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Project Summary The Elbe option with Ongopolo licence block (EPL 3136) is 19,539 ha in size and incorporates all of the historical development area and exploration targets. The licence is surrounded by Teckcominco's ERL-52. Ongopolo own and operate the Tsumeb copper smelter, Otijhase concentrator and mine and are bringing into production the Tsumeb, Tschudi, Khusib Springs, Otijhase and Kombat deposits. The Elbe Project is hosted in Darmaran aged quartizites and schists of the Kuiseb Formation. Locally, the most prominent lithology is quartz-biotite schists which intruded by several phases of strongly foliated granitiod and dolerite dykes. The A gossan discovered by airborne geophysics has been traced for over 1500m of which 650m was considered economic by Falconbridge with assays in excess of 1% copper. The A gossan consists mainly of pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-sphalerite mineralization. Individual drill intersections produced results for example hole 2 of 69 m of 1.11% Cu, 1.39% Zn, 0.88 g/t Au and 8.52 g/t Ag and hole 13 produced 12.84 m 1.29% Cu, 3.36% Zn, 1.09 g/t Au and 11.84 g/t Ag. Interesting enough the average gold grade of about 0.5 g/t for the sulphide intervals with peak value of 5.4 g/t. Falconbridge Exploration (SWA) Ltd. completed a feasibility study in 1974 that led to the development of three declines for access to the shallow deposit. One decline terminated within 35 metres of the mineralization when Falconbridge ceased work in Namibia. Gold Fields Namibia Ltd., who in 1989 calculated an "ore reserve" of 3.29 Mt at 1.56% Cu, 1.47% Zn, 10.05 g /t Ag and 0.55 g /t gold, after acquiring the project from Falconbridge. These historical resource figures do not conform to the mineral resource categories set out in National Instrument 43-101 and they should not be relied upon. Westport management is not only encouraged by the advanced development potential to mine the Elbe Deposit, rather the project provides an excellent opportunity to expand the known zones of mineralization plus the potential exists for new parallel zones of mineralization and targets identified at the nose fold structure. An aggressive exploration program has commenced at Elbe including Environmental Baseline studies, database management, 3-D computerized modeling of the deposit, surface trenching and sampling and diamond drilling designed to produce a positive feasibility study within two years. |
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