Australian Bauxite Limited (ASX:ABZ) Drilling At Hampton And Binjour Completed, Encouraging Thicknesses Of Bauxite Encountered
Sydney, July 8, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Emerging bauxite exploration and development company, Australian Bauxite Limited (
ASX:ABZ) has successfully completed its exploratory drilling programs at Hampton in southern QLD and first-pass reconnaissance drilling of its northernmost bauxite deposit at Binjour in central QLD where encouraging thicknesses of bauxite were encountered.
As a result, the work program has been expanded so that a second-pass drilling program can be conducted at Binjour in mid July.
A new deposit averaging 3 to 5 metres thick has been discovered near Haden, 40km north of Toowoomba, QLD and only 15km northwest of Hampton.
The drill program objective is to firstly identify the bauxite layer and better define its boundary. Then, additional holes will be drilled to test for the consistency of the bauxite. Results to date are considered satisfactory and in some places, better than expected.
ABx is continuing to achieve its planned drilling schedule. A a mid-year upgrade of the resource estimation on the Inverell deposit will commence in late July and scheduled for completion during August.
The Department of Industry and Investment has approved a 780 hole drilling program at Inverell, following submission of a Review of Environmental Factors. The approval is for 3 years.
INITIAL COMMERCIAL PRESENTATIONS
ABx plans to present initial results from several bauxite projects to potential customers and/or partners, commencing in September.
Opportunities for project advancements may arise from these initial presentations but the process of presentations and discussions will also help ABx to remain focussed on the highest priority projects.
Due to the nature of the different tenements, discussions will range across a number of development options as appropriate including, for example, DSO, joint venture partnerships or strategic alliances for future developments.
HAMPTON EPM 17790
20km N of Toowoomba QLD
Drilling at Hampton to 30 June comprised 125 drillholes totalling 1,367 metres. Intercepts averaged 4.0 to 5.6 metres of bauxite thickness (maximum 13 metres). The Geham deposit is a relatively consistent bauxite layer whilst Pechey deposit has two layers. Laboratory results are awaited from this program and assessments of results will commence in August.
BINJOUR EPM 18014
170km SW of Bundaberg QLD
A first-pass reconnaissance drilling program of 57 holes totalling 1,142 metres has recently been completed at Binjour Plateau. A flat-lying bauxite horizon has been discovered, averaging 4.2 to 5.3 metres thick, with a maximum thickness of 13 metres. This set of results exceeded the company's expectations for bauxite thickness but grade information is still awaited from the laboratory.
A second-pass drilling program is scheduled to commence Monday 12 July so that a second plateau of bauxite can be tested and to commence infill drilling of both areas. Bauxite at Binjour is unexpectedly extensive over a wide and diverse area, thus justifying the expansion in drilling strategy to begin mapping out the thicker zones and zones of better grades.
HADEN EPM 17830
40km N of Toowoomba QLD
A new deposit colloquially called "Steam Engine" has recently been discovered near Haden, 15kms to the northwest of the Pechey-Geham deposits at Hampton. The new deposit averages 3 to 5 metres thick and up to 10 metres in places. The deposit is still being drilled.
COMMENT ON LAND ACCESS
This major bauxite drilling program is proceeding without interruption and with a 100% approval by landholders of the post-drilling site rectification work done by the ABx field crew. Landholder support has been positive in all areas, which has been gratefully acknowledged by ABx in local media, including the statement that; "We pride ourselves in our dealings with landowners and we will become good corporate citizens in any region we work in."
Because ABx is not limited to one or two project areas it is able to avoid land access risks such as native title, local landholder resistance or environmental legislation.
COMMENT ON DRILLING PROGRESS
The drilling program is proceeding slightly ahead of schedule and results are generally in line with expectations and in some places, better than expected.
Inverell is now moving into a resource estimation stage for the additional 10% of the deposit drilling in April- May 2010. Barring any unexpected surprises in the assay results, which are still awaited, the Inverell deposits are relatively consistent and very extensive. A major resource drilling program is considered the likely next step for this substantial bauxite resource area.
Results at Pindaroi have exceeded expectations - 12 metres of bauxite is uncommonly thick and the resource tonnage potential is high. Because this was the first drill testing of Pindaroi, it is too early to predict the future developments at Pindaroi and the next likely step is second-pass infill drilling to assess continuity of thickness and grades.
Results at Pechey and Geham in the Hampton EPM tenement area in southern QLD have confirmed that Pechey deposit and Geham deposits combined may contain a large tonnage of bauxite. Early drilling results from the newly discovered "Steam Engine" bauxite deposit in the Haden EPM tenement area confirm that this area has abundant bauxite potential.
Binjour has been an exciting new development. The reconnaissance drilling indicates the presence of a thick layer of thick bauxite. If consistent, thick zones of good grade bauxite are proven up, Binjour has potential to be a project worthy of early development.
For the complete Australian Bauxite Limited announcement including figures, please view the following link:
http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/63260-ASX-ABZ-598178.pdf
About Australian Bauxite Ltd
Australian Bauxite Limited (ABx) (ASX:ABX) has its first bauxite mine in Tasmania & controls the Eastern Australian Bauxite Province. ABx's 11 bauxite tenements in Queensland, New South Wales & Tasmania totalling 662 km2 are all 100% owned, unencumbered & free of third-party royalties. ABx's bauxite is gibbsite trihydrate (THA) bauxite that can be processed into alumina at low temperature.
ABx has committed a large proportion of its expenditure into Research and Development to find ways to capitalise on the main strengths of its bauxite type which is very clean, free of all deleterious elements and partitioned into layers, nodules, particles and grains of different qualities that can be separated into different product streams using physical, chemical and geophysical methods.
ABx has declared large Mineral Resources in northern NSW, southern NSW, Binjour in central QLD & in northern Tasmania.
ABx's first mine commenced at Bald Hill near Campbell Town, Tasmania in December 2014 - the first new Australian bauxite mine for more than 35 years.
ABx aspires to identify large bauxite resources in the Eastern Australian Bauxite Province and has created significant bauxite development projects in 3 states, Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania. Its bauxite deposits are favourably located for direct shipping of bauxite to both local and export customers.
ABx endorses best practices on agricultural land, strives to leave land and environment better than we find it. We only operate where welcomed.
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