Kavango Resources (LSE:KAV) was trading down slightly at 3.2p on Monday morning after launching a £500,000 placing to accelerate its exploration work in Botswana. The firm placed c.17.9m shares at 2.8p each, a premium to the 2.5p it raised at when it entered the London market last July.
Kavango holds 15 prospecting licences covering 9,231km2 of ground in Botswana, including most of the 450km long Kalahari Suture Zone (KSZ) magnetic anomaly in the southwest of the country. Here, the business is exploring for copper, nickel, and platinum group element-rich sulphide orebodies. The area is yet to be examined using modern drilling techniques. However, Kavango argues that it has a similar geological setting to the giant Norilsk copper/nickel deposits in Siberia.
In Monday’s update, chief executive Michael Foster said the proceeds from the placing will allow Kavango to accelerate its exploration programme on the KSZ.
At the end of January, the business announced that it plans to begin an initial 1,000m drill programme at its Ditau project on the anomaly this month. This is designed to intersect two ‘very compelling’ coincident geophysical and geochemical base metal conductor/anomalies.
Elsewhere, the firm has mobilised the second phase of an airborne electromagnetic survey over its 15 prospecting licences in the KSZ. The airborne EM survey is the first stage in the company’s efforts to identify sulphide orebodies. It detects and prioritises potential locations for these deposits, which Kavango can then follow up with more detailed groundwork and drilling.
Flying for the second phase of the survey is expected to take between four to six weeks to complete and will cover up to 2,062 line-kilometres in the Hukunstsi area of Botswana.
On Monday, Foster said: ‘Our current exploration programme in Botswana is on track, with both the airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey (see RNS dated 21 January 2019) and the drilling at Ditau, which forms part of the KSZ project (see RNS dated 28 January 2019) progressing according to plan. Further information is expected to be available shortly on both these programmes which the Company will of course relay to the market at that time’.
Finally, he added that the placing funds will also allow Kavango to review other ‘highly selective but potentially very interesting natural resource opportunities in Botswana.’
It is also worth noting that each placed share also has a warrant attached. This is exercisable at 12p from the earlier of the date falling one year after the time of admission or the date of the publication of a prospectus until 31 July 2020.
What’s more, if exercised, the warrant gives the holder the right to an additional half-warrant exercisable at 24p before 31 July 2022. This ambitious target will likely send out a positive message to investors regarding management’s belief in where Kavango could be heading over the medium term.
Author: Daniel Flynn
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
The Author has not been paid to produce this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance
Horizonte Minerals (LSE:HZM) said ‘multiple value drivers’ will provide an exciting year ahead for shareholders in an update on Thursday. The nickel-focused firm is currently developing two projects in Brazil, the Araguaia Ferronickel Project and a nickel-cobalt project called Vermelho.
Horizonte released a feasibility study for the Araguaia Project back in October last year. Based on an average nickel price of $14k per tonne, the company forecasts Araguaia could generate free cash flow of up to $1.6bn over an initial 28-year mine life. Last month, Horizonte received the construction license permitting it to construct a rotary kiln electric furnace processing plant and all associated infrastructure.
Meanwhile, a pre-feasibility study is underway at the Vermelho nickel-cobalt project which the company acquired in 2018. The previous owner, Vale previously completed a feasibility study on the project which was originally scheduled for construction in 2006. What made Vermelho so attractive to Horizonte is its proximity to Araguaia. The two projects are 100pc owned by the company and combined offer a potential nickel production of 40-50k tonnes annually. Operations are underway to demonstrate the economic viability of the project which will then feed into the pre-feasibility study.
Jeremy Martin, Chief Executive of Horizonte said: “In January 2019, following completion of the FS, the Company was awarded the Construction Licence for the project, which subject to funding, allows development to commence on the RKEF process plant and associated infrastructure.”
In the wake of the recent tragedy in Brazil Martin added:
“It is important to note that Araguaia does not produce tailings and does not have a tailings dam so is not affected by the recent ban on new upstream tailings dams in Brazil.”
