Mar. 2nd, 2010
Empire Mining Corporation ("Empire") is pleased to announce that drill contractors have been retained for a planned drilling campaign at its 100% owned Bulqiza chromite project in Albania.
Road clearance is slated to begin on March 8th and a drilling program to be carried out with two separate drill rigs, consisting of up to 13 surface diamond core holes, ranging in depth from 50 to +200 metres and totaling approximately 1,400 metres, is expected to commence during the week of March 22, 2010.
Drilling will focus on the northern and southern shallow portions of the eastern limb of the Bulqiza-Batra Orebody and at the Thekna deposit, in two areas approximately 2 km apart. The Bulqiza-Batra Orebody hosts the historically productive Bulqiza and Batra Mines which were responsible for the bulk of Albania's chromite output when it was the third largest producer in the world before the collapse of the communist regime in 1989. The Bulqiza-Batra Orebody is characterized by high grades (+38% Cr2O3) and metallurgical quality (CrFe ratios of up to 3:1). Empire's Bulqiza Licence surrounds and extends from the producing Bulqiza and Batra Mines and includes the eastern and western extensions of the Bulqiza-Batra Orebody which was identified by Empire in the data analysis carried out through 2009.
