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ROX RESOURCES LIMITED — Capital/Financing Update 2007
Sep 6, 2007
65741_rns_2007-09-06_47af3cd3-5fb0-4a04-8141-2272492136d6.pdf
Capital/Financing Update
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ASX/MEDIA RELEASE
7 September 2007
JOINT VENTURE AT LENNARD SHELF
Rox Resources Limited (ASX: RXL, "Rox") today announced that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with Avalon Minerals Limited (ASX: AVI, "Avalon") to explore for zinc and lead deposits in the world class Lennard Shelf mineral province in Western Australia.
Rox will be the manager of the Lennard Shelf Joint Venture and will initially have a 12 month option during which it will be required to spend $500,000 on exploration. Rox can then earn a 60% interest in the project by issuing $300,000 worth of Rox shares to Avalon and spending a further $1.5 million over three years.
Rox's Managing Director, Mr Ian Mulholland, said that he was pleased to find such a prospective project that is so compatible with the Company's expertise of exploring for similar style Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) mineralisation in Laos.
"The Lennard Shelf is a proven zinc-lead mineral province with a mineral endowment of about 40 million tonnes of zinc-lead resources, that complements our existing project portfolio extremely well," said Mr Mulholland.
"We're always searching for quality new projects to drive further value for our shareholders, but this opportunity really stood out because of the region's mineral-rich history, known MVT deposits and extensive database of research," he said.
The joint venture tenements will represent one of the largest land holdings in the area and cover a 2,600km2 area in the central and southeast Lennard Shelf (Figure 1), where the largest deposits (Cadjebut and Pillara) are located. The three blocks of tenements are called the Oscar Range, Lawford and Barramundi (see Appendix for further details).
Teck Cominco and Xstrata are currently mining Pillara under a 50/50 joint venture with quoted ore reserves at the project of 3.0Mt at 7.3% Zn and 1.8% Pb. Teck Cominco is also undertaking exploration to increase the mineral resources.
A thorough study of the tenement area has been prepared by consulting geologists, CSA Australia and a number of areas have been identified that warrant immediate follow-up and which will be the focus of Rox's exploration programme at the Lennard Shelf in the next few months. CSA is considered to be a leader in lead-zinc mineralisation and exploration in Australia and has an extensive regional geological, geochemical and geophysical dataset for the Lennard Shelf region.
Avalon, who has an excellent relationship with the Kimberly Land Council ("KLC"), has already advanced negotiations for land access and field work will commence as soon as heritage clearances are received from the traditional owners. Other standard JV terms such as dilution, tenement maintenance, pre-emptive rights, an area of influence and environmental responsibility apply to the agreement.
Meanwhile, diamond drilling designed to test a number of large IP anomalies at Rox's Pha Luang project in Laos is continuing and first results are expected to be available in the next two weeks.
- ENDS -
For more information:
Ian Mulholland Managing Director Rox Resources Limited Tel: +61 8 6380 2966 [email protected] Ann Nahajski Porter Novelli Tel: +61 8 9386 1233 [email protected]
APPENDIX
Oscar Range
The Oscar Range tenements (Figure 2) cover an area of 940km2 along the southwest margin of the Lennard Shelf where a number of zinc gossans (hydrozincite – similar to Pha Luang) have been discovered. Several low-grade zinc intersections have been reported from follow-up drilling. The project encompasses approximately 60km strike length of the Lennard Shelf reef complex, including 20km of the reef front and Oscar Fault. Three target areas have been identified based on past exploration, regional geology and structures that may have acted as conduits for migrating ore fluids. Gossan sampling has returned values of 1.7% Zn and 1.6% Pb from the Buromin prospect, and 0.6% Zn and 0.4% Pb from the Boab prospect.
Lawford
The Lawford project (Figure 3) covers an area of 940km2 and incorporates large areas of the Lennard Shelf reef complex. Gossan sampling on a small 2.3km2 excised mining lease at Ross Hill has returned results of up to 27% Zn and 10% Pb. Drilling at the Window prospect has returned 14m at 0.24% Zn and 4m at 0.5% Pb. Three significant Zn-Pb deposits, Cadjebut, Pinnacles and Kapok are located within a few kilometres of the southwest corner of the project.
Barramundi
Exploration on the 710km2 Barramundi project area (Figure 4) has been very limited. Gossan sampling from just outside the tenements at Findlay Hill and Horse Spring Range has returned results of up to 34% Zn and 8.7% Pb. Three target areas have been identified based on host rocks, structural elements and past exploration.
Exploration Program
Extensive geochemical surveys (>12,800 samples) will be completed over each of the three areas to test unexplored and partially explored areas using a portable field XRF analyser ("Niton") as follows:
| 1. | Barramundi | a) Outcropping Piker Hills Formation lying close to the AlbatrossFault Zoneb) Pillara Limestone outcrop near the Horseshoe Range area |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Lawford | a) Pillara Limestone lying close to the Margaret Horst in the NorthSparke Rangeb) The eastern extension of the Virgin Hills Fault |
| 3. | Oscar Range | a) Napier Limestone along the range front |
b) Fairfield Formation in front of the limestone ranges, which could also be a suitable host rock for MVT mineralisation
IP geophysical surveys are planned at the Window prospect in the Lawford project and along the range front at the 12 Mile Bore prospect in the Oscar Range project.
In addition, geological assessment and re-logging of old drill core is expected to generate other targets.
About Rox Resources
Rox owns a 60% interest in the Pha Luang lead-zinc project in Laos which it believes has the potential to become a large new lead-zinc district. The project area covers a 20km² mining concession area, is virtually unexplored and contains more than 20 lead-zinc prospects. Mineralisation is widespread with zinc oxides and lead sulphides outcropping in various places along a strike length of over 10km.
Rox is currently undertaking exploration at Pha Luang, which has involved around 7,000 metres of drilling, extensive soil sampling, and geophysical surveys over the last 12 months.
Located on the Indo-China Peninsula, close to markets in Thailand, China and Vietnam, the Lao economy is growing rapidly as the country moves from a centrally planned economy to a more market orientated one. With its excellent geological potential, where Rox is among several Australian mining companies enjoying outstanding success; the Lao Government has stated its intentions to embrace mining as a priority industry.
About the Lennard Shelf
The Lennard Shelf is host to a number of limestone hosted Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) zinclead deposits, and known resources in June 2003 were 22Mt grading 6.9% Zn and 2.8% Pb. Clusters of MVT deposits have been found there including Cadjebut, Pillara, Goongewa, Fossil Downs, Pinnacles and Kapok (Figure 1). Mine production of 13.3Mt grading 7.6%Zn and 3.1%Pb occurred between 1994 and 2003.
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Mr Ian Mulholland BSc (Hons), MSc, FAusIMM, FAIG, FSEG, who is a Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Mulholland has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity which he is undertak ing to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr Mulholland is a full time employee of the Company and consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Figure 1: Lennard Shelf Deposits and Avalon's Tenements

Figure 2: Oscar Range Project

Figure 3: Lawford Project

Figure 4: Barramundi Project