The company is very bullish on the nickel market highlighting that inventories on the London Metal Exchange are at their lowest level for five years. Horizonte cites increasing demand from the stainless-steel market as well as the electric vehicle battery sector for the buoyant demand. At the time of writing the nickel spot price is around $12,800 per tonne. Many of the larger banks, including UBS and Morgan Stanley are predicting a price hike for nickel over the next few years, forecasting prices in the region of $16,500-$17,600 per tonne in 2021.
Martin commented: "Work recently commenced on the PFS for our Vermelho nickel cobalt project. Snowden Mining Industry Consultants have been contracted to produce the mining schedules and act as overall study manager, in addition the Simulus Group based in Perth will provide detailed design information and costings for the Vermelho process flow sheet and together with our local Brazilian engineering partners, will deliver associated infrastructure to the project. In parallel we have our teams working on the environmental and social permitting, and new terms of reference have been submitted to SEMAS, the Brazilian Pará State Environmental Agency to advance Vermelho's Environmental Impact Assessment.
"Horizonte holds two Tier 1 assets in terms of size and grade; the development-ready Araguaia ferronickel project and the Vermelho nickel-cobalt project. Our portfolio is therefore well placed at a time when demand in stainless steel and electric vehicle markets is increasing and outstripping new nickel supply coming online.
"2019 is set to be an exciting year for the Company with multiple value drivers for shareholders all set against a positive back drop of the broader nickel market and growing Brazilian economy."
Author: Stuart Langelaan
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
The Author has not been paid to produce this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance
Thursday saw Arc Minerals (LSE:ARCM) announce the sale of one of its non-core assets to help support the accelerated development of its Zamsort copper-cobalt project. The resources firm sat at 3.1p after offloading its 18.5pc position in Andiamo Exploration for $250,000. The sale to a private business called Emerald will close next Monday.
Executive chairman Nick von Schirnding said the proceeds would go towards the company’s current exploration programme at Zamsort. Arc owns a 66pc equity interest in Zamsort, together with a convertible loan that converts into an additional 5pc position.
The firm is planning to accelerate its drilling of Cheyeza West and Lumbeta- two large new targets identified at Zamsort earlier this month. Lumbeta stretches for 11km and is associated with the crest of a fold. Arc has previously said that these hinge points in a folded environment could act as mineralisation traps and form high-grade deposits.
Cheyeza West, meanwhile, is a core 3km by 3km anomaly outlined by very high copper values in the soils enclosed by the wider 10km x 8km anomaly. The prospect is roughly ten times the size of Kalaba, currently Arc’s most developed prospect at Zamsort. With this in mind, Arc has previously described the candidate as a potential game-changer that has exceeded all of its expectations.
Alongside the proceeds from the sale of its stake in Andiamo, Arc carried out a private £2.2m placement over the weekend at 3p a share to support the accelerated drilling at the two prospects. This was supported heavily by the organisation’s board and two large family offices. Elsewhere, Arc is continuing to complete an 11,000m diamond and reverse circulation drilling programme at Kalaba as well as completing a commercial-scale demonstration plant.
In Thursday’s update, von Schirnding said the sale of Andiamo represents a ‘step forward’ in Arc’s plans to sell off its non-core assets. ‘We are also progressing discussions with a number of interested third parties in respect of our other non-core assets,’ he added. These assets include the business’s wholly-owned Šturec project in Slovakia, which hosts the 1.3Moz AuEq PFS stage Ṧturec Gold Project.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Arc announced that Zaco Investments has now acquired a 464.69km2 area of Zamsort Mining that it is not being prioritised or developed in the near-term. The sale, first announced in Arc’s December results, has arisen to allow the business to comply with Zambian mining regulations.
Arc is Zaco’s largest shareholder with a 42.5pc interest, and von Schirnding has been appointed the vehicle’s chairman. Arc said the company is now evaluating a range of options including bringing in a joint venture partner to develop the license area.
