envelopes (D-veins) were present in many places throughout the hole. At least two hydrothermal breccia intervals were cut by the hole; both carried highly anomalous arsenic, thallium, and mercury. These intervals were sampled and transmitted to a laboratory for gold-silver fire assays. The maximum gold content in these samples was 0.1 ppm Au, though most of the samples yielded no significant gold or silver.

Drillhole K-4 demonstrates that molybdenum-bearing veins, sericitic alteration, brecciation, and sparse fluorite mineralization are present at a location that was predicted prior to drilling to contain the decapitated top of a known porphyry Mo-Cu system. A geological reconstruction of the porphyry hydrothermal system, using all available information from outcrops and this new drillcore, suggests that the original volume of hydrothermally altered and potentially mineralized rocks exceeded 15 cubic kilometers. Much of this giant system is expected to be preserved beneath the Company's land position, in the vicinity of drillhole K-4.


Phase II Drill Summary(ongoing):

Phase II drilling of the Kabba project began in February 2009 and is ongoing. Two drill sites designated K-5 and K-6 located generally east and south of drillhole K-4 were completed on federal land in the first half of 2009. Recognition of new surface geologic evidence led the Company to a new target area that is significantly shifted to the north. Drilling in the second half of 2009 shifted northward with the completion of K-7A about kilometers north of K-4. Drilling is being done with diamond drilling and air rotary equipment to keep costs at a minimum. At the present time, drillhole K-5 has been completed and drillhole K-6 is underway.

Drillhole	Depth to Bedrock	Total Depth	Notes
K-5	218 m	351.3 m	Hangingwall block - sheeted limonite-ankerite veinlets carrying elevated arsenic, manganese and zinc mineralization. Weak supergene copper enrichment with disseminated pyrite at the bottom of the hole.
K-6	504.7 m	754.7 m	Hangingwall block -- sericitized Laramide porphyry sills with elevated copper, molybdenum, and arsenic cutting Precambrian gneiss. Weak supergene copper enrichment with disseminated pyrite at the bottom of the hole.
K-7	N/A	183.8 m	Terminated in gravel cover.
K-7A	362.7 m	387.7 m	Hangingwall block -- fluorite-rich Precambrian granite. Interpreted west margin of decapitated porphyry system.
K-8	394.4 m	544 m	Hangingwall block - sericitically altered dacite porphyry hosting strongly anomalous manganese, lead, and zinc. Interpreted east margin of decapitated porphyry system.
K-9	534.2 m	In progress	Hangingwall block -- diatreme breccia hosting up to 5% disseminated pyrite with minor galena and sphalerite and trace chalcopyrite and bornite. Increasingly strong sericitic alteration with depth, evolving from scattered classic "D-veins" having centimetre-wide sericite envelopes to pervasive strong, texturally destructive sericitic alteration. Alteration and mineralization overprint both clasts and diatreme breccia matrix. Interpreted center of decapitated porphyry system.

Drillhole K-5, located 1.2 kilometers east of K-4, cut sheeted limonite-ankerite veinlets carrying elevated arsenic, manganese and zinc mineralization, consistent with mineralization expected at the outer margins of a porphyry system. Weak supergene copper enrichment was present with disseminated pyrite at the bottom of the hole. Based on the relatively weaker, distal alteration in K-5 relative to K-4, the focus of drilling shifted southward.



Drillhole K-6 was sited to test a northwesterly trending vein system in the bedrock outcrops to the east, on trend with drillhole K-4. This location is also close to outcropping quartz porphyry plugs carrying elevated Cu, Mo, Se, As, and W. Drillhole K-6 cut an unusually thick sequence of late Tertiary, post mineral gravel and basalt in a graben structure before penetrating altered and mineralized Precambrian gneiss at a depth of 505 meters. The hole encountered a thick leached capping comprising abundant arsenic-rich goethite and hematite veinlets after primary ankerite and two sericitically altered quartz monzonite porphyry sills. Locally strongly anomalous copper, molybdenum, lead and zinc were present within and below these sills. Scheelite and fluorite veinlets were common external to the sills. Weak supergene copper enrichment at the oxidation boundary gave way to weak disseminated pyrite and disseminated chalcopyrite. The hole was terminated at a depth of 755 meters.



Drill hole K-6 added new strong evidence that these types of features are present in widely separated areas and are therefore most likely part of a single, large, covered, porphyry system. Bell's targeted porphyry Cu-Mo system in the hangingwall of a major fault is expected to ultimately have total areal dimensions of about 5,000 metres in a north-south direction by 3,000 metres in an east-west direction, based on the dimensions of the system in the outcropping footwall of the fault. Rock types and vein types encountered in K-6 most strongly resembled rocks in the footwall of the fault about two kilometres south of the southern edge of the outcropping porphyry system to the west of the Kabba target area.
Upon completion of K-6 to total depth, a downhole radial IP geophysical survey was conducted across about 3 square kilometres immediately surrounding drillhole K-6. This survey, which was run by Zonge Engineering of Tucson, Arizona, showed very low, unfavourable IP responses over most areas except to the northeast of K-6. Motivated by this generally negative result, a program of geological exploration outward from the target area into rock outcroppings as far as 10 kilometers to the north and northwest was initiated to search for new evidence that might bear on the problem of locating the decapitated porphyry Cu-Mo system. Encouraging results were obtained almost immediately, resulting in a modified geological model and a more northerly position for the porphyry target.

