The Monte Carlo Zone
The Monte Carlo zone is a copper-gold rich zone lying immediately east of the Ajax pits that historically reported shallow underground working, surface trenches and a number of shallow vertical drill holes. The focus of Abacus' drilling at Monte Carlo was to drill a first-pass set of "prospect" holes to depth in this area to test this historic information. It is believed that the Monte Carlo zone could be a fault offset of the overall Ajax deposit, and could become the eastern extension of the combined Ajax area.
Abacus has just completed an extensive drilling program in the joint venture area between the previously drilled Ajax West and Ajax East pits at Afton. A preliminary economic assessment encompassing Ajax West, Ajax East and the area in between is expected by mid-2008 and a full feasibility study on the combined Ajax area is anticipated in 2009. An extensive infill drilling program will continue at Ajax to support the feasibility study, which will examine a 40,000 to 60,000 tonne per day surface mining operation at Ajax, planned for as early as 2010.
The Monte Carlo property is an area consisting of the three easternmost Crown-Granted claims in the Ajax area, which are a part of the 100% Abacus-owned contiguous claim group covering the East pit area.
Much of the area is underlain by Sugarloaf diorite, which is the primary host rock for all copper-gold mineralization in the Ajax area. The area has seen a typically long history of exploration that included trenching, pitting, and both diamond and percussion drilling. Recent compilation work by Abacus geologists revealed the presence of numerous occurrences of encouraging near-surface copper-gold mineralization with grades similar to that found in the Ajax East and West pits. In the fall of 2007, Abacus began an eight-hole, "first pass" diamond drill program to explore this area at depths below 100 metres. Eight holes were drilled from four setups located 100 metres apart, along an access road that straddles the southern portion of the property (see map on Company's website). As shown in the above table, numerous significant copper-gold intercepts were made in all but one (AM-07-005) of the northerly directed holes. The best intercept, AM-07-01, intersected 116.5 metres ( 382 feet) of 0.36% copper and 0.21 g/t gold about 150 metres (492 feet) east of the Ajax East pit. Abacus geologists are considering the possibility that this mineralization extends eastward from that pit; however, a more detailed follow-up drill program will be required to more accurately determine the size, extent and continuity of these zones, and whether or not they can be incorporated into the upcoming Ajax economic evaluation.