Author: Daniel Flynn
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
The Author has not been paid to produce this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance
MiningMaven recently caught up with Eurasia Mining’s (LSE:EUA) chairman Christian Schaffalitzky to discuss the Russia-focused exploration firm’s plans following a busy news period.
Last month saw the business announce that preparatory work, including tree felling, had begun ahead of this year’s production at its West Kytlim mine in Russia’s Urals region. This is expected in April once the seasonal thaw sets in.
Meanwhile, the company is also continuing to make progress at its 80pc-owned Monchetundra project in the Kola Peninsula, where first palladium, platinum, and gold production is targeted in 2021. The business received a mining licence for the project in December 2018, and can now look to advance the project through construction.
Read on for more details on Schaffalitzky’s plans at its principal assets over the coming year as well as his views on the platinum market and Russia as an operational jurisdiction:
MiningMaven: Can you give us an overview of your plans at West Kytlim now that operations have re-started?
Christian Schaffalitzky: We are waiting for the ice to melt so we can start the washing process. If things go well, we could begin to produce in April. It depends on when the thaw kicks in because we need running water to wash the gravel.
The preparatory work required ahead of mining is relatively straightforward. First of all, the site contains ‘pay gravels’ that contain ore. We can start working on clearing forest and non-ore from above these gravels because we have identified where the platinum-bearing gravels are. Forest is removed, overburden is stripped back, and this is work that can be undertaken in winter and early spring. So that’s the immediate work plan.
We are actually mining sediments that are in an active river system. So, once the river is flowing, we redirect it for the section on which we are working and also the terraces on the side of the river, from earlier river systems. Those terraces are also platinum bearing, giving us several generations of sand and gravel that are potentially platinum-bearing. That is what we are looking for when we are exploring.
MM: Did the company deliver its production targets last year?
CS: We did, yes. We had an informal target of around 100kgs of platinum, and we produced 165kgs. So, we were delighted with our performance in spite of difficult conditions in the platinum market, where prices remained very weak as gold and palladium roared ahead.
MM: On that note, do you think platinum prices are basing and are ready to move up shortly?
CS: There seems to be a perception in the market that there is an excess of platinum globally, which is pushing prices down. This is because the metal is used primarily in catalytic converters in diesel engines, which are expected to suffer declining demand over the coming years.
Personally, I don’t buy into the idea that this dynamic is this simple. At current prices, around 80pc of the platinum mines in the world – or at least in South Africa – are operating below breakeven. They cannot keep working on negative income. You also have to remember that many of the underground mines in South Africa are old and, as such, are not mechanised. This could ultimately cause them to close, which would also throw up serious geopolitical concerns as they employ thousands of people who cannot be fired overnight. New mines are coming, of course, but as these older mines close, it will be a big problem for supply.
MM: So, with South Africa’s potential issues in mind, is the area of Russia you are based in prolific for mineralisation?
CS: Yes. If we focus on the Urals, it is famous for platinum. In fact, it was the first place in the world where platinum was discovered and then worked commercially. The Russians discovered significant platinum nuggets at the beginning of the 19th Century, and work has been going on since. Over this period, 16Mozs of the metal has been worked, so it really is prolific.
There are both small-scale and large-scale platinum mining operations in the river system. What you do not find in the Urals are hard rock platinum mines, which are present in South Africa. In other words, in the current environment, the only economic platinum that we see in the Urals is as alluvial deposits like our West Kytlim Project, which are also very low cost operations, relative to the South African mines.
At Monchetundra the focus is on Palladium as our identified ore bodies are at least 2:1 Pd:Pt. There are several other licences adjacent to our current permit and further afield, which we are reviewing. We believe Kola can be a really hot area on the global PGM map in years to come.
MM: Moving away from the Urals, what can you tell us about developments at the Monchetundra project?
There are a lot of elements in place at Monchetundra and a lot of things that we are currently doing. It is a complicated, big project, that very well may be a company maker for us. To recap, we have now completed a Russian style feasibility study to apply for a mining licence. This has now been granted and covers c.2Moz of palladium-rich mineralisation with platinum and gold as well as copper and nickel.
