Connemara Mining continues to uncover encouraging drill results at Stonepark zinc project

Connemara Mining’s (LON:CON) ongoing drilling at the Stonepark North zone in County Limerick, Ireland, has extended the high-grade zinc-lead mineralisation and defined a flat-lying zone of zinc-lead mineralization with a strike length of at least 650m.

"Big high grade Irish style deposits are what we are looking for in Limerick. To date the results are encouraging ... the Stonepark North discovery continues to grow in size and importance”, Connemara Mining chairman John Teeling commented.

The company, alongside its joint venture partner Teck Resources (TSX, NYSE: TCK), reported the latest results from the ongoing 10,000m diamond drilling program. From Hole 55, the partners intersected a 4.9m zone of massive sulphides grading 10.57% zinc and 3.05 % lead, from a depth of 195m, including a 2.75m zone at 16.47% zinc and 5.26% lead.  Hole 55 is approximately 150m northwest of hole 45, which previously intersected 7.5m at 19.2% zinc and 8.5% lead from 209m.

“Hole 55 has significant commercial grade zinc and lead over good widths at a relatively shallow depth,” John Teeling added.

“[Stonepark North is] already at least 650 metres in length and at least 100 metres wide, the zone is open to the north and south. This reasonably shallow zone is flat lying with excellent grades of zinc and lead. These results enhance the potential of the Limerick properties.”

The Stonepark North zone is located approximately 2km away from the original Stonepark discovery, and the company said it appears to represent the shallower, up-dip portion of a larger mineralizing system. The zone remains open to the north and south.

The Stonepark drilling is being co-funded by the partners, with Teck contributing 75% and Connemara paying the remaining 25% - in proportion with the terms of the Teck farm-in which will see it gain 75% of the project by the end of 2010.

Earlier this month, Connemara conditionally raised £1.06m through a placing of 5.2m new shares at a price of 20p each.

“The recent placing ensures that Connemara is now fully funded for the 2010/2011 Stonepark work programme. We will also drill the prospective 100% owned licences in Thurles - adjacent to the large Vedanta owned Lisheen zinc mine," Teeling added.

According to a note by Beaufort International in June, the company’s exceptional recent drilling results and much anticipated resource estimates are likely to have just scratched the surface of prospects which are still over 60% unexplored.

The research note also highlighted that Connemara Mining’s portfolio of 37 licence blocks are ideally located on identified trends that spread right across Ireland’s Midland Orefield. According to Beaufort, the region boasts the largest number of zinc discoveries per square kilometre worldwide, “an unparalleled opportunity”.

“Given that Ireland’s south western deposits tend to occur as a ‘string of pearls’ separated by perhaps 2 to 5km and that the larger part of both prospects remain unexplored, it is just possible that the two companies are working on the same giant mineralised system ... Which one would have the head and which one the tail of this particular ‘elephant’, however, remains to be seen,” Beaufort stated.