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In a short period of time, Northern Lion has assembled an impressive package of land, (some 600 square kilometres) within two licence blocks in highly-prospective areas of Portugal: Cercal, located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, and Moura, located in central Portugal."
click to enlarge | The Iberian Pyrite Belt ("IPB") of Portugal and Spain comprises Late Devonian to Middle Carboniferous sedimentary and volcanic rocks and is 250 km long by 25 to 70 km wide. It has been actively mined for over 2,000 years and hosts some of the world's richest (e.g. Neves Corvo) and largest (e.g. Rio Tinto - 335 million tones ("Mt") and Aljustrel - more than 270 Mt) volcanic-hosted massive sulphide ("VHMS") deposits.
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In all, some 88 deposits are known in the Iberian Pyrite Belt ("IPB"), containing more than 1,725 Mt (previously mined and present reserves) grading 1.30% copper, 0.70% lead, 2.00% zinc, 0.50 g/t gold and 26 g/t silver. These deposits include seven that are classed as "giant", each containing more than 100 Mt. The IPB dwarfs the world's other large volcanic-hosted massive sulphide ("VHMS") provinces, such as Canada's Abitibi Belt 478 Mt) and the Bathurst Camp (252 Mt), and Sweden's Skellefte District (161 Mt).
click to enlarge | MOURA: A number of zinc-lead occurrences are known within the licence and are associated with Cambrian dolomite which is usually exposed at the crests of northwest-trending anticlinal features, within a broad band some 8 kilometres wide by 25 kilometres long. The area is situated in the Ossa-Morena geotectonic domain of the Hercynian Orogen. The most significant of these occurrences is the Preguica deposit, located on the east side of the licence, which was explored by diamond drilling (37 holes) and underground (two levels 40 metres and 80 metres below the surface) during the 1950s and 1960s by the Portuguese government and Compagnie Royalle Austrienne des Mines (formerly Union Miniere) ("Austrienne").
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The previous work identified two mineralized lenses, each about 350 metres long by up to 100 metres in length, and, locally, reaching maximum widths in excess of 30 metres, over a horizontal distance of 800 metres. Mineralization is open at depth. Austrienne calculated a geological estimate for the deposit of 1 million tonnes averaging 8% zinc and 2% lead (this estimate predates National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and was not prepared in accordance with its requirements). Potential for additional mineralization exists along strike to the northwest and southeast, and elsewhere within the Preguica anticline.
A second occurrence, the Vila Ruiva deposit, is located approximately one kilometre to the southeast of Preguica, on the same structure, and consists of zinc secondaries and important amounts of hematite, goethite and clay minerals filling a Tertiary karst developed in dolomite. Recorded production was 12,694 tonnes, grading 42% zinc. Zinc values (to 3.14% over 1.5 metres) have been encountered in drill holes completed both down-dip and along strike.
The 2007 exploration program will comprise data compilation and modeling, detailed geologic mapping in areas of interest, soil sampling, mapping and sampling of old workings, trenching (750 metres) and diamond drilling (1,500 metres).
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