We now have to have the mine development approved by the government, and also by ourselves. In other words, we need to get the engineers at work now, to put together the actual construction of the mine, and to make the planned detailed engineering for the mine.
As part of this, we signed a contract back in 2016 with Sinosteel, a large Chinese engineering group to do an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction contract. They did an estimate at the time that said it would cost about $178m to construct the mine in roughly two years. They estimated that it could produce 130,000oz of palladium mineralisation per annum.
To do the project, they would finance 85pc of the $178 million, and they would carry that loan on their books until the plant was fully operational, or commissioned and handed over. And then it goes on to Eurasia's books. The remaining 15pc, which is roughly $24 million, is our bill- our equity contribution to the development of the mine.
However, at the same time, there is a cashback element to the project whereby Sinosteel sub-contract to us to do specific preparatory work. All that part of the work is subcontracted back to Eurasia. So, what this means is that we have to come up with $24m now, but we get $50m back, we believe less than what it costs to do the work. We've pretty much estimated that this will actually generate positive cashflow for our development.
MM: Excellent, so can you give shareholders any indication of when more information will be available?
CS: Right now, we are preparing the plans for all of this work and are making sure we have the licensing schedule organised with the government, and so on. There is a lot of paperwork involved in all of the aspects of the deal, and it does take time. We have to do it right, and we are a small company, relatively speaking, and this is a massive project, so we have to get it right. We will be providing further information to the shareholders in stages over the coming months with an update due soon.
Interview by Stuart Langelaan
The interviewer does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, owns a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
The low-cost mine, called Arapua is located in the heart of the Brazilian agriculture belt and has an indicated and inferred resource of 13.07Mt at 3.1pc potassium oxide and 2.49pc phosphorus pentoxide. At forecast levels of output for the company’s KPFértil product, the resource already provides 29 years of production based on drilling a mere 6.7pc of known mineralization to date.
Last year in preparation for connection to the grid, Harvest installed a 600KW power substation and two transformers. Up until now the plant and other onsite facilities were powered by Diesel generators. Replacing these generators with power from the national grid will reduce costs at the project. The project is already considered low cost with an 80% margin and a market for the product on its doorstep, reducing transportation costs. As an example, the local coffee industry alone represents a potential market for KPFértil of over 3Mtpa within 300km of the project.
Harvest advises that the current installed capacity for electricity supply exceeds the maximum current demand by 15% and can easily be upgraded to 2,500kW, allowing for future demand.
Harvest's Executive Chairman, Brian McMaster, said, "The plant upgrade and expansion we installed last year is working well and by switching from diesel to grid power we will be able to continue to control costs and maintain our position as one of the lowest cost producers in the world."
Author: Stuart Langelaan
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece. The Author has not been paid to produce this piece by the company or companies mentioned above. Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above. MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance
Directors and management of Arc Minerals (LSE:ARCM) collectively bought just over 3.76m shares as part of a private placing that saw the company raise a total of £2.2m. Existing investors will likely be pleased that the funds were raised at the current share price of 3p.
In an announcement Monday, Arc said the proceeds will be primarily used to progress its flagship Zamsort Copper Project in Zambia. Earlier this month, the firm released the initial results from an airborne geophysical and soil sampling programme at the copper-cobalt licence, revealing seven new anomalies.
The company holds a 66pc interest in Zamsort limited which is developing the Kalaba copper-cobalt project in north-west Zambia. Zamsort has 850 km2 of exploration ground under license in the highly prospective region of the Zambian Copperbelt. The area now accounts for a substantial part of Zambian copper production and the Kalaba project and the surrounding Zamsort exploration licenses are in close proximity to large operations such as First Quantum Minerals’ Sentinel and Kansanshi mines and Barrick Gold’s Lumwana mine.
Arc expects production at the Kalaba demonstration plant will commence soon.
The commercial-scale plant, being constructed by Zamsort, is in the latter stages of completion and is fully permitted with an initial mining license until 2025.
Since the placing was private and non-brokered no fees or commissions will be deducted, allowing all of the cash to be fully utilised. Participants in the placing will receive one warrant for each share purchased which can be exercised at 4.5p over the next three years.
Six officers of the company participated in the fundraise investing an aggregate £113k with Executive Chairman, Nick von Schirnding contributing the lions share. Schirnding now holds around 16m shares representing 2.26pc of the company.
Schirnding, said: "We were approached by two family offices, one of which is already a shareholder, for further funding to progress our newly identified targets at Zamsort. This is a very good outcome for us and as a result we will be accelerating work in respect of Cheyeza West and other key targets and will start a comprehensive drilling programme as soon as possible.
I look forward to an exciting time ahead with significant newsflow for the Company as we deliver on our strategy."
Author: Stuart Langelaan
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
The Author has not been paid to produce this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance
African Battery Metals (LSE:ABM) returned from suspension today after a host of proposals aimed at refinancing and restructuring the firm were approved by investors at a general meeting on Friday.
Shareholders in the Africa-focused exploration business voted 99.96pc in favour of all resolutions at the meeting in London. This outcome has, in turn, successfully triggered a number of proposals outlined by the business in a refinancing and strategic update issued last month.
In this, African Battery proposed a conditional placing and subscription to raise £1m at 0.5p a share, resulting in the issue of 200m new ordinary shares. Each of these refinancing shares will have an attached warrant to subscribe for a new ordinary share at a price of 1p within two years.
The money raised will be used to pay all of African Battery’s material company creditors through a mixture of cash and/or shares. In last month’s update, the firm said this would allow it to become debt free with a robust cash position for at least 12 months when considering current business costs and operational plans.
The passing of all the resolutions at Friday’s vote will also see current chief executive Roger Murphy and, in due course, executive director Matt Wood step down from the firm’s board. They will be replaced by Andrew Bell, who will take on the role of executive chairman, and Paul Johnson, who will become executive director.
Bell will be well known to AIM investors as the chief executive and chairman of Red Rock Resources (LSE:RRR) and the non-executive director of Regency Mines (LSE:RGM). He is also a non-executive director at ASX-listed Jupiter Mines and has formerly held senior roles at firms like Star Striker and Greatland Gold (LSE:GGP).
Johnson will also be a familiar name to many in the market as the former chief executive of Metal Tiger (LSE:MTR), Metal NRG (NEX:MNRG), and China Africa Resources. He has also been chairman of ECR Minerals (LSE:ECR) and non-executive director of Greatland Gold (LSE:GGP) and Thor Mining (LSE:THR). He is currently chief executive of Value Generation Limited, a family investment and advisory company focused on the natural resource and related fintech sectors.
As well as joining African Battery’s board, both Bell and Johnson will each subscribe to £50,000 worth of shares in the company’s placing. On top of this, Red Rock will subscribe to an additional £100,000 worth of shares.
Following their appointment, the pair will lead a strategic and operational review of the business. This follows its suspension in December last year after it was unable to secure equity finance from its largest shareholders on any terms. At this time, the business said it would be at risk of being unable to continue to trade as a going concern if it could not reach a satisfactory settlement with its creditors.
Now that it has reached a solution, African Battery has carried out a programme of core cost review and has reduced its corporate plc costs to minimal levels. It has also changed its board incentivisation rules, to ensure that all payments are reflective of the cash position of the company and performance-based. It will publish figures on its website for full transparency.
Finally, the business will also undertake a more thorough strategic and operational review of existing company interests and target exploration resources in a prioritised manner. Following this, it will develop a strategic and operational plan. This will see management identify, review, and, if appropriate, acquire new opportunities to complement and diversify its existing business interests. This could include the potential acquisition of interests within Africa or new territories in both battery metals and other commodity categories.
Finally, following the resolution of the meeting, African Battery will now appoint SI Capital as its joint broker alongside SP Angel.