Previously, drill holes K-5 and K-6 were sited to test a model of slip on the main fault amounting to six kilometres in a due-easterly direction. An accumulating body of geological and geophysical observations supported a fault slip amount of seven kilometres, but in a direction of N65 degrees east. This new interpretation places the targeted porphyry system in the hangingwall about 2.5 kilometres north-northwest of K-6 and 1.1 kilometres north of K-4. New evidence supporting this slip direction and amount of offset includes: 1) a major magnetic anomaly (COTOB anomaly) in the hangingwall block north of the target, which correlates using this model with a similar major anomaly in the footwall (TOB anomaly) of the fault; 2) rotated postmineral sedimentary rocks near K-5 and K-6 strike in a direction compatible with movement in a N65 degrees east direction; 3) a bedrock window 6.5 kilometres north of drill hole K-4 shows sericitized porphyry plugs carrying strong lead, zinc, arsenic and manganese, typical of fringing mineralization around the new, more-northerly porphyry target; 4) vegetation linears in the hangingwall postmineral sediments interpreted to be tear faults oriented parallel with the northeasterly slip direction.

In response to this new target location, the Company applied for mineral exploration permits from the State of Arizona covering about 2,300 acres and swapped an additional 2,100 acres of leased mineral rights with Newmont. Completion of the applications and bonding in October allowed geophysical studies to be conducted over the new target area. Zonge Engineering completed nine kilometres of surface IP geophysical measurements along two lines located about 0.5 and 1.1 kilometers north of drillhole K-4. The more northerly line returned the most encouraging results obtained on the Kabba project to date, and provided support for the new geological model. On November 2, the Company announced that drill testing had commenced in drillhole K-7 on the southwestern corner of the new target area over a modest, apparently shallow IP anomaly. This drill test was eventually completed as drillhole K-7A, which cut disseminated fluorite mineralization in weakly altered Precambrian granite beneath 366 meters of postmineral gravel. This information showed that K-7A was on the western flank of the new target, placing the core of the target in a position that would eventually become drillhole K-9. Permission to drill K-9 on State of Arizona land was not obtained in December, so an alternative site on the hypothesized eastern flank of the target was tested next.

Drillhole K-8 sited on the hypothesized far eastern flank of the decapitated porphyry Cu-Mo target. A drill test in this position might conceivably hit the center of the target if the new geological model underestimated the fault slip amount by 1 to 3 kilometers. This drillhole penetrated typical valley-filling gravel detritus before drilling operations were suspended for the Christmas holiday. Reclamation bonding efforts at year's end resulted in a total of 36 drill sites being permitted and bonded over the new target area.



Drillhole K-8 penetrated 395 meters of cover rock prior to entering sericitically altered dacite porphyry typical of porphyry copper deposits. Mineralization in the dacite porphyry consisted of strongly anomalous manganese, lead, and zinc as detemined on site by a handheld Niton XRF analyzer. Based on this anomalous metal association, the drillhole was interpreted to lie in the targeted hangingwall on the eastern base-metal fringe of the target. The 3 kilometer separation between drillhole K-7A on the interpreted western fringe of the target and drillhole K-8 on the eastern fringe of the target is consistent with the known 3 kilometer width of the Kabba system in the outcropping footwall block. Drillhole K-8 was terminated at a depth of 544 meters in strongly sericitized dacite porphyry carrying five percent disseminated pyrite when permits were received to drill K-9 in the center of the new target area.

Drill hole K-9 was sited to test the hypothetical geometrical centre of the decapitated top of the Kabba porphyry system, allowing for a recently recognized northerly slip component to the offset hangingwall. The drill hole was precollared to a depth of 293 metres and is currently being advanced by diamond coring.

K-9 penetrated 534 meters of cover rocks before entering a strongly hydrothermally altered diatreme breccia and interfingering dacite porphyry intrusive rocks of suspected Laramide age. This rock type is consistent with the interpretation that K-9 is located in the center of a major porphyry system.



The diatreme breccia hosts intense sericitic alteration and carries many volume-per-cent pyrite. A distinct sphalerite-bearing zone (zinc sulphide) encountered in the upper part of the drill hole has given way with depth to strong disseminated pyrite. Very localized veinlets carrying chalcopyrite and bornite have been observed near the current bottom of the drill hole. Rounded clasts in the diatreme breccia range in size from small pebbles to blocks several metres wide and comprise all of the known Precambrian wall rock types exposed in the footwall of the faulted system. Apparent juvenile dacite-porphyry clasts common along the margins of dacite-porphyry dikes show strong plastic deformation, indicating that they were emplaced in the breccia at magmatic temperatures. Alteration and mineralization are everywhere younger than the diatreme breccia.



The geology that has been intersected in the hole so far is consistent with a position near the centre of a major magmatic-hydrothermal vent that has been subjected to alteration and mineralization typical of porphyry-copper systems. If the fault model continues to hold, further drilling in K-9 is expected to encounter primary copper mineralization underlain by stockwork quartz veinlets identical to those found over 15 square kilometres in the footwall block of the fault. The thickness of this interval is estimated to be about 1,200 metres, extending below the current bottom of the hole down to the principal fault, beneath which unmineralized rocks of the footwall block are anticipated.