African Battery aims to become a significant explorer, developer and ultimately miner of battery metals, specifically cobalt, lithium, copper and nickel. To this end, its strategy is to identify highly prospective opportunities at various stages of development in proven jurisdictions that it can either acquire or farm into,
Author: Daniel Flynn
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
The article expresses the views of the Author solely and do not necessarily express the views of MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd or their connected parties who are not responsible for its content or accuracy.
News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. Readers are recommended to seek the advice of appropriate professionals when considering investments in small capital.
Strategic Minerals (LSE:SML) rose 2.4pc on Monday morning after revealing promising copper mineralisation in the latest round of assay results at its Leigh Creek project.
Eight out of 10 holes drilled at a site called Paltridge North within the South Australia-based project last August intersected significant copper mineralisation including malachite, azurite, chalcocite and native copper. Six of the latest holes had an intersection of 1.34pc, which is significantly higher than the resource average of 0.81pc.
Paltridge North deposit is a relatively flat tabular deposit hosted in fine-grained siltstone. Mineralisation has varied from predominantly copper oxide minerals, malachite and azurite, in the upper levels of the deposit. This grades into a relatively sharp contact where the copper minerals are mostly chalcocite with some minor native copper observed in the drill core.
The company carried out its infill diamond drill programme with the aim of providing metallurgical test samples and testing historical drilling. Strategic said its results reinforce a previous resource model estimate and highlight areas of higher-grade copper, including 1m at 8.7pc.
A previous JORC resource gave Leigh Creek a JORC Resource of 3.6Mt at 0.7pc copper, with contained copper of 24.9Kt, at Paltridge North alongside two other deposits called Lynda and Lorna Doone. The firm is now producing an updated resource model that will incorporate these results. It expects this to complete in March 2019.
Meanwhile, Stragic also completed seven diamond drill holes at another Leigh Creek site Rosmann East. Here, Strategic has defined a mineral inventory of 1.8Mt at 0.65pc copper, with contained copper of 11.5kt. The holes tested below the existing pit floor at the site and have so far provided strong support for continued mineralisation.
Strategic says this continued to as much as 60m below the existing pit floor and 30m below previous drilling, with its first hole returning 69m at 0.37pc copper. Results for the other holes, which have targeted known areas of higher grade, will be released when available, the business said.
Managing director John Peters said: ‘The Paltridge North deposit assays, arising from the first diamond drilling programme for 32 years, have delivered better than expected results and provide the SML Board confidence that Paltridge North could be a significant copper producer in the near future.
‘Additionally, the assays from the first hole at the Rosmann East deposit support potential additional mineralisation below the existing open pit floor. This is good news due to the ease of accessibility to this ore. Management and the Board look forward to restarting the Mountain of Light operations in the first half of 2019 and moving into long term, higher volume production at a later date.’
Author: Daniel Flynn
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
Centamin (LSE:CEY) rose 2.9pc to 122.4p on Friday after announcing a considerable resource increase at its gold assets in the Côte d'Ivoire. The firm completed 120,000m of drilling in the country last year to produce a maiden resource at its ABC project and an updated resource at its Doropo site. A further 90,000m of drilling is budgeted and underway for 2019 to build on these results.
The work revealed a 2.13Moz indicated and 0.8Moz inferred mineral resource within Doropo at a gold cut-off of 0.5g/t. Within this, 50MMts at 1.31g/t has been identified in the indicated category, representing a 55pc increase in resource tonnes year-on-year.
Centamin added that total Doropo licence holdings of 2,721km2 remain mostly unexplored, with numerous targets identified. It believes this could present significant resource upside potential.
Meanwhile, the company has budgeted a 55,000m drill programme at the site for 2019. It expects to develop immediate resource extensions and evaluate the resource significance of several regional Doropo targets. Finally, a preliminary economic assessment remains on track at the site and is on schedule for completion by H2 2019. Alongside this, a maiden mineral estimation is targeted by Q2 2019 to support the next stage of feasibility work ahead of a board investment decision on development.
Moving on from Doropo, last year’s drilling also revealed a maiden resource estimate of 19.6MM ore tonnes at 1.03g/t gold in the indicated category at the ABC project. This translates to around 650Koz of gold. The work also identified 16.1MM ore tonnes at 0.87g/t in the inferred category for around 450Koz of gold.
According to Centamin, the mineral resource area is defined from the surface, along a 2.3 km strike, and remains open in all directions. Detailed 3D grade modelling indicates there are high-grade plunging shoots within the 50m x 50m broad-spaced drilling.
A 34,000m drill programme is now scheduled for 2019 with a focus on resource development at two prospects called Kona Central and Kona South. The work will test the resource extension potential between the two candidates, drill testing high priority targets along the LGC in addition to airborne magnetic/radiometric surveying and geochemical sampling.
Centamin’s chief executive Andrew Pardey said: ‘2018 saw a further increase in our investment and level of activity in CDI across our 3,472km² land holding. We have only scratched the surface of the potential of these assets, and we are maintaining an intensive campaign in 2019 to define further quality gold ounces.
‘Doropo continues to demonstrate the potential to be our next organic development project. Ongoing exploration and concurrent viability studies will further unlock the potential future scale of this project as we assess the economics against our internal project value creation criteria. The PEA is progressing well and we look forward to reporting the results to the market at the end of H2 2019. Delivery of a maiden reserve and further feasibility work are critical milestones for 2019, ahead of a Board decision on capital allocated for development.
‘The success and scale of the 2018 ABC discovery results and the reporting of the maiden Kona South resource in less than two years of active exploration, highlights the scale and quality of the Lolosso Gold Corridor and the regional generative potential of the ABC land package.
‘Centamin's core strategy remains on delivering returns using its highly cash generative business which not only delivers a high yield for its shareholders as per our sustainable dividend policy, but also delivering fully funded growth from our exciting exploration portfolio.’
Author: Daniel Flynn
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
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Strategic Minerals (LSE:SML) rose 5.5pc to 1.7p on Thursday after revealing that a resource upgrade has led its Redmoor project to rank among the leading undeveloped tin-tungsten mining projects in the world. A drilling programme carried out by the firm’s 50pc-owned JV vehicle Cornwall Resources last year has led to a 200pc increase in the metal contained at the Cornwall-based project.
It now has an inferred mineral resource of 11.7Mt at 1.17pc tin equivalent up from 4.5 Mt at 1.00pc in March last year. Included in this figure is 10.2Mt at a cut-off grade of 0.65pc with an average tin equivalent grade of 1.26pc. According to Strategic, this reinforces the potential of mining the resource economically.
The business added that, on a contained metal and grade basis, Redmoor is now one of the leading undeveloped tin-tungsten mining projects globally. What’s more, last year’s drilling campaign also confirmed the continuity of the Sheeted Vein System. This hosts the high-grade zones, over a strike length exceeding 1,000m and for some 650m down dip.
Finally, the work confirmed the potential to increase the resource at Redmoor. This is because its mineralisation remains open at depth over much of its length. It is also open to the west, with an additional high-grade Exploration Target of 4-8Mt at a grade of between 1-1.4pc.
Peter Wale, executive director at Strategic Minerals, said: ‘In the Company's view, the independent assessment of the inferred tin equivalent resource highlights the world class potential of the Redmoor project and sets an important milestone.
‘The significantly upgraded resource statement validates the strong drilling results received during the 2018 programme. This provides the Company and its joint venture partner, New Age Exploration, confidence to progress towards the goal of restarting mining at Redmoor.
‘In addition, apart from the area drilled sufficiently to be included in the Inferred Resource, SML considers that there remains serious target potential to the west along strike, as well as down dip. While this may provide an opportunity for future expansion of the resource, CRL's key focus, in the short term, will remain the area reported on in this release.’
Strategic Minerals is an AIM-quoted, operating minerals company actively developing projects prospective for battery materials. It has an operation in the United States of America and development projects in the UK and Australia. The Company is focused on utilising its operating cash flows, along with capital raisings, to develop high-quality projects aimed at supplying the metals and minerals being sought in the burgeoning electric vehicle/battery market.
Author: Daniel Flynn